Christmas gift from work

[LajesticVantrashell]

So, I've been given the unenviable task of coming up with suggestions for work gifts.

There are around 100 of us, geographically spread out. Every year, my company throws a big bash, gives us the afternoon off, free food and drinks. Most people go. It's enjoyed by all.

We obviously can't do that this year so they want to give everyone a gift (budget £75-£100 each). The MD wanted to give everyone a bottle of whiskey from the distillery next to us, but I've pushed back on that as not everyone drinks, and not everyone drinks whisky!

They're not sold on vouchers or hampers, but I think this is the best option as it gives people choice. I keep reiterating that it's not a thank you if you're given something you don't want or can't use.

So with that budget, what would you appreciate most from your company??

With that budget, I would love my company to donate to a struggling charity. Maybe offer a choice of 3 and spread the donations!

Much better than buying gifts that some people won't want/will end up re gifting.

I came on to say love2shop or something similar that can be spent at a range of places!
I would personally hate whiskey (pregnant and don't like it anyway) or a hamper (we have enough chutney and clutter)!

I'd rather have it added to a cash bonus

I love the Just Eat idea, its the closest thing to having the cancelled party so it makes a lot of sense.

I like the 75/25 split. £75 on a prepaid card would make a sizeable dent in shopping for the week or for Christmas dinner/treats, or allow someone who’s struggling to get a few gifts for their child/children.

Homeless shelter or local women’s shelter (or divided between the two) would be my suggestion for the charity portion.

If your budget is £75-£100 then I'd give a £50 supermarket voucher as the safest voucher option voucher wise.

Then the rest in hamper, especially if you've found a website where you can do some choosing,yourself.

I'd prefer a supermarket voucher, or I'd be happy with Amazon due to the sheer variety, and they are very easy to use.
We used to be given bottles of wine at work, and I always gave mine away as we don't really drink, and then last year home based workers got a Majestic voucher so at least we could choose. Whiskey would be totally wasted on me (and I'd be cross to have to give it away at that value), and as I'm gluten free a hamper wouldn't be much cop either

No to JustEat, we hardly ever get takeaways.
No to Amazon, won’t use them as to don’t pay enough tax and have far too large a market share already.
No to hampers, as they always contain several items nobody wants to eat.
No to the virtue signalling charity donation - let the company make its own donation rather than directing what happens with my Christmas bonus.

I’d like to a voucher, and I’d like to choose which shop I got a voucher for.

One4All vouchers are an absolute nuisance to use.

I've been getting vouchers from the ONS for taking part in the Covid-19 study. They send me a code by email, and then I go to a website called vouchershopexchange.co.uk and choose which retailer/s I'd like to receive vouchers for. I don't know if the system is available for anyone to use, but might be worth looking into.

A voucher from an artist to get a family portrait or pet portrait drawn. I know a good one 😎

A choice of a few things makes most sense. Definitely not alcohol across the board though. Alcoholism has soared this year and lots of people are quietly worried or trying to cut back.

How about a card with a photo /printout of what you thought they would like,to show some thought went into present then give them a choice of vouchers to choose from so they could get the present if they wanted it or vouches for what else they might need / want at this time of the year and lots of people are in need this year.

How about suggesting you make a company donation to a charity instead this year?

Stationery

Fair enough - I hadn’t considered that actually a lot of people might quite reasonably not want a portion of the Christmas gifts to go to a charity on their behalf.

So my vote goes to £100 on a prepaid Visa card.

I've been getting vouchers from the ONS for taking part in the Covid-19 study. They send me a code by email, and then I go to a website called vouchershopexchange.co.uk and choose which retailer/s I'd like to receive vouchers for. I don't know if the system is available for anyone to use, but might be worth looking into.

The company I used to work for used this site, and it was great being able to choose the retailer. I think you can also choose to donate your voucher to charity.

@IToldYouIWasFreaky

I've been getting vouchers from the ONS for taking part in the Covid-19 study. They send me a code by email, and then I go to a website called vouchershopexchange.co.uk and choose which retailer/s I'd like to receive vouchers for. I don't know if the system is available for anyone to use, but might be worth looking into.

The company I used to work for used this site, and it was great being able to choose the retailer. I think you can also choose to donate your voucher to charity.

Yes, you can opt to donate to charity.

@myhobbyisouting

£100 bonus for everyone. Easy. They are there for the money so it's a no brainer. Vouchers are crap, hampers are usually wasted mostly, whiskey at least increases in value so could be an investment but I wouldn't want one.

There are tax implications above a certain value for cash

I thought with One for all vouchers, you just went into the shop and spent them?

We got one last Christmas and we used it to buy the special NYE meal deal and some other treats and nibbles from M&S with no messing about or downloading of codes. Or could have used it for many other places

Either let people choose from a selection of vouchers or give a supermarket voucher from one that has a good presence in your area and also fits in with the demographics of your company - ie not Waitrose if most people are low paid.

While people might think 'it's nice to have some guilt free treats' that's not the case as many people on a budget will just think 'I could have got twice as much for this money in Asda'.

And if someone wants to use the money for a treat not sold in supermarkets, they just spend the voucher in the supermarket on their normal shopping and use the money they didn't use on the shopping for the treat. Easy.

No to Etsy or Not on the High Street because then you're giving people the chore of having to choose an unnecessary and overpriced niche item that they might not want.

No to John Lewis unless you're an affluent company and there is one locally. Only on Mumsnet is JL seen as a normal shop, most people buy whatever JL sells but from supermarkets, Wilko, Amazon etc.

No to Just Eat etc. I'm not really sure what purpose they serve, except to make money off other people's hard work and have never used them. If I want a takeaway, I just go direct to the takeaway in question.

No to gift hampers, they are usually terrible value for money and include niche things that a lot of people won't want.

Mass bungee jump, obviously with the correct social distancing between jumpers.

It has the added bonus of being sort of team building too.

@Ninkanink

I like the 75/25 split. £75 on a prepaid card would make a sizeable dent in shopping for the week or for Christmas dinner/treats, or allow someone who’s struggling to get a few gifts for their child/children.

Homeless shelter or local women’s shelter (or divided between the two) would be my suggestion for the charity portion.

Perfect. (Depending on what your company does, the charity could be something connected to that - so (to pull an example out of the air) a plumbing company might sponsor a block of loos in a place with poor access ro sanitation facilities, or something).

I'd 100% do the hampers, but ask them to opt for a hamper - so a chocolate hamper, cheese and biscuits hamper, wine hamper (they can then specify red, white, or rose), spirits hamper (again, specify what they like), or a pamper hamper.

Obviously the ones who choose spirits will get a smaller hamper than those who choose chocolates, but £75-£100 will make really, really nice hampers, and there's plenty time to organise if you email out asking for preferences now. A quick survey is all that's needed!

@BarbaraofSeville John Lewis have a huge online arm and will deliver pretty much anywhere. Their vouchers can also be used in Waitrose and the Waitrose online stores (florist, pet, cellar) and its is effectively a worker's cooperative, paying a huge amount of tax in the UK (@limafoxtrotcharlie). I think food banks would also be delighted to receive JL/Waitrose vouchers as they work closely with them too, if anyone would prefer to donate their vouchers.

I'd prefer they donated to charity, perhaps letting us choose which ones.

Christmas bonuses are all very nice, but in my experience if you give less than the previous year it causes ill-feeling, and certain gifts are thought of as tokenistic. Or you have the example of whisky which some people don't like or are teetotal.

This thread is a perfect example of why you don’t ask for opinions when doing something like this- you’re not going to please everyone. Personally I think people should accept what they’re given graciously as with any other gift. Sell it/regift as you so choose.