Christmas Gifts for Employees at a Small Business (2026): Cash, a Gift, or Both?

We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide covers the other options too.

Key facts

• 27% vs 1%: asked how they wished their company showed appreciation, 27% of employees in an Express Employment Professionals poll chose "Cash bonus", 1% chose "Gift items other than money" and 35% chose "A combination of the above" (SHRM, Dec 2014; old data).
• The gift still does more than its price. In a field experiment, Kube, Maréchal and Puppe found that "nonmonetary gifts have a much stronger impact than monetary gifts of equivalent value", even though workers offered the choice preferred money (AER, 2012).
• 82% of employees expect "a thoughtful, personalized note with their gift", and 84% prefer holiday gifts in December, "especially mid-to-late month" (Snappy's 2025 survey; Snappy is a gift platform and doesn't publish its sample size) (Snappy).
• $62 average, $25 median: employers' 2025 holiday gifts sent through Tremendous, a gift-card and payouts platform, across "over 260,000 gifts" (Tremendous; platform data, not a market survey).
• Gift cards are never a de minimis benefit: the IRS says cash equivalents such as gift cards, "no matter how little, are never excludable as a de minimis benefit" (Publication 15-B).

What Do Small Businesses Give Employees for Christmas? Often Cash

In September 2026, someone helping their husband plan Christmas gifts for his business of around 50 employees asked r/smallbusiness where to start. They wanted "something people would actually use instead of another random mug that ends up in a cupboard somewhere" (thread). Most replies said the same thing. The bluntest: "They want MONEY. … Not trinkets. Not a ham." Another: "branded merch is for the company, not the employee."

Here is what owners in that thread said they actually give. It is one thread, not a survey, but the numbers are real.

A few owners added a gift on top of the cash. Almost nobody suggested a gift instead of it.

Cash, a Gift, or Both? Decide in One Table

One rule matters more than the table (our suggestion): never present a gift as a replacement for a bonus people expect. Tell the team what this year looks like, then give whatever you give.

Why the Note Matters as Much as the Money

Employees prefer cash when asked, but they respond more to a gift. In the American Economic Review experiment, Kube, Maréchal and Puppe found that "nonmonetary gifts have a much stronger impact than monetary gifts of equivalent value", and that even cash gifts "can effectively trigger reciprocity if the employer invests more time and effort into the gift's presentation" (AER, 2012).

Owners in the thread described exactly that effort. One prints paper bonus checks, "even if they normally do direct deposit and sign them personally." An employee remembered a CEO who "handed out a crisp $100 to everyone with a personal, hand written note. Mattered a lot to me as a young person."

A note that works has three parts: their name, one specific thing they did this year, and thanks. "Priya, the onboarding guide you rewrote in March saved every new hire a week. Thank you." More wording: employee holiday card messages.

Should Every Employee Get the Same Gift?

For the gift itself, yes. Givers shopping for several people tend to pick a different gift for each one and pass up the gift recipients would like most (Steffel & Le Boeuf, 2014). One gift for the whole team also removes the comparison problem: nobody unwraps theirs next to a coworker's better one.

The bonus can differ, as long as the rule is the same for everyone. Owners in the thread tied it to years of service or hours, and one explained why: "that way it is not subjective, and everyone gets it." The $75 part-time and $150 full-time split above is that idea in practice. Brand-new and seasonal staff are their own question: see who gets a holiday gift.

What Makes an Employee Gift Feel Personal, Not Corporate

• Brand the card, not the gift. A commenter who said they own a gifting company: "do not brand the gift. Sure, you can brand the ribbon or card and consumable items, but otherwise make it a genuine gift for the employee."
• Something they'll eat or use. Treats get eaten; useful things get used. Several replies pair the bonus with food: chocolates, a ham, a turkey.
• Names beat logos. One owner gave engraved thermoses carrying the logo and the team's names: "the named mugs went over great. Almost everyone carries them daily at work" (a team of about 10).
• The same gift for everyone, and a note that names each person.

Most of that list is the gift Personalized Gifts Delivered makes: treats they'll eat, a mug they'll use, the same box for everyone, and a printed card that greets each person by first name (a logo mug gift box with Ghirardelli cocoa, Lindt truffles and a personal card). If a logo would read as merch, the order page offers a photo or a few typed words instead, the same on every mug in the order.

Gift Card, Cash or a Gift: What the IRS Says

Gift cards are the case the IRS spells out, so here is its own wording.

"Cash and cash equivalent fringe benefits (for example, gift certificates, gift cards, and the use of a charge card or credit card), no matter how little, are never excludable as a de minimis benefit."

Among the IRS's examples of de minimis benefits: "Holiday or birthday gifts, other than cash, with a low fair market value (FMV)."

Source: IRS Publication 15-B (2026), "De Minimis (Minimal) Benefits", read Oct 26, 2026.

"Whether an item or service is de minimis depends on all the facts and circumstances." "The IRS has ruled previously in a particular case that items with a value exceeding $100 could not be considered de minimis, even under unusual circumstances."

Source: IRS, "De Minimis Fringe Benefits", read Oct 26, 2026.

The IRS publishes no dollar threshold for a de minimis holiday gift. The $25 limit people often quote is a different rule, from IRS Publication 463 on business gifts. Whether your gift qualifies is a question for your tax professional, not for a seller.

This is information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rule (or ask your tax professional) before you send. More: employee gifts and taxes.

How Much Should You Spend on Each Employee?

There is no neutral, current survey of small-business employee gift spending. On Tremendous, a gift-card and payouts platform, employers' 2025 holiday gifts averaged $62, with a $25 median; a 2014 Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey described smaller year-end gifts as "typically valuing less than $100" (SHRM). Spending more on the gift itself buys less than you'd think: recipients' appreciation is not linked to price (Flynn & Adams, 2009). Put the money into the bonus and the effort into the note. Benchmarks and a per-head table: how much to spend on employee Christmas gifts.

When Should Employee Christmas Gifts Arrive?

In Snappy's 2025 survey, 84% of employees said they prefer holiday gifts in December, "especially mid-to-late month" (vendor survey, linked above). One commenter suggests paying bonuses "one week before Christmas so they can spend it on their kids or festivities if they want."

USPS calls its dates "recommended" and says actual delivery "may vary" (USPS). A New Year gift suits a mixed team: it arrives after the rush and belongs to no one holiday. Every date in one place: 2026 holiday order-by dates. Ordering for a big team in December: bulk Christmas gifts for employees. A remote team needs home addresses first: collect them with an opt-in.

Can You Pack and Ship Employee Gifts Yourself?

Yes: you can assemble and ship a gift box to every employee yourself, and by our estimate 25 logo mug gift boxes take about 9 hours of hands-on work, plus a week or more waiting for supplies to arrive. Packing alone is about 3½ hours (about 8 minutes a box), after a mug printer's proof, about 8 supply orders, 25 labels and 25 cards. Per box, it comes out about even: about $38 with USPS counter postage or about $34 with commercial postage, against our $35, with $1,192.84 paid up front for the mugs, the retail supply packs and 25 postage labels, with leftovers (our DIY cost comparison, prices as of Oct 26, 2026). One mug packed without a collar can break at the handle and must be bought, packed and shipped again.

What to know before you order

• The treats: LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels. Every box holds the same treats, and the allergy and diet checklist covers what to ask first.
• Where we ship: from New York to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now: no Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other US territories, APO/FPO or international addresses. The order page flags those rows so you can fix them or take them out before you pay; everything else on your list stays as it is.
• The card: one message and one sign-off for the whole order, greeting each person by first name, and you see every card before you pay. A line about one person's year goes in an order of its own; one box is a complete order.

Every Employee Gift Guide

• Plan: How much to spend · Bulk Christmas gifts · Who gets a holiday gift · Gifts by team size · Bonus or gift? · Managers buying for their team
• Remote teams: Gifts for remote employees · Collecting home addresses · Remote Secret Santa
• Ideas: Gifts that aren't gift cards · Small appreciation gifts · Employee gift boxes compared
• Milestones and other people: New-hire welcome · Work anniversaries · Farewell and retirement · Promotions · Birthday program · Interns · Contractors and freelancers · Speakers and VIPs
• Dates: Order-by dates · Employee Appreciation Day 2027 · Administrative Professionals Day · Boss's Day
• What to write: Employee holiday card messages · "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"? · The card message library
• Rules: Employee gifts and taxes
• Clients instead? Client holiday gifts 2026 · Client gifts by profession

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered Fits for Your Team

This page's answer is the bonus first, then the same small gift for everyone with a note. Personalized Gifts Delivered makes that gift and gets it to every home:

• The same box for everyone: an 11 oz white ceramic mug with your logo printed small (or a photo or a few words), with Ghirardelli cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles packed inside it, black tissue closed with a gold seal, in a matte-black gift box with a magnetic lid.
• A card for each person: your message, printed, greeting each person by first name, in an envelope closed with a gold wax-seal sticker. You see every person's card before you pay.
• To each home: one address list, each box to its own address, packed by hand in foam, in a plain white carton whose return address shows PersonalizedGiftsDelivered.com. Ships within 2 business days of a complete order (your design, your address list and payment). Ships by USPS Ground Advantage or UPS Ground, with tracking, and usually arrives 2–5 business days after it ships. Delivery dates are carrier estimates, not guarantees, and run slower in mid-December.
• One price, any team size: $35 per box, delivered, whether you send 1 or 50, with no minimum and no setup fee.
• A record: when your boxes ship, you get one email with a spreadsheet of recipient, ship date, carrier, tracking number and $35 per box.

Add your logo (or type your website and we'll find it), or a photo or a few words for a personal gift; check the preview of your mug and card; add your address list; and pay $35 per box. We print, pack and ship each box to its own address. Team list ready? Start your order.