Why Ellen-style corporate gifting is wrong - and how to fix it

Is there anyone wouldn't want to be in the studio audience for the Ellen Degeneres Show ‘12 Days of Giveaways’?

In the lead-up to the Christmas holidays, Ellen generously showers her entire audience with gifts ranging from toys to smart TVs to holidays. Her show is fun, light-hearted and a massively impactful marketing platform for the companies that participate. (Not to detract from Ellen’s extensive philanthropy in her own right.)

Watching these shows in December 2018 got me thinking: While the guests were clearly thrilled to receive their gifts (I remember the LEGO / Legoland holiday on this show), was I watching short-term gratification or something more life-changing? What would the impact of these gifts be? And in my own sphere of influence, what should companies like us be doing to thank their clients at the end of every year?

Don’t we as corporates have a responsibility to do good? Not just in how we run our businesses and our ethics, but in the little things too. How can we show appreciation for our clients without wasting money on transient tokens like whiskey and chocolates - or worse, self-promotional branded merchandise that end up as landfill? (Nobody really wants a spanner like flash drive with some other company’s logo engraved on it.)

Surely providing impactful gifts to people who truly need them is more in the spirit of Christmas?

We want our clients to feel good about working with us. Not just because we deliver great work but because we donate part of our profit towards charitable causes. At the end of the year, we’d like to thank our clients not just for their business - but also for enabling us to change people’s lives. The more we earn, the more we can donate.

Donating the money we would have used on client Christmas gifts can effect far more real, long-lasting positive change on those who receive it.

So at the end of 2018, we decided to forego client gifts and instead donated to 5 children’s homes from West to East Africa to the Indian Ocean Isles. Here’s what happened, thanks to our clients:

Of course, we’re not the first to think this way. Many companies donate a percentage of their income to causes close to their heart. Toms’ One for One donates a pair of shoes, eye tests and treatment, or clean water each time they sell a particular product. Many private companies have produced and sold RED? licensed products, raising over $500m to date for HIV/AIDS projects in Africa.

You probably don’t have to look far in your own community to find locally-made products that make great gifts AND support small industries or micro-entrepreneurs. If you feel you have to give your clients gifts, there are many conscious, ethical options that give back.

But if you reckon your clients won’t miss yet another bottle of wine, send them a heartfelt ‘thank you’ card and tell them how they’ve helped spread truly meaningful goodwill.

Chris