What are Corporate Gift Programs and How to Build One?
Gift-giving is a time-honored tradition in corporate culture. It’s an opportunity to show appreciation for employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty by helping customers, delivering excellent customer service, or making their colleagues’ jobs easier

Gift-giving is a time-honored tradition in corporate culture. It’s an opportunity to show appreciation for employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty by helping customers, delivering excellent customer service, or making their colleagues’ jobs easier.
However, it’s also important to remember that gifting isn’t just about giving people company branded swags. It’s about connecting with them meaningfully and building relationships that last beyond the exchange of promotional products.
Today, we will discuss corporate gifting and how you can build a corporate gifting program.
What is a Corporate Gifting Program?
Corporate gifting programs are a great way to build goodwill with employees and customers. They can also be a great way to spread the word about your company.
Here are some of the top reasons why corporate gifting programs are so popular:
- It’s fun! Corporate gifting programs can be a lot of fun for employees and the Company. They allow employees to do something different, which is always good!
- They’re easy! Corporate gifting programs are accessible because they don’t require much organization—you need to set up an account on a site like ApparelnBags and let everybody know about it. Your employees will love that they don’t have to do anything but show up with their checkbooks and enjoy themselves!
- You’ll get paid for it! While traditional fundraising campaigns can be very time-consuming for you as an employer, corporate gifting programs can help you earn money for doing nothing but sponsoring an event at work!
How to Build a Corporate Gifting Program?
When creating a corporate gifting program, you must consider the different gifts your employees might need.
Certain things make a great company-branded swag, whether you’re giving out new toys or electronics. If you want to give your employees something they’ll use, consider these tips:
- The right size. Many think more significant is always better for gifts—but not so much! Smaller items are more useful and easier to transport than bigger ones, so think about how much space you have available in your office and what will fit there.
- The right color. The best way to get your employees excited about their new toy is to offer them something they can use right away—like a toy that requires batteries or charging time—and make sure it’s also in their favorite color!
- The right brand name or quality level. You don’t have to buy everything from one Company if it’s not practical for your company budget (or if you don’t believe in that brand). Just make sure whatever you’re buying is high quality and durable enough for everyday use
Here’s how you can start a successful gifting program at your business.
Create a Budget
The first step to building a corporate swag program is establishing a budget. While it may seem daunting, setting a budget for your swag program is pretty simple. You need to know where you want to spend your money, and you can do that through an excel spreadsheet or Google Docs.
Your Company’s swag budget should be determined by your employees, not some manager or financial officer. It means you need to get your employees’ buy-in so they’ll be invested in the program and want it to succeed.
Establish a Gifting List
Once you have established your budget, you should also figure out what kind of promotional product will be offered at each event—will there be t-shirts? Is there going to be any hoodie? Are there mugs or coffee cups with your logo on them?
You can also consider giving samples of your products to employees and clients visiting your office. This will allow them to sample the product and see how well it looks, feels, and tastes before deciding whether or not they want to purchase it later on down the road.
You can also give out gift cards to those who don’t want anything physical but still want to support your Company’s intentions. Gift cards are perfect because they can be used anywhere—and in any amount—without having any cash value attached!
This is crucial because it will help you identify what items will be useful to your employees and what they might not need or want. You don’t want to put something out there that no one wants or needs, so make sure that you check with everyone on the list and get their feedback first!
Put together A Code of Conduct
A code of conduct is a set of rules your employees must follow. A company needs to have one because it helps ensure that employees work within the boundaries of their employment contract, making them more productive and happy.
The code of conduct also protects all employees from lawsuits and other legal concerns. For example, if someone steals from your Company or comes into work drunk or high on drugs, you can use the code of conduct as the basis for taking action against them.
Make a List of Clients
Next, we will make a list of clients who will receive gifts. It’s essential to start with the people who need it most. You don’t want to give out things that will get lost or broken, so think about who your employees are and what things might be useful for them. For example, if you have a lot of men in your workplace, consider giving out men’s grooming products like shaving cream and razors. If you have more women working there than men, consider giving out women’s grooming products like body wash and deodorant.
Comprehensively, these clients include:
- Your team
- Current and future employees
- Vendors and suppliers
- Customers who have been loyal to your Company’s brand for years but are not currently within the Company’s reach (but could be!).
Select a Gifting Partner
Many platforms are available to help you engage your customers and build loyalty to your brand. The most common platform is probably ApparelnBags.
A company can choose to outsource the manufacturing of their swag, or they can take on the responsibility themselves. Most companies will want to outsource this part of their business because it requires less effort than managing it themselves, but the downside to outsourcing is that it will cost more money than if you were to do it in-house.
We must Say this!
Don’t overlook the people who make up the team behind your corporate gifting program—they also deserve recognition! After all, they’re the ones who make it all possible!
Remember to keep things simple—people don’t want to feel like they’re being sold something just because they’ve been told they have the power to buy it! Make sure whatever gift you choose is something that will be useful but not too expensive or extravagant (or else it could backfire).