Rich Pusateri
Content Marketing Manager
The intangible benefits that result from meaningful corporate gifting are invaluable—higher brand recall, staying top-of-mind, enhancing relationships, etc. However, selecting the right gift to achieve these goals isn't always easy. Below, we provide 14 gift ideas separated into three categories that are likely to align with the objectives of your giving campaigns.
Corporate Gift Ideas that Give Back
The desk of every B2B professional contains at least one corporate gift they've never used or even thought about—soulless trinkets that infer the sender was checking off an obligatory box. Corporate gifts should never be on a dull autopilot.
Corporate gifting remains an important tool for strengthening professional relationships, and most companies recognize the value of the practice. Recent research indicates that 54% of companies plan to increase spending on corporate gift giving over the next two years, and another report showed that more than 80% of C-suite executives believe that corporate gifts result in positive ROI in addition to other intangible benefits.
Corporate gifts that also give back: that's a winning combo for you, your customers, the community, and the environment. Here are five gift ideas that do good for others (and your business).
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1. Tree Planting Kits from Forest Nation
Instead of killing trees by printing more run-of-the-mill content, let's get some actual seeds in the ground. Tree planting kits from Forest Nation are a slick way to help the environment, engage your clients, and show your commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Included in the package is everything your recipient will need to grow their tree, including 100% biodegradable pouches/cups, growing pellets, seeds, and growing instructions. In solidarity with your excellent decision to nurture Mother Earth, Postal will plant 10 more trees to help combat the climate crisis. Forest Nation's tree kits are also customized to showcase your brand, so as your customers watch those seedlings grow, they'll receive a visual reminder of your company as well.
While clients wait for stems to sprout, they can browse their company's online forest where users can see their group's impact, name their trees (Trevor Noah? Christreena Aguilera?) and view other campaign updates. Postal will even plant one additional tree when you log in to give your little seedling a name with photos and messages.
These refreshing corporate gifts are great for team-building events, conferences, trade shows, and as an alternative to any branded ballpoint pen.
2. Love is Project Bracelets
A thousand times better than a branded silicone bracelet, your customers will enjoy wearing one of the 30+ jewelry designs from Love is Project. The handcrafted creations are part of an ethical supply chain that empowers female artisans in 10 developing countries. Proceeds from Love Is Project bracelets help provide jobs, education, health care, and life-changing opportunities for 2,000 women around the world.
The project began with Maasai beadworkers in Kenya in 2012 and is now also uplifting the work of artists in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. When interviewed about how their jobs as artisans had changed their lives, the women spoke of financial independence, food and water security, education for their kids, and access to critical health care. That's a huge impact from one tiny bracelet.
The brand's unique jewelry designs range in color and material depending on their origins. The Tagua heart bracelet from Ecuador, for example, features Achira seeds and Tagua nuts, indigenous symbols of harmony and tranquility. One thing that's consistent across all their creations is their outsized, feel-good impact.
3. Charity on Top Gift Cards
Worried about choosing the right cause or product for your do-good gift? Let your recipient do the work for you with Charity on Top gift cards. Choose your own design (e.g. branded photo, logo, message) and load the card with your desired amount ($5, $10, $20, $25, $50, and $100 increments available). The gift card recipient can then choose from more than one million charities and allocate their funds to their favorite organization—no guessing needed on your end.
Especially if your company is big on sustainability and eliminating waste, Charity on Top gift cards (available as digital cards or 100% biodegradable plastic) are a smart way to avoid giving cheap swag that will end up in a landfill. Customers and employees also appreciate the freedom to decide which nonprofits to support. When redeeming their gift, recipients can search by organization name, keyword, EIN, city, state, and zip code. All 501(c)(3) nonprofits that maintain good standing with the IRS are available in the catalog—1.8 million of them currently. Along with the card, you could even include a list of recommended local nonprofits to consider in order to strengthen your brand's standing in the community.
4. Fill it Forward Water Bottles
With rampant plastic pollution damaging our environment, Fill it Forward water bottles are an inspiring tool to encourage people to reuse products, reduce waste and help combat climate change. Water bottles are common corporate gifts, but this one stands out from the rest. The Cupanion Bottle comes with a sticker that connects to the Fill it Forward app, a tool that tracks users' impact, monitors their hydration, and provides opportunities to give back.
After scanning the bottle's sticker with your phone, you can see how much waste has been diverted, emissions saved, and ocean pollution prevented. Plus, you can set hydration goals and reminders to make sure you're getting your fill of liquids. Custom programs even allow your company to track its collective impact, which is great for employee and customer engagement. Salesforce, for example, was able to report that its team diverted 200,000+ single-use bottles.
In addition to reducing waste through its reusable products, Fill it, Forward partners, with charities that specialize in bringing clean water and healthy food to those in need.
5. Wildwonder Drinks
Consciously sourced, clean, organic, charitable: Wildwonder is a sparkling drink that's good for your body and the community. Wildwonder is packed with live vegan probiotics, prebiotic plant fiber, superherbs, and fruit—a combination that makes for a healthy and happy gut. So much of our health begins in the stomach, from the immune response to mood, energy, brain health, and more. Rather than stuffing your team or clients with branded cupcakes, offer them something that shows you care about their wellbeing.
Rosa Li, Wildwonder's founder, grew up sipping her Chinese grandmother's "healing tonics" and was inspired to develop a new drink that incorporates the beneficial ingredients of her heritage. Each drink is made in California and 5% of profits go to "empowering women and marginalized communities." Wildwonder has also donated more than 10,000 bottles to hospitals, healthcare workers, and local food shelters. Their immunity-boosting flavors include Guava Rose, Mango Turmeric, Peach Ginger, Ginger Lemon, and Turmeric Pear—so much more appetizing than cold coffee from the breakroom.
Surprise Your Customers
Feeling like your corporate gifting strategy needs a facelift? Do you like the idea of pairing your social responsibility initiatives while driving ROI? The Postal Offline Marketing Automation Platform gives you access to a curated marketplace of thousands of unique gifts like these five stellar ideas above. We can help you devise a strategy, market more effectively, and supercharge your sales. Request a demo of Postal and we'll show you how our customers have made lasting impressions.
Corporate Gift Ideas that Surprise
Our emotions can intensify up to 400% when we're surprised, and we even physically freeze for 1/25th of a second, says author and researcher Tania Luna. In one Emory and Baylor study, the neuroscientist Dr. Read Montague noted that the results suggested that "people are designed to crave the unexpected." Capitalize on this human instinct by selecting unexpected gifts that will astonish your prospects, customers, or employees. From everlasting bouquets to whoopie pies, here are five corporate gift ideas that will keep you on their minds.
6. eTailer Ice Cream
Remember in grade school when your class would get an ice cream party for good behavior or at the end of the year? Send some of that childish delight to the office with four different gift options packaged with dry ice by eTailer. Go all out with an Ice Cream Office Party that includes enough frozen treats to serve 60 people, including Haagen-Daz chocolate mini cups, Dove ice cream bars, Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, and Snickers ice cream cones.
If you have a smaller crew to surprise, opt for the Ben & Jerry's 8-pack (eight pints of Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Therapy, Americone Dream, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, The Tonight Dough, Strawberry Cheesecake, Cinnamon Buns, and Toffee Bar Crunch), Ben & Jerry's 4-pack with Ghirardelli topping (four pints of Cherry Garcia, New York Super Fudge Chunk, Vanilla, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and a 16 oz. bottle of Ghirardelli chocolate sauce), or Haagen-Daz's 4-pack (four 14-oz. pints of Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and Butter Pecan). Rest assured that all these desserts are shipped in an insulated cooler with dry ice; they also come with a warning card on the top of the package so the ice cream surprise isn't left to melt in the mailroom.
7. Cupcakes from Baked by Melissa
Instead of a sheet cake going stale in the break room as each employee cuts their own sliver, opt for mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa. Their Latest & Greatest gift box includes 25 cupcakes in 12 different best-selling flavors, including three seasonal flavors and a mini of the month, plus eight original flavors, including Red Velvet, Cookie Dough, Tie-Dye, and other mouth-watering creations. Don't forget about the dairy-free folks: Baked by Melissa also has a Vegan Latest & Greatest gift option with 25 cupcakes in six different vegan flavors.
8. Idlewild Floral Gifts
Flowers are a joy to receive, but they quickly wilt and become an odorous, wilting mess on your desk. Idlewild Floral specializes in sending real flowers that have been expertly dried, so the natural gift adorns your space for months or years. The Dune Bouquet features light green grasses, white baby's breath, bunny tail, and white bell cups—all wrapped in paper and secured with a silk bow. The colorful Summer Bouquet is filled with gold Banksia, pink Sesame Bloom, orange Phalaris, and Safflower.
Idlewild also offers boxes and baskets like The Housewarming Box which pairs a dried bouquet with coastal farmed sea salt, a marble serving board, a kitchen towel, sourdough, and sea salt chocolate, and a candle—all elegantly packaged in a wooden box with a sliding lid top. The Lavender Gift Basket includes a mini bouquet with lavender chocolate from Markham & Floral, a candle from Tartine, and a bath soak from Fable Soap Co. Finally, Idlewild's Wildflower Box Gift features handmade ceramic mugs, a floral tea towel, a spring bouquet, and a candle.
9. Subscription Gifts
Subscriptions are the gift that literally keeps on giving—a great way to stay top-of-mind with leads, prospects, customers, or employees.
Gourmet Gift Baskets
Gourmet Gift Baskets' 1 2 3 Sweets Club Subscription includes three months of decadent goodies. In the first month, your recipient will get the Baked Goods Sampler Gift Basket, which includes chocolate chunk brownies, butterscotch blondies, chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownie cookies, whoopie pies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and peanut butter cookies. In month two, the Just For You! Soda Bucket arrives with drinks from Jones Soda (Berry Lemonade, Strawberry Lime, Green Apple), caramel popcorn, Strawberry Hi-Chew snacks by Morinaga, Sweet Tarts Ice Breakers Duos Strawberry Mints, and a Rainbow Nerds Theater Box. In the last month, the Classic Elegance Gift Tower will be delivered, featuring cinnamon sugar cookies by Byrd's Famous Cookies, Chichester Crunch snack mix, gourmet caramel popcorn, and chocolate and hazelnut Cubetti by Fusion Gourmet.
Looking for gift basket ideas for employees? Discover our blog post on the topic for 14 inspiring ideas.
Chef Bob's Coffee
Chef Bob's coffees, roasted in Florida and ethically sourced from farms around the world, aim to "brew to woo" by specializing in unique tastes and flavor profiles. The Artisan Roasts Premium three-month subscription delivers one bag per month of Chef Bob's coffee. The first month spotlights Papua New Guinea, whose volcanic soil gives the coffee a rich, earthy taste. In month two, Crème Brûlée shines, pairing well with cream and vanilla. In the last month, the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Dark Roast delivers a bold flavor that can be enjoyed as-is or with some cream and sugar.
1-800-Flowers
As one bouquet begins to wilt, a fresh arrangement from 1-800-Flowers will arrive at your giftee's doorstep with a Bloom of the Month subscription. For three months, a hand-picked seasonal arrangement and vase will be delivered to your chosen recipient, imparting new colors, aromas, and delight every thirty days.
10. Care Packages from Spoonful of Comfort
A thoughtfully curated care package takes time and effort to compile—let the experts at Spoonful of Comfort do the heavy lifting (and cooking). With the New Parent Care Package, you can give exhausted parents a night off from the age-old "What's for dinner?" discussion. Handcrafted, delicious soup is complemented with Bacci rolls, cookies, and a handy ladle. The Thank You Care Package, Get Well Soon Package and Sympathy Soup Gift Basket also feature soul-soothing soup, rolls, and cookies, all delivered in colorful, customizable packaging. A spoonful of Comfort also has gluten-free and vegan options to cater to the needs of your recipient.
Desserts, flowers, coffee, soup—thoughtful gifts like these are a fantastic way to show appreciation for clients, customers, and teams. Forget the branded pens and can coolers: a demo of Postal will open your eyes to the surprising breadth of corporate gift-giving options.
When your company gives a gift that your client will actually use, your odds go way up of being remembered and appreciated—which is what you desire for the recipient as well, right? These four ideas below illustrate how corporate gift giving can be modern, functional, and surprisingly delightful.
11. Self-Care Gift Sets
Something Splendid
Something Splendid is a woman-owned company all about spreading cheer and making the lives of gift-givers easier. Plus, every other month they donate a portion of their proceeds to a foundation through their Gift & Giveback program.
Sit Back & Relax Gift Box
It's all in the product name: Sit back and relax = the wish for your lucky recipient. Couldn't we all use an invitation to take a breather? This box includes Breathe Free Essentials, a calming blend of essential oils (menthol, eucalyptus, tea tree) that is dispersed through a gentle and moisturizing saline mist. Also included is a jade face roller, a handy little tool that can help improve blood circulation and skin tone and reduce inflammation.
While the aromatherapy and skincare soak in, kick up your feet in a pair of cozy mint green quarter socks. As your toes warm, your heart will, too: each order of Sky Outfitters socks means one pair donated to a homeless shelter. Finally, this gift box also includes Royal Treatment Tea Bags, a caffeine-free mint and lavender tea that is sure to top off that spa-like feeling.
Girl Boss Gift Box
Know a woman who is a total boss—in the best sense possible? Crushing goals, raising a family, serving others, running a business, volunteering her time, starting initiatives—she's doing a dozen things at once, and she deserves a break. This gift box has her covered with a mug, socks, candle, face roller, and hair ties.
The 11-ounce dishwasher-safe mug in this gift set features a charming illustration by Evelyn Henson and is perfect for sipping tea or coffee while relaxing or tackling a to-do list. The mint green comfy socks are quarter-length and feature an abstract white floral print. They pair well with the included mint Teleties, a no-rip hair tie that has a tight grip to keep your style in place.
Rounding out your box is a Rose Otto Voluspa Candle and a jade face roller. The hand-poured candle has notes of rose Damascena flower tops and Bulgarian rose essential oil. Breathe in the fresh scent while gently massaging your face with the luxurious jade roller whose green design complements the other mint-inspired gifts.
Breathe Deeply Gift Box
Our third Something Splendid gift set is all about pampering and pausing. Starting with the Breathe Deeply Towelettes from Happy Spritz, these essential oil towelettes are a convenient and biodegradable way to freshen up throughout the day. Featuring organic peppermint and eucalyptus, the wipes instantly cool and clean the face, body, and hands. Post wipe, spritz with the Breathe Deeply mini essential oil in your box which features the same delightful keynotes.
A soak in the tub is a classic way to decompress, and with Soprano Labs' Lavender Calm Bath Salt, the de-stressing process is even quicker. Four salt varieties mixed with lavender flowers and essential oil make for an instantly transporting experience. While you're at it, light your Go Be Lovely Emory Jar Candle from Illume: a delicious waft of mandarin, grapefruit, summer fruit, and sandalwood. At last, the Breathe Deeply Gift Box includes Avry Beauty's Shea Butter Hand Cream; massage into your skin after that relaxing bath for extra hydration and visibly nurtured skin.
Bestowal
Like Something Splendid, Bestowal Co. offers a variety of gift sets that focus on self-care and every day delights. Plus, their mission to "give gifts you would want to receive," means a curated collection that stands out from the norm. All their bundles are packaged with style and care and include a customized note on embossed stationery.
Lavender Escape Bundle
Lavender is well-known for its soothing properties, and this bundle is oozing with sighs of relief: Lavender Bath Salts, Lavender Chocolate Bar from Compartes, Lavender Eye Pillow, Grow-your-own lavender by Sprout Home, Lavender and Eucalyptus Bath and Shower Gel from Cowshed Relax.
Cool, Calm & Collected Bundle
With this bundle's 5" x 7" Marble Picture Frame, you'll be inspired to print one of the hundreds of photos sitting on your phone. Plus, this gift set includes a Binchotan Charcoal Mask, a charcoal candle from Apotheke, and Cow Pat moisturizing hand creme from Cowshed.
Chicago, Women-Owned, Relax Bundle
Another opportunity to support a woman-owned business, this bundle includes Bonnie Superbalm in Jasmine + Honeysuckle, Kaike Green Tea Clay Mask + Scrub, Chicago French Press Maple Pecan Organic Coffee, and So Fresh + So Clean Air + Linen Room Spray by Beverly & 3rd Candle Co.
12. Work from Home Gift Sets
Appointed
Work from Home Gift Set
The team at Appointed tried fruitlessly to find American-made desktop products that were elegant and well-made—so they created the products themselves. Their work-from-home gift set includes a refined charcoal gray notebook, a to-do pad, and a pencil set. Rather than reaching for an old college notebook or your kids' school supplies, these thoughtful products elevate the remote work experience.
Knack Shops
Office Essentials Gift Set
This set from Knack Shops includes everything one needs for a productive, stylish, and efficient workspace. The collection includes a notebook for visual thinkers (Grids & Guides by Princeton Architectural Press), an all-brass bullet space pen (chrome finish, designed by Fisher Space Pen Co.), a taco-shaped black leather cord wrap (by Coal Creek Leather, great for staying organized or traveling), a gold-trim stoneware mug (by Amy Hamley of California), and a power bank to charge your device (Lexon's Bali power bank is compatible with all smartphone brands).
Power Lunch Gift Set
As more people return to the office, this gift set can help ease the pain of having to pack a lunch again instead of using the home kitchen. The Porter Bowl is an attractive yet sturdy container for packing salads, leftovers, grain bowls, and more. Skip the disposable cutlery and use Porter's stainless steel silverware set, which travels easily in a silicone carrying case.
This gift set also includes a Future is Female notebook that makes a statement and helps streamline meeting notes and to-do lists. Finally, a power lunch needs a power bank: keep your phone going (and check your teeth for spinach in the surprise compact mirror) with the witty "OH, SNAP!" charger.
13. Lotions from ChikiButtah
Designed by a massage therapist, ChikiButtah products feature natural and organic ingredients that help repair and soothe all types of skin. Regardless of age or gender, lotions are a crowd-pleasing, fool-proof gift idea.
The Chiki on The Go Bag is filled with TSA-approved sizes of Chiki Buttah Balm, Chiki Lips, Chiki Shape Shifter (dry shampoo), and Chiki Chill (muscle tension balm)—a perfect gift as travel for business and pleasure begins to ramp up. Two other gift options include the Chiki Organic Hand Sanitizer (still in high demand as the pandemic lifts) and the Chiki Face Skin Rejuvenator, a face cream with hyaluronic acid, aloe, and nourishing oils.
14. Ohom Ui Mugs
How many times have you brewed some tea only to realize 20 minutes later that you forgot to drink it? Or maybe you had to rush to a meeting and your cup of joe went cold in the meantime? Ohom Ui mugs put an end to the wasted beverage. These ceramic self-heating creations keep your drink at 130°F / 55°C so you can sip at your own pace. Plus, its ingenious charging pad can wirelessly charge your smartphone—how useful is that?'
Interested in more gift ideas that are useful and bring joy to your clients? Request a demo of Postal or speak with one of our gifting specialists. We'd love to show how you can reap the benefits of curated corporate gift giving.
