Why Giving Employees Meaningful Gifts Pays Off

December 19, 2014
3 min read

Lisa Manfield

December is giving season and for many companies, that means giving back to the people at the heart of the business — their employees.

But before you start doling out the usual Christmas gifts like chocolates, wine or branded knick-knacks, consider these stats from a November Ispos Reid survey:

“54% of Canadian employees would prefer to receive a charitable gift from their employer rather than a tangible gift.”

Moreover, most employees prefer that any companies they deal with — vendors, suppliers, etc. — do the same.

At the top of Canadians’ wishlists this holiday season: “meaningful gifts.”

  • Two out of three Canadians would rather receive a gift that helps someone else
  • Three-quarters of Canadians agree that during the holiday season especially, they think more about those who are less fortunate.

Make an Impact During Giving Season

For employers, this means there’s no better way to give thanks this holiday season than by giving the gift of giving. And for some employers, that has translated to giving employees charitable dollars they can give on to any charity of their choice.

smartsavvyVancouver-based recruiting firm Smart Savvy wanted to tap into the spirit of charitable giving this holiday season with its 10 staff members. While the company has previously engaged in more traditional fundraising initiatives like charity benefits and auctions, this year it decided to give its employees charitable gifts.

“Giving a charitable gift gave us insight into people’s personal passions,” said Peter Reek, founder and principal at Smart +Savvy. “It was enlightening and refreshing to see where they wanted to reach out to.”

Smart Savvy staff members each received $25 to give away on Giving Tuesday (December 2), and were so enthusiastic about their gifts, they detailed their giving with moving comments on their blog.

“We got a ton of emails saying thank you,” Reek said. “The team was surprised and appreciative.”

jellyVancouver-based Jelly Marketing also opted to give their 11 staff members a charitable gift this season, similarly offering $25 to give away on Giving Tuesday.

“We believe that you’re not just what you do everyday, you’re more,” said Nico Bauman, director of operations and personnel. “Giving Tuesday reinforced that and we were able to help our staff act on their passions outside of the office.”

Before giving the charitable gift, Jelly gave staff some notice that it was coming so they could research and choose their charities thoughtfully. “The diversity of their choices was really broad,” Bauman said. “It was exciting to see the hearts of our team members coming out in different ways.”

Both companies received positive feedback from staff on the gifts. “The feedback we got was quite moving,” Bauman said. (You can read about it here). “Connecting with people on an emotional level made us realize what an incredible group of people we work with.”

“We’ll do it again,” Reek added. “As a company you get asked a lot to give. This allowed us to really have fun giving.”

Chimp makes it easy to launch and administer a corporate giving program. Track engagement, get insights on see employee interests, and drive real engagement with staff.

Want to give charitable gifts to your staff, clients, vendors or customers this holiday season? We can help! Give us a call at 1-877-531-0580 or email [email protected].