Whether you want to show appreciation for a hardworking employee or let one of your most loyal customers know you value them, corporate gifting gets the job done. After all, who doesn’t love getting a surprise gift in their inbox or on their doorstep?
To cultivate meaningful and lasting relationships, however, you need to give the right gifts that you know will resonate with your recipients. If you don’t know where to start, check out our list of 41 corporate gift ideas that will make an impact on any employee or customer. We’ve broken our ideas down into these categories:
- Best Corporate Gift Ideas
- Corporate Gift Ideas for Employees
- Unique Corporate Gifts
- Corporate Holiday Gifts
- Socially-Conscious Gift Ideas
- Corporate Gifting FAQ
Let’s dive right into these top corporate gift ideas that you can use to motivate employees and appreciate customers.
Best Corporate Gift Ideas
The best corporate gift ideas fall under these seven popular categories. We’ll discuss more specific examples of each type of gift below, but let’s first explore why these are the best corporate gift ideas for any occasion.
1. eCards
eCards are unique, thoughtful corporate gifts with unlimited uses. Once you create a set of branded digital cards, you can send them at any time for any occasion. Send eCards to celebrate customers’ birthdays, to recognize employees, or alongside another corporate gift for an added personal touch. They’re inexpensive, heartfelt, and easy to send whenever you want as a quick gift of appreciation.
2. Gift boxes
These are some of the most common corporate gift ideas because they’re so flexible. You can order premade gift boxes or create your own, and you can fill them with anything you want, from food to branded items to candles.
3. Branded merchandise
Both employees and loyal customers love to receive items with your logo on them. New team members will feel proud to wear branded t-shirts and long-time customers will enjoy showing off their exclusive bags or stickers featuring your brand name. Plus, you’ll benefit from increased brand recognition when recipients wear or use their items in public.
4. Personalized gifts
Ultimately, the best corporate gifts are ones that appeal to the individual recipient’s likes and interests, so aim to personalize gifts whenever possible. If you’re not sure what an employee or customer would appreciate most, consider sending out a survey or even using AI to select personalized gift ideas based on an analysis of the recipient’s online presence.
5. Subscriptions
These days, there’s a subscription option for everything. Whether it’s for a streaming service, personalized coffee selection, or a local bookshop, you can find a subscription that just about anyone will like. Plus, these corporate gifts keep on giving for months, keeping your company in the recipient’s mind for an extended period of time.
6. Experiences
Some people swear that the best gifts are always experiences rather than physical items. Depending on your budget, experience gifts can range from local classes to team-building escape rooms to full all-expenses-paid vacations.
7. Choose their own gift
Not sure what kind of gift a certain employee might like? Let them choose their own! Many gifting companies allow recipients to choose their own gift from a list of pre-selected items in your price range.
Corporate Gift Ideas for Employees
Ready to start finding compelling gift ideas for your hardworking employees? These employee gift ideas can help you boost engagement and create a more positive work culture that inspires employee retention.
8. Employee recognition eCards
Our favorite way to recognize employees is to use eCards like these! Create a set of branded eCards to celebrate milestones, acknowledge accomplishments, or highlight your company’s values. Then, make the eCards available to everyone so that peers can recognize each other along with managers. These corporate gifts are small and simple, but they can make a big impact on your day-to-day operations.
9. Personalized mugs
Personalizing mugs for each of your employees can be a nice gesture at the end of a successful project or at an employee appreciation event. Brand the mugs with your logo, then add each employee’s name or an image that you know they’ll like. Ask managers and supervisors for input on employee preferences if needed.
10. Work-from-home accessories
It can be hard to engage employees who you don’t see face-to-face every day. One common solution is to send frequent gifts to let remote employees know you care about them. Work-from-home accessories like charging stations, desk organizers, and wireless phone chargers make great options for these employees.
11. Swag boxes
As we mentioned earlier, any merchandise branded with your company name and logo can be a popular gift, especially for new team members. You can add even more excitement to this gift idea by turning it into a box full of branded swag. Add in t-shirts, notebooks, hats, stickers, and anything else you think your employees would appreciate.
12. Starbucks gift cards
Don’t doubt the power of a simple, classic gift card for something almost everyone needs more of—coffee. When asked to choose between a Starbucks gift card and a free lunch or bottle of wine, you may be surprised how many people choose the gift card. These are great gifts to give employees for small achievements or milestones. Let them celebrate their hard work with free coffee!
13. Self-care boxes
Give your employees a break by sending self-care boxes. These curated boxes can be as simple or elaborate as you want them to be. Throw in a few bags of tea, some comfy socks, and a nice journal, or go all out with a certificate for a spa treatment and a nice bottle of wine.
14. Tote bags
Tote bags are useful, easy to personalize or add your company’s branding to, and popular with younger generations. Make your tote bag gift even more exciting by sending an eCard along with it!
15. Blue light glasses
Anyone who works in an office spends most of their day staring at a screen. This is not only hard on employees’ eyes, but it can also drain their energy and make it harder to complete tasks. Blue light glasses that filter harsh screen lights can help fix this issue and show your employees that you’re dedicated to improving their work experience.
16. Audiobook subscriptions
Have a lot of avid readers in the office? Give away six-month or even year-long audiobook subscriptions that let employees access thousands of books.
17. Laptop cases
You have a few options for turning laptop cases into fun employee gifts. You could add your company’s branding, let employees choose their favorite from a few options, or personalize the cases for each employee. Laptop cases can work especially well as onboarding gifts for new team members.
Unique Corporate Gifts
18. Plants
Succulents and other small plants are some of the most widely-appealing unique gifts for employees or customers. Plants liven up any space, whether it’s on an employee’s desk or in someone’s living room. Plus, you can easily add your logo and branding to planters through companies like Lula’s Garden.
19. Birthday eCards
Imagine getting a bunch of dynamic eCards with personal messages from each of your colleagues on your birthday. Or, what if you got a personalized birthday eCard with a 50% off coupon code from your favorite brand? Both of these options and more are possible through eCardWidget. Create branded birthday eCards that both your leadership and team members can send to celebrate each other on their special days.
20. Noise-cancelling headphones
We all know how hard it is to get important work done in a noisy office or when there’s loud construction happening outside the building. Since this is such a common challenge, noise-cancelling headphones are a widely-appealing corporate gift idea.
21. Tea subscription
For a unique subscription idea, consider giving tea subscriptions as corporate gifts. Recipients fill out a short quiz, then get personalized teas sent to their homes each month. These are available through online tea shops and can be given as a one-time gift box or a monthly subscription.
22. Book subscription
Don’t have many tea lovers on your list? Give out book subscriptions instead. Find a local or online bookshop that offers personalized book selection services and give the gift of books you know your recipients will love.
23. Lunch boxes
This is a unique but very useful corporate gift idea. Employees who go into the office every day might love to receive a trendy, reusable lunch box from their employer. These gifts are also environmentally friendly!
24. Cooking classes
If you’re looking for a skill-building experience gift, you can’t go wrong with an in-person or virtual cooking class. Get creative and build excitement by sending out eCard invitations like the example above.
25. Puzzles
Puzzles have gained popularity in recent years and can make for a pretty unique gift option. You can customize them with a design that’s relevant to your business and encourage customers to share photos of their finished puzzles on social media.
26. Hammocks
If your audience is full of outdoor enthusiasts or those who live in an area with plenty of popular hiking spots, hammocks are the perfect corporate gift idea. Just make sure you include straps to hang them up with, too!
27. Charcuterie boards
Charcuterie boards can be a long-lasting, useful gift for those who love hosting parties or getting creative in the kitchen. Make this corporate gift even more appealing by turning it into a gift basket and including a selection of cheeses, crackers, and fruits.
Corporate Holiday Gifts
Need a more seasonally-appropriate gift to give employees or customers? These corporate gift ideas will get anyone in the holiday spirit and inspire gratitude for your company’s thoughtfulness.
28. Holiday eCards
Holiday greeting cards are always appreciated this time of year. Save time and money this year by sending holiday eCards instead of physical cards to all your customers and employees. You can create multiple custom designs and add a personal message to each eCard to retain that heartfelt, personal touch.
29. Candles
Candles can work well as corporate gifts any time of the year, but there are plenty of popular scents for the holidays that can brighten up the season for recipients. Choose from large or small candles, classic wick or woodwick, and a wide variety of holiday scents. Or, create a candle gift box!
30. Hot chocolate
If you often give coffee or tea as gifts, spice it up around the holidays by sending hot chocolate instead. You can send a variety of hot chocolate flavors and even pair the gift with candy canes and a nice mug.
31. Blankets
Don’t want to align your corporate holiday gifts with a specific holiday? Opt for cozy blankets instead. Consider pairing a blanket with a hat and gloves if your recipients live in an especially cold place.
32. Champagne
Around New Year’s, you can’t go wrong with a classic champagne gift. Give bottles out to employees at New Year’s work parties or to customers at any brand events.
33. Baking gift set
Many people bake around the holidays, so gift sets of baking supplies are another good seasonally-appropriate option. Along with the baking supplies, add in a cookbook and a branded apron to round out the gift set.
34. Drinkware
The holidays also mean plenty of events, parties, and family gatherings. Help your audience out by sending sets of quality drinkware that they can use right away. Or, send out exclusive branded glasses instead.
35. Cocktail recipe book
In the example above, California Wines created a branded cocktail recipe book as a corporate holiday gift for customers and paired it with their eCard campaign. This is a unique twist on traditional recipe books that works well for the season.
36. Branded Christmas ornaments
Another fun corporate holiday gift idea is to create Christmas tree ornaments with your company’s branding. Make sure the design is creative and appealing so customers will want to add them to their trees year after year!
Socially-Conscious Corporate Gift Ideas
Did you know you can align your gifting strategy with your company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility? Customers and employees alike want to support companies that align with their values. These gifts can help you make it clear that you do.
37. Donations
The best socially-conscious corporate gift idea is simply to donate in your employee or customer’s honor. Reach out to the recipient to ask which nonprofit they’d like you to donate to on their behalf, or choose a nonprofit that you already know aligns with their giving preferences.
38. Volunteer grants
You can start a volunteer grant program at your company as a kind of long-lasting corporate gift for employees. These programs work by allowing employees to submit requests for grants to nonprofits they’ve already volunteered with. Then, your company sends a donation to the nonprofit based on how many hours the employee volunteered. This corporate gift allows you to support your employees and their philanthropic interests.
39. Gift cards to local businesses
For a more traditional corporate gift that’s still socially-conscious, consider giving employees or customers gift cards to local small businesses. These gift cards will bring attention to up-and-coming businesses and show that you support your community’s growth.
40. Gifts made from recycled materials
You can turn many of the corporate gift ideas we’ve already covered into more environmentally-conscious gifts by choosing options made out of recycled materials, such as candles and blankets.
41. Sustainable items
Similarly, you can gift items that promote sustainability in your recipients’ daily lives. Consider sending reusable water bottles, tumblers, bags, lunch boxes, or metal straws. Or, research companies that sell sustainable corporate gifts so that every item you send makes an impact.
Corporate Gifting FAQ
Before making your final selections, evaluate your overall corporate gifting strategy. The answers to these frequently asked questions can help you make the best decisions for your audience.
Why do companies send corporate gifts?
Companies send corporate gifts for a wide range of reasons. Sending gifts to employees shows that you appreciate them and improves your company culture, which can increase employee engagement, happiness, and retention. Companies that send gifts to customers aim to increase brand recognition, brand loyalty, and create stronger relationships with important customers.
How do you choose the best corporate gift ideas?
Always start by considering your audience. Use data on your audience’s preferences and values to determine what types of gifts they’d appreciate most, then ask for feedback after sending gifts to improve future selection. Other factors to consider include your company’s budget, brand voice, and gifting history. The best corporate gifts are relevant to both your business and your audience.
How should you send corporate gifts?
Evaluate the pros and cons of sending gifts via email, direct mail, or giving them out in person. It may make sense to hand out employee gifts individually at a party for a small company, for example, but sending digital gift cards to customers would be more effective for a larger business.
Wrapping Up Our Corporate Gift Ideas
Any of these gift ideas can help you build positive relationships with your customers and employees with the right personal touch. As you start sending out gifts, keep track of what works well and use that knowledge to send even better gifts in the future.
Check out these additional resources to learn more about corporate gifting best practices:
- Employee Gifts: A Complete Guide + Top 10 Gift Ideas. Read up on employee gifting basics such as pricing and timelines, plus check out ten more corporate gift ideas.
- 11 Top Corporate Gifting Companies & Platforms to Consider. These companies and platforms offer plenty of diverse options for corporate gifts. Learn more about each to make the best selection for your business’s gifting needs.
- A Complete Guide to Employee Recognition + Top 10 Ideas. Want to learn other ways to recognize employees in the workplace besides gifts? Check out our top ten ideas.
