As a business owner, you have to make sure that all your valued employees are happy and all your customers value your brand.

How to Make Your Corporate Gifting a Success

One of the best ways to do this is to show your appreciation with corporate gifting. So without further ado, let’s go through some tips and ideas that will help you figure out how to go on about corporate gifting.

But first, what is corporate gifting?

Corporate gifting refers to the act of sending someone a gift within your company. However, this doesn’t have to refer only to employees. A gift can be sent to clients, customers, employees, vendors, or prospects. Some businesses even send gifts to the families of these people too.

A corporate gift is usually sent as a:

1. Holiday gift
2. Birthday present
3. Client appreciation gift
4. Personal achievement reward
5. Professional achievement reward

Keep in mind that corporate gifting does not have to be too overwhelming and grand. It can be as simple as sending a gift basket.

Now, let’s see what you should do to make your corporate gifting a great success.

Create a budget

Whether you have purposely budgeted for client and corporate gifts or you just have a surplus in your budget at the end of the year, it’s important to give back to your employees and clients to make them feel valued.

Once you have determined how much money you can give for corporate gifts, you need to distribute the money to see if you can satisfy the following groups:

1. Your employees
2. Your clients or customers
3. Service providers

This budget, the budget for presents, needs to be a part of your general business plan. To create a solid business plan, look up some great business plan examples for inspiration. This will make it easier for you to cover all the aspects of a business plan, including the budget.

Interesting gift ideas

You should try to come up with a great gift idea for your own business. But if that seems too difficult for you, take a look at some proven gift ideas that have worked for others.

VIP treatment

You can show some love to your clients with a good care package. These can be artisanal snacks, premium electronics, or even high-end office supplies.

Snack + drinks box

This is a gorgeous gift box packed with quality healthy snacks, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Tech gadgets

If your company uses tech and sophisticated gadgets, it would make sense to gift your employees the best ones in the market. This could be a new laptop along with a power bank, laptop bag, and laptop case.

SnackNation has listed these corporate gift ideas that have worked for others and you could benefit from them too. However, if you believe that you can come up with something better, these could give you some ideas that you could use for your own situation.

Think about Taxes Before You Splash out

Keep in mind that sending corporate gifts can be tax-deductible, but it all depends on the type and value of the present.

For example, the IRS in the US claims that organizations can deduct gifts of up to $25 for each person per tax year. This is valid for gifts that are seen as either direct or indirect (given to an employee or to an employee’s family member).

So, if you give your employee a $65 basket as a gift to celebrate a personal milestone, $25 of that is tax-deductible. Incidental expenses, like engraving, can be deducted beyond this $25 figure (but only if they don’t add significant value to the present).

Restrictions for clients

Although many organizations allow their employees to receive gifts from the company, some don’t. Government employees or those in power may not be able to accept your gift, no matter how much they appreciate it. 

If you want to send a high-value gift, check with your customer’s company first to make sure they can accept it. If you know you would want to send gifts to your customers in the future, include a question in the welcoming process that inquires if they can accept gifts so you can archive them for later use.

Pick your vendors and set a balance per recipient

Set a program balance per gift recipient. Choose an amount, decide if it is a one-time gift or a recurring gift. This could be a yearly anniversary gift or something seasonal. Specify a time period when the balance can be spent.

Just make sure that if your employee does not spend their full balance, it doesn’t get lost. Just allow them to recoup the saved funds and bring them back in the budget for the next occasion.

If you want them to have bigger freedom of choice, you can provide them with a selection of vendors they would like to receive gifts from. These could be Nike, Apple, Airbnb, and so on. Not every employee has the same lifestyle, so it would only make sense to try and cater to everyone’s specific needs.

Final words

Now you’re all set. This year will be the year when your employees or clients will be amazed by your corporate presents.

Go through this mini-guide again and good luck. You’ll definitely make them happy.

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