The details, answered.

Yes! It’s not rocket science, but we like to pretend that it is. 😄 We hand-pour each one — collectively acquiring materials, managing production, mixing, pouring, and setting wicks. Then we wait for them to cure and add the labels, all custom-designed by us, with Mazie’s artistic side on every candle.

During the sale we keep a careful tally of every purchase. You can split your donation across the four nonprofits each family member selected. When the weekend wraps, we add it all up and send the donations. We cover the cost of materials ourselves — the full sale price of every candle goes to the nonprofits. Since 2021 that’s added up to $32,512 across 22 organizations.

Each candle is just a $25 donation — the same price it’s been for years. You can pay with whatever’s easiest: Exact digital-payment details go out with the final sale information, and the preorder page keeps the current pickup and payment notes in one place.

Yes. The heart of Things 4 Good is still the candle sale, but every year a few people simply send support, add a little extra to their candle donation, or join in from too far away to pick up candles. That all counts. If you send extra support, just tell us how you’d like it split across the four causes, or we can divide it evenly.

Absolutely — that’s the whole idea. Each year the four of us each pick a cause we care about, and you decide how to split your donation across them. Support one, support all four, or ask for a specific allocation — some folks do. Want to see who’s picked what over the years? Browse the full impact list.

Absolutely. For any order of six or more, the preorder sheet opens closer to the sale and goes to subscribers first. We’ll have those candles ready for Sunday pickup. The latest status lives on the preorder page.

New for 2026: an intimate evening for six guests, held about two weeks before the sale. You hand-pour five of your own Things 4 Good candles and take home a one-of-a-kind Maker Night candle. It’s a $250 donation, 100% to good. Explore Maker Night →

Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, 2026, in Minneapolis. Exact hours and location go out a bit before the weekend through the Thingelstad Family list — choose Candle Fundraiser updates so you don’t miss it.

Every single year. We started at $4,757 in 2021 and reached $9,048 in 2025 — our biggest year yet, up 29.1%. The whole five-year story, candle counts and all, lives on the Numbers page. We also post full results and the math on the blog after every sale.