A well-meaning office faces a quandary: send clients best wishes for the holidays and appreciation for their business all year with good old-fashioned Christmas cards. Or expand the warmth and gratitude in greeting cards that say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” instead, to show respect for the culture of each of its customers.
It’s tempting either way. Christmas evokes tradition, comfort, and the times when we lived so similarly to our neighbors and the folks at the office. The Christian faith, the feasts, the gift-giving, and the colorful decorations – these make Christmas a special and irreplaceable time of year for everyone who celebrates it. Christmas cards have been part and parcel of the season for over 150 years. Can you imagine a year where you saw not a single Christmas card all December? Christmas cards for the Christmas holiday…of course!
When all or most of your clients celebrate Christmas, the choice to send business Christmas cards is easy. However, a growing percentage of today’s workforce and clientele observe something other than Christmas in the fall and winter: Diwali, Hanukkah, the New Year, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, and Eid al-Fitr, to name but a few. The globalization of our world can be reflected in holiday cards. While it would be difficult to identify every holiday in a single greeting card, it’s easy and thoughtful to leave the holiday open with a seasonal, non-religious sentiment inside of your greeting cards that lets your recipients know you wish them well, regardless of their religious or non-religious affiliations.
Holiday cards that refer to the “Holidays” or the “Season” give you greater latitude when winter greetings are appropriate and the holidays being celebrated by your recipients vary. Nevertheless, whether you send Merry Christmas cards or greeting cards that wish Peace on Earth, Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings, any holiday cards you send will surely be appreciated.