Boost Your Business with eCards

Create customizable eCards to impress your audience! Choose a design, add your logo and message, and let your audience share them with their friends.

Spread Love and Raise Funds with eCards

Show your supporters how much you appreciate them with our heartfelt eCards. Our platform allows you to collect donations directly through the eCard, making fundraising easy and effective.

Celebrate Your Employees with eCards

Empower peer-to-peer recognition with customizable eCards that enable employees to appreciate and recognize each other’s hard work. Foster a culture of appreciation.

Thank Your Donors with eCards

Recognize and thank your donors with heartfelt eCards that also streamline the giving process by collecting donations directly through the eCard. Show your gratitude and make a meaningful impact with our convenient solution.

Other Popular Use-Cases :   Customer AcquisitionEvent InvitationsCelebrate HolidaysRecognition eCardsGreeting Card SoftwareCelebrate Team-Member Anniversaries And more

A positive workplace culture leads to positive results. Work environments where employees feel motivated and happy to work stave off burnout and encourage healthy collaboration. Your recognition strategy is one of your best assets for making employees feel appreciated and connected to your workplace.

In addition to top-down appreciation, consider implementing peer-to-peer recognition. To help you get started with this work culture game changer, this guide will cover:

  • What is peer-to-peer recognition?
  • Peer-to-Peer Recognition Benefits
  • Peer-to-Peer Recognition Tips
  • Peer-to-Peer Recognition Ideas
  • Peer-to-Peer Recognition in Action: Double the Donation

Peer-to-peer recognition requires buy-in from your whole team to succeed. So what better place to start for earning that buy-in than solidifying your own knowledge? Let’s get started with a basic overview of what peer-to-peer recognition is.

Create an environment where employees are excited to work with eCards. Learn more.
Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Fostering a Strong Work Culture 9

What is peer-to-peer recognition?

Peer-to-peer recognition, also known as social recognition, describes the process of coworkers or teammates recognizing one another for their hard work. As long as neither is a formal supervisor of the other, employees don’t need to be on the same team or at the same work level to engage in peer-to-peer recognition with one another. Ultimately, it’s a laterally-focused team-building activity that strengthens relationships to build a positive work environment.

In contrast, is top-down recognition, which is when a manager or member of leadership recognizes an employee they are hierarchically above. This form of appreciation is still valuable but can feel more formal than peer-to-peer recognition, and as a result of most organizations having more employees than leaders, occurs less often.

The different between top-down vs peer-to-peer recognition.
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Peer-to-peer recognition is not hierarchy-focused. Rather, this type of recognition encourages giving kudos of all kinds to and from any employee. In other words, anyone can pass peer-to-peer recognition forward by highlighting coworkers’ successes and engaging employees across organizational departments.

Peer-to-Peer Recognition Benefits

Peer-to-peer recognition can lead to several benefits, such as greater retention, with studies finding 31% less turnover in businesses that have a strong culture of employee appreciation. Of course, while maintaining employee loyalty is essential, this is just one of the many benefits of peer-to-peer recognition.

Other advantages include:

  • Increased camaraderie and connection. When properly encouraged, peer recognition fosters a sense of teamwork and mutual appreciation. Praise from coworkers can feel more authentic and lead to improved work relationships, especially if participation in your peer-to-peer recognition program is voluntary.
  • A renewed perspective. As an employee, it can be tempting to become overly focused on your own workload and not notice how others are contributing. Peer recognition encourages employees to see themselves as part of a whole and makes them more aware of the good work their colleagues are doing. Plus, when everyone feels like they’re working toward a common goal together, motivation tends to skyrocket.
The individual vs team perspective an employee can have of their work environment.
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  • Company value promotion. Peer recognition is evidence that your company walks the walk when it comes to supporting employees. Provide structure for your peer recognition program by encouraging employees to connect their appreciation messages to specific company values.
  • Distribution of responsibilities. As a manager, being solely responsible for making sure every member of your team feels appreciated can be stressful. Peer recognition is a natural way to involve employees of all levels in healthy, productive company encouragement.
  • Positive ripple effects. Encouragement is contagious! Peer recognition can cause a chain reaction that uplifts employee spirits and encourages those who received appreciation to turn around and show appreciation to others.

As your company expands, consider how you can adapt your recognition programs as well. For instance, if your company adds a new value, or decides to have its employees work remotely, explore how you can take your peer-to-peer recognition program online.

Peer-to-Peer Recognition Tips

Before your organization rolls out a new peer-to-peer recognition strategy, you should have a few basic principles in mind before launch, no matter what idea you choose to implement.

Here are some tips to build sustainable, meaningful peer recognition habits:

  • Make recognition convenient. Employees should be able to show appreciation for one another quickly and easily. This ensures employees get fast feedback when they do something praiseworthy. Plus, the faster it is to participate in your recognition program, the less work time employees will spend writing out appreciation messages and the more time they’ll spend doing actions worthy of appreciation.
  • Use a system. For the most part, it’s up to employees who they recognize and what actions are worthy of recognition. However, try to provide some guidelines to make your peer-to-peer recognition system fair and organized. Talk with employees about what being recognized means and provide structured systems for how they can recognize their peers. We’ll discuss specific ideas and appreciation systems a bit later.
  • Prioritize authenticity. One advantage peer-to-peer recognition has over top-down is that it typically feels more authentic. To make sure this stays the case, avoid making recognition a hard and fast rule. Instead, show employees how to call out model employee behavior as they notice it. Then, leave it up to them to participate as much or as little as they desire. Remember, some shyer employees may hesitate to participate, but that doesn’t mean they’re not gaining the benefits of seeing that their workplace is an open and welcoming one.
  • Be specific. How exactly did a coworker represent a company value? Employees don’t have to go into too much detail, but encourage them to mention why the action they are calling out is worthy of recognition.
  • Make recognition fun. A surefire way to make your peer recognition program succeed is by making it fun. Consider including incentives like employee shoutouts and gifts to get people excited about recognition.
  • Separate informal and formal recognition. Recognition is positive, but be thoughtful about separating informal peer-to-peer recognition and serious acknowledgment for leadership that potentially impacts advancement and compensation. Be open with employees about what peer-to-peer recognition means, and save formal recognition for private meetings between employees and their supervisors.
  • Gather employee feedback. After implementing your peer-to-peer recognition system, check in with employees about their thoughts on it. Do they understand how it works? Is it easy to use? Do they wish it was more private? More public? Send out surveys to gather feedback and try out top suggestions.

Above all, prioritize relevance, specificity, and authenticity in your peer-to-peer recognition program. The more heartfelt and voluntary your peer recognition is, the better.

Peer-to-Peer Recognition Ideas

As long as your employees are happy to participate and feel positive about your system, there are no wrong ways to implement a peer-to-peer strategy. 

However, to get you started, here are a few of our top ideas: 

Send eCards

eCards are digital greeting cards that can be delivered via email, text message, or social media. When it comes to peer-to-peer recognition, eCards are an easy but fun and meaningful way for employees to show appreciation for each other. 

An example of an employee appreciation eCard for demonstrating the company value of respect.
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To help your team send effective appreciation eCards, walk through these steps with them:

  1. Choose an eCard design. With tools like eCardWidget, you can brand your eCards with custom templates and imagery to make them relevant and special to the receiver. You may also want to add a theme according to your company’s values and mission. That way, employees can easily recognize their peers for how they brought value to the organization.
  2. Write a message. Encourage employees to write messages on their eCards calling out the specific actions their colleagues did that deserve recognition. These messages add a personal touch and also make the recognition more meaningful by making it more specific.
  3. Send the eCard. Employees just need to hit send to deliver their eCard via email. However, eCardWidget offers a few other options for employers to explore to make eCards more effective. For instance, you can set up your eCard platform so a copy of every eCard is sent to leadership as well as the recipient. This helps you keep track of what’s happening at your business and lets you see how employees are using eCards.

Now employees know how to use eCards, but when should they use them? Before talking with your team about how eCards should be used, consider these example scenarios of eCards in action:

  • New employee milestones. A new team member just closed their first deal! With customizable digital eCards, a coworker can send a newly onboarded employee a quick congratulations to their inbox in seconds.
  • Experienced employee milestones. Whether it’s five years at the business or a record number of deals closed, a coworker can send a meaningful message to make an employee’s anniversary special.
  • Employee encouragement. Some work weeks are tougher than others. If a coworker knows their fellow employee is putting in extra effort, they can send an eCard as a reminder to keep up the good work.
  • Demonstration of company values. eCards can help you build your company culture by encouraging employees to send them when they notice one of their colleagues fulfilling your values. For example, you might create eCards employees can send when they see someone going the extra mile for a client, doing their part to be a team player, or showing strong leadership on important projects.

eCards are highly flexible, and the best way to use them depends on your business’s unique approach to peer-to-peer recognition. To learn more, take a look at this video from our team about how eCards can impact your appreciation strategy:

Put the power of recognition in your employees' hands with workplace appreciation eCards. Learn more.
Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Fostering a Strong Work Culture 13

Offer gifts

Gifts are a tried and true incentive for peer recognition. As part of your peer-to-peer appreciation strategy, employee gifts should become a normal part of your recognition process and go beyond birthday and holiday celebrations. Meeting quarterly goals, completing model work, and representing company values well are all reasons to celebrate employees with gifts.

Create a budget for gifts, and determine how you’ll incorporate your peer-to-peer element into handing them out. Standardize the gift-giving process and price range so recognized team members can receive gifts they are excited about without straining your company’s finances.

Peer recognition gift ideas can be practical and personal. Some top examples include:

  • Technology gifts, like an extra monitor
  • Organizational gifts, like a stylized planner
  • Branded gifts, like company merchandise
  • Edible gifts, like a box of donuts or a tea sampler
  • Recreational gifts, like books, games, or gift cards

Employee gifts are usually a combination of top-down and peer-to-peer recognition since ultimately your company needs to approve and provide the gift. For example, you might allocate $25 to each employee each quarter to spend on a gift for a fellow team member. Or, you might offer a selection of pre-chosen items and invite employees to distribute them amongst themselves.

Give employee awards

Some employees will feel more motivated and engaged if they receive an award for all their hard work. Awards give employees assurance that their efforts are noticed and appreciated and provide an opportunity to celebrate top performers.

Turn employee awards into a peer-to-peer recognition program by allowing employees to nominate their coworkers for one or a range of awards. Decide if these awards should be for individuals or if entire teams can share an award, and be sure to put a rule in place about whether employees can vote for themselves.

Recognition awards can take many forms, such as:

Employee awards, written out below.
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  • Plaques
  • Trophies
  • Certificates stating the employee’s or team’s accomplishments
  • Perks like the VIP parking spot
  • Bonuses

Employee awards work best for teams that enjoy public recognition and or will be motivated by competition.

Post on social media

Use your organization’s social media to highlight peer recognition. On LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform your business uses, recognize employees, and encourage team members to be a part of the online celebration.

An example of a shout out on LinkedIn.
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Just like with employee awards, consider gathering nominations for whom team members would like to see recognized. Gather peer quotes and ask coworkers to describe how the employee they nominated pushed new initiatives forward. Then, invite them to share the post, add their congratulations, and expand on what they appreciate about their team colleagues in the comments.

You can also incorporate a peer-to-peer approach to top-down social media recognition. For example, for an employee that hit a major milestone, like 10 years at the company, you could ask for short video clips of employees recognizing them and their accomplishments. From there, compile their responses into a thank you video and share it with the employee to show how their hard work is admired and appreciated by your entire team.

Make a donation

Workplace giving is a popular strategy for engaging employees, but with the right adjustments, it can also be an effective recognition strategy.

Donating doesn’t have to be a solo activity, and giving to causes team members care about can be a meaningful way for peers to recognize each other. For instance, if you know an employee is passionate about a particular cause, such as animal rights, company leaders and team members can work together to donate in their name.

Most nonprofits allow people to make gifts in another’s name with just the click of a button. The cause receives extra help, and the recognized employee receives confirmation about how their co-workers have gone the extra mile to appreciate them and support a good cause.

To prepare for this type of peer recognition, we recommend gathering a list of nonprofits that each of your employees supports. And, after donating, peers can send the employee a charity eCard as proof of their recognition.

Even better, employees can request a matching gift from their employer when donating on their peer’s behalf. Corporate matching gifts are a great CSR practice that not only makes employees feel recognized but also adds to a positive workplace environment.

Here’s how the matching gift process works:

  • An employee donates to the chosen nonprofit.
  • The employee navigates to your CSR software portal to fill out a matching gift request application.
  • A member of your leadership team reviews and approves the match request.
  • The nonprofit receives a check from your CSR vendor for the given amount.
  • The honored employee is informed about the donation made in their name.

Essentially, rather than asking just employees to reach into their wallets, matching gifts show that the business is a partner in giving and is right there with them when it comes to making a difference.

While your business doesn’t need CSR software to host a matching gift program, it’s a useful tool for managing donations, tracking spending, and ensuring no matches get forgotten. Plus, some CSR platforms have matching gift auto-submission features, which allow employees to bypass manually filling out a request form and submit their application automatically after making their donation.

Offer a free lunch or coffee

Who doesn’t love a free lunch? You can spice up your peer recognition program by having peers nominate one another or take each other out for a free meal or coffee. If your company is mostly remote, you can use food delivery services as a reward for their hard work.

Other food-related incentives can look like gift cards, coupons, or even a pre-made dessert basket. Or, if you know a remote employee has a knack for cooking, send them a meal kit with recipe instructions. This will show them that you appreciate their work, which results in your employees being more engaged in the workplace.

Peer-to-peer recognition fosters employee engagement and alleviates major stressors like burnout and fatigue. When employees feel valued for their work, they are more efficient and feel more connected to your organization as a whole.

Peer-to-Peer Recognition in Action: Double the Donation

We’ve explored several potential peer-to-peer recognition options, but now let’s dig into a successful ongoing program by one of our customers, Double the Donation.

Double the Donation is a nonprofit software company that faces a challenge many modern businesses do: how to keep their team engaged and connected in the age of hybrid and remote work. With the use of eCards, Double the Donation came up with a creative solution to ensure employees receive both instant appreciation and public recognition.

Their peer-to-peer recognition strategy is a two-step process that works like this:

  1. Employees send eCards. When an employee does something worth celebrating, team members are encouraged to send eCards recognizing their coworkers. Double the Donation’s eCards specifically call out various company values, helping guide employees on what types of actions they should be striving for and showing appreciation for.
  2. Employees share eCards at monthly all-hands meetings. Throughout the year, employees send eCards back and forth whenever they want to recognize one another. Then, once a month, the company gathers eCards and presents them at an all-hands meeting. This allows team members to feel appreciated twice, provides employees with a little public recognition, and calls out actions worth recognizing to the entire team.

Another perk to Double the Donation’s strategy is how making recognition public allows different teams to connect with each other. At your business, everyone is ultimately working together toward the same goal, but someone in sales might have no idea about the great work your product development team is doing, who in turn isn’t aware of the customer service team’s endeavors.

With public peer-to-peer recognition, employees can celebrate the work they do see and get to hear about all the work they don’t!

Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Additional Resources

Peer-to-peer recognition invites employees to take an active role in creating a positive work environment where team members are valued, acknowledged, and supported.

To get your new peer-to-peer recognition strategy up and running, be ready to talk with your team and have open discussions about your current recognition system. Chances are that you’ll discover new insights into existing practices and how you can successfully launch your peer-to-peer strategy.

To learn more about motivating employees, check out these additional resources:

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