Corporate gifts are something you should consider giving to top performers, valued employees, important clients, or administrative staff. Discover inspired ideas for business gifts.
If, as an employer, you’re in a situation where you might not be authorized to give out bonuses, this is one way to give your employees a little bit of extra cash. Every single one of these candles comes with a $2 bill. Some come with more than that, up to $100, and some come with a code that can be redeemed for a special $2,500 grand price. Not bad for just a candle.
They’re relatively inexpensive, and there’s an element of surprise to every gift. Plus, with lots of scents to choose from, you can pick a different scent for each person, and make your gift feel more personalized. Who knows? Someone in your office may even find the “jackpot” worth $2,500.
Whether you’re talking about a client or employee, everyone knows the office runs on coffee. The office coffee machine has long replaced the water cooler, after all. While you could give a generic gift card, we think it’s much better to gift a coffee gift set, which allows the recipient to sample different interesting beans.
This particular set focuses on small roasters in the Seattle area, a region known for coffee prowess. Included are 16 1.8 ounce bags of whole bean coffees. Ground is also available, if you prefer.
We included this gift set among the best coffee gift baskets, all of which would make a great corporate gift, too.
A pen is a traditional business gift. A fine pen is the mark of many an executive. If you’re shopping for high-end pens to give as a business gift, Montblanc is the first name that comes to mind. Made to exacting German standards, this elegant pen ships in a gift box, and even has an individual serial number. Because of its premium price tag, this is a gift that is best suited for close colleagues, immediate superiors, or other important people in your business.
While these aren’t exactly a gift by themselves, don’t underestimate the power of an individually-written thank you card. When thanking a client for their business, be sure to touch on one or two highlights of your working relationship that will both remind them of the good experience they had and make them feel like you’re paying attention to the details. When thanking an employee, indicate exactly how they rose to the challenge at hand. Feeling valued goes a long way toward loyalty.
Even if you love your job and office life in general, everyone can relate to a little light-hearted joking about the grind. I certainly go to my fair share of meetings every week, but I’m always prepared – both to banter and to actually give the status updates.
Frequent fliers know that neck pain is a given on a plane. Travel neck pillows are common, but few actually do the job they’re supposed to do. This option from Trtl takes a different approach and is more of a padded brace that keeps the head at the perfect angle. It’s less bulky than normal travel pillows and actually supports your neck where you need it. Available in gray, black, or coral.
Is your client or employee a bicycle commuter? Once they get to the office, they’ll need somewhere to stash their bike. This little device is billed as the world’s smallest bike rack. It works by gripping the tires instead of anything else and comes in sizes to accommodate road bikes, hybrids, or mountain bikes. A handy mounting guide is included right in the packaging.
This book would make an equally good gift for the employee you’re mentoring for a leadership position or the client who is launching a new business or initiative. It examines the culture around business leadership and asks us to bring courage, trust, and empathy to the leadership role to create stronger, braver leaders. If you don’t know Brené Brown, check out her TEDtalk on vulnerability to get an idea of her approach.
Large snack boxes are particularly good for teams, whether it’s your own or a client’s. It takes a lot of energy to stay on top of your game, so sending along some quick eats for the office keeps people fueled up to tackle the next project. There are 60 different snacks in this box, including a variety of candy, granola bars, chips, cookies, crackers, and more.
If you really want to go all-out, think outside the box. This pick is probably better aimed at employees than clients, but then, I don’t know your clients. Setting up a cleaning service (even if it’s just once or twice a year) could be a real boon to those of your employees who are in the office more than 40 hours a week. I work about 60-70 hours most weeks, and I can personally attest that my house cleaning lags now and again because of it. Removing stress in other parts of life can help ease stress in the workplace and make people feel valued.
Buying a gift for your employee’s or client’s pets is a nice touch and shows you care about them as people, not just as a transaction. Once, when I was in the final stages of buying a car, a sales rep at the car dealership gave me a couple of toys for my dog, who I’d only mentioned once or twice.
It wasn’t necessary at all; the deal was already done and I was happy customer. It was just a nice gesture that showed attention to detail and appreciation for the business.
This super tough dog toy from West Paw is a great place to start. It’s made from Zogoflex, the company’s proprietary polymer that floats and stands up to dogs far better than the average plastic.
Everyone knows the name Eames from the eponymous chair, but few are aware of the total impact Charles and Ray had on postwar office culture. Equal parts design and philosophy, this book will interest fans of mid-century modernism as well as those seeking to understand the interplay between the personal and the professional.
Depending on deadlines, just remembering to eat lunch everyday can prove to be difficult for some people. Help them remember to be intentional about their sustenance with this bento box that makes healthy meal prep and planning easy. It’s airtight when sealed and completely BPA free.
I always recommend headphones as a good business gift or office gift. The ubiquity of open office layouts makes it very difficult to design, program or analyze without some way of blocking out the noise and putting on some motivating jams. Pair that with even a semi-active travel schedule that requires public transit commuting or regular flying and the need for noise cancelling headphones becomes obvious. I like this inexpesive option from TaoTronics, which has continued to improve over the last few years. A five minute charge gives you about 25 hours of play time and they look rather sharp.
Anyone who must commute with their laptop everyday needs a worthwhile bag in which to transport it. Whether employee or client, this bag manages to be inexpensive but worthy of abuse while looking pretty smart. It’s made of ballistics nylon and padded in all the right places to hold laptops up to 17 inches. The all-black look coordinates with virtually any outfit.
Whether it’s a colleague who has just started with your firm or a client for whom you’ve just designed marketing materials, giving a simple gift like a business card holder is a nice touch. For clients, it’s a value-add and a lovely way of presenting your finished product, particularly if that business is new. For new colleagues, presenting them with this filled with cards listing their new position is a good way to make them feel welcome. These stainless steel versions are available in six colors, while the leather variant is available in 13 different colors and textures.
Giving a bottle of wine in appreciation of a client relationship or a job well done is a classic move, but you can take it a step further by presenting the bottle in this personalized wine box. The name field is customizable with up to 12 characters, which could either be used for individual names or the name of an organization.
Add a little touch of customization to your thank you bottle, which can help clients remember you and remind employees you value them.
In the modern era where our attentions are divided among day jobs and side hustles, an overabundance of screens, and the increasing pace of worklife, time management is no longer enough to accomplish everything we need to in a day. This book by Maura Nevel Thomas posits that we need to manage our attention most of all in order to lower our stress levels and boost productivity.
This book presents strategies for staying proactive and in-control, which in turn lead to success both personally and professionally. Even better, it can be read in the course of a single lunch break. Great for helping employees and clients alike stay motivated and productive.
Do you run an office fitness initiative? Encourage healthy hydration with these infuser water bottles. People can place fruits, fresh mint, or other natural ingredients into the bottle to make their water taste great. Every cup is leakproof, BPA-free, dishwasher-safe, and shatterproof. Plus, the bottles hold 24 ounces, but still fit in the average car cupholder.
A gardening gift is a nice gesture during the coldest months of the year, when we could all use a little more greenery in our lives. Additionally, a little bonsai tree makes a great gift because it symbolizes a person’s growth within the company. Plus, if your corporate philosophy takes cues from Japan, then a bonsai tree really is a spot-on choice. This kit from Plant Theatre includes everything they need to grow three mini trees. A similar kit we like from Nature’s Blossom has the materials to grow four trees.
We included one of these kits on our best gifts under $25 post if you’re looking for more ideas around that pricepoint.
Looking for an affordable, practical gift for your sales team, or for people in your organization who travel frequently for business? These hardside carry-on suitcases are ideal for frequent flyers. They are compact, rugged, free-wheeling, expandable, and available in multiple colors. You could further customize them by applying your company’s logo sticker to the exterior of the bag, if you so choose.
Fruit baskets are a traditional holiday gift, but you can also give them year-round as birthday gifts or performance incentives. They’re a healthy way to thank someone for their work over the past year, or to build a relationship with a new client. This particular basket contains two varieties of pears, two varieties of apples, oranges and mandarins, and a fruit in season. There are also some other assorted snacks, such as cheese and almonds. Do note, however, that this basket contains potential allergens. If you have anyone on your gift list with a dairy or nut allergy, you should avoid this basket.
Similar to the wine gift box, celebrating a big win either for your company or the client sometimes means popping a bottle of champagne, which is an opportunity to class it up to extend the gift. To that end, we recommend Corkcicle’s ice bucket in either gunmetal or white to add the finishing touch to a celebratory tipple.
Corkcicle products keep things at the proper temperature for hours – up to 48 in the case of this bucket – and they look great doing it. You could also add some of Corkcicle’s stemless champagne flutes to make it a set.
If the client or employee in question also happens to be a dog lover, you can acknowledge what everyone already knows with this mug. Dog owners are only putting in the hours so they can spoil their dogs.
This is a standard 11 ounce mug and is both dishwasher and microwave safe.
A personalized sign works in a variety of instances in either employee or client relationships. For employees, you can honor a recent wedding or home purchase and let them know you’re thinking of them even outside of work.
For clients, you might use this to display the name of a company that you’ve helped with. It’s got a rustic vibe, so it will only work in some applications, but it could work for the interiors of restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries, and even some retail locations. It could also be useful if you’re a real estate agent and your client has just closed the purchase of their home.
