Amazon. com Most Wished For Items customers added to Wish Lists and registries most often on Amazon

Amazon Wish Lists for Churches – Part 1

How Churches Can Use Amazon Wish Lists

For many churches and ministries, part of the purpose of having a website is to provide opportunities for people to support the organization. Many church websites offer visitors the option to make a financial donation towards the ministry, but what if someone wants to donate something more tangible? Having an Amazon. com wish list integrated into your church website gives visitors the ability to easily purchase specific items your church or ministry needs.

What is an Amazon wish list? Well, it’s sort of like an wedding registry, but it doesn’t have to be for a specific event. With a wish list, you can look at items on Amazon, and add them to a wish list, then include the wish list on your church website. Visitors click on the items from your website, buy them on Amazon, and they’re shipped directly to the church. Here’s the wish list for the church I pastor, and here’s another example of a wish list created by the camp I worked at in college, Crossways Camping Ministries.

Using an Amazon wish list instead of just asking for money or even asking for specific items encourages people who may not be otherwise likely to give to be willing to contribute. For instance, as a seminary student who’d previously worked at camp, I don’t have very much discretionary income, but I wanted to help my camp. Since I’m an Amazon Prime member, I have free shipping through Amazon, and I’m very comfortable purchasing through them. In addition, I happened to have some gift card money on Amazon that I’d gotten by selling books through their textbook buyback program. I was in a position where I wanted to help and I had gift card money, but not cash. When I was informed of the camp’s need through their wish list, I was willing and able to contribute in a way that I wouldn’t have without their wish list.

Creating an Amazon Wish List for a Ministry

So, how do you create an Amazon wish list? The first step is to have an Amazon account, which you probably already have. If you don’t have one, go to Amazon. com, hover over the Your Account button, click the “New customer? Start here.” link, and set up an account. Since you’re setting up an account for your church or ministry, Amazon suggests that you set up a new account with the organization’s name in the name field. You will need an email address to set up the account, but you won’t need any credit card information. You can skip the next page where Amazon asks what you like.

Once you have an account, to actually create the wish list, you’ll need to find a product that you want someone to purchase for you. It doesn’t matter what you start with, since you can rearrange your list or remove items later. For now, just pick a book or something. Here’s a good sample book: Church Marketing 101.

On the product page, instead of clicking the yellow “Add to Cart” button like you would if you wanted to buy it right away, click the smaller beige button below the “Buy New” box, the one labeled “Add to Wish List.”

On the next page, it’ll ask you for a name. This is publicly viewable, so name it something descriptive, like “Community Church Wish List.” Make sure the “Public” option is selected, so that visitors to your website can see the list. Finally, click the yellow “Create Wish List” button.

Setting up the profile is straightforward. You’ll need to add your shipping address so Amazon knows where to send purchases. This information won’t be displayed to the general public, but it’s important to have. The “Full Name” will be publicly visible, so make sure that’s your church or ministry name.

The next step is adding your birthday. Even though this wish list is for an organization not a person, you should still put something here, otherwise it publicly shows up as not provided, which just looks incomplete and unprofessional. Perhaps put Christmas as a birthday? The “Unique Facts” box gives you a space to say a few words about your organization. Unfortunately, you can’t put HTML links in it, but it’s still a great place to mention your website. If your church or ministry is tax-exempt, put the tax-exempt number into this box as well. The third step asks if you consent to receive email updates about your list. I’d say yes. You can always unsubscribe later if it’s too many emails.

There are a couple of other details to take care of before your wishlist is completely ready to go. From the wish list’s page (should be the one you’re on), go to “Manage this List,” then to “Edit Settings.”

There are a couple of things to take care of on this page. The first is to check the box to let Amazon share your address with third-party merchants. This lets people purchase items from Amazon. com Marketplace Merchants, sometimes at a lower cost than what it would be to purchase directly from Amazon. There’s no reason not to check this, especially since you’re using your church’s address. Next, check the box to identify your wish list as being for an organization. Put in your church’s website address. Also, note the instruction to put your tax exempt number into the “Unique Facts” box. Click the yellow “Save” button, and your list is ready to go!

What to Add

What you add to your wish list is obviously up to you, but I would suggest putting as wide a variety of things on it as possible. It’s also a great idea to put items within a wide price range on your list. To add an item, simply find it on Amazon and click the same “Add to Wish List” button that you clicked when you first created the list.

Some ideas are office supplies that you know you’ll need in the future, technology items, like computer accessories or a new projector, youth group supplies or games, Bibles, cleaning products, books, or really anything that you want! Keep in mind that some items on your list may be purchased right away, but there’s a good chance that some of them may never be purchased, so if it’s something you urgently need, this might not be the best way to get it. Also, especially for things like technology that will become outdated, be sure to periodically check on the list and remove things you no longer need. Remember, you can also always go back and add new items later.

Once you have some items on the list, you can add comments to the items and rank them by priority. Give a short description of how you’ll use each item. Remember, people want to be involved in inspiring ministries. Share what benefits having this item will bring. I also strongly encourage setting the priorities of the items on the list. Setting the priority helps people decide what to buy.

Don’t be afraid to put things on the list. You never know what someone might be moved to contribute!

Next Steps

Congratulations! You’re done setting up your wish list! Go to Part two for how to integrate the wish list into your church website and publicize it.

I’d love to hear your comments on these directions. Leave a comment to let me know if these directions helped you, and what I can do to improve them!

Amazon. com Most Wished For: Items customers added to Wish Lists and registries most often on Amazon

The Internet is filled with copious amounts of things that you really want to impulsively buy after a few glasses of wine, but probably shouldn't (at least not all at once). Consequently, wish lists are a glorious thing to keep track of all the things you want but your bank account can't allow yet, and Amazon's Most Wished For page is a particular goldmine of items that people are dying to get their hands on.

If you're looking for some gift ideas or a trendy new purchase, this is the place to find it. It's where people bookmark all those genius gadgets, beauty products, and housewares that are definitely worth waiting for, so it's an awesome place to shop around and see what other folks are falling in love with at the moment.

Here's how it works: Amazon tallies up how often a product is added to wish lists and registries and puts it in list form for your viewing pleasure. The page is updated daily, so things are constantly changing, though there are a few products that have been there for months, indicating that people just can't get over how damn awesome they are. It's also broken up into categories, so you can find something as specific as "the most wished for women's jumpsuit," should you want to. Here are some of the coolest items that have been at the top of the charts lately.

Amazon Wish List

Consider ordering a special gift for the animals at the zoo. We’ve put together a wish list on Amazon, for those wishing to help the zoo in a different way.

1. Take a look at our wish list on the Amazon website.

2. Place your order online.

Add your chosen item(s) to the basket and proceed to checkout.

3. Check the delivery address!

The zoo delivery address should pop up automatically, but just in case it doesn’t, please add the delivery address as: Five Sisters Zoo Rescue and Conservation, West Calder, West Lothian, EH55 8PT.

Thank you for your support.

*Make sure you check out Easy Fundraising first, as you could earn a free donation to the zoo at the same time! See here for details.

How to Create an Amazon Wishlist

Updated: November 21, 2017

The Amazon Wish List can serve many purposes. It can be used as your own personal save-for-later list, which contains your list of things to buy or save for. It can also be used as an online gift registry for many events, such as weddings, birthdays, babies, and others, which you can then use to share with your friends and family. If you’re looking for a gift for someone who maintains such a list on Amazon, you can just browse through his list and buy from there.