How to Collect Employees' Home Addresses for a Gift: an Opt-In Email, a Form and a Privacy Checklist

We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide's email and form work for any gift and any seller.

Key facts

• Five requests in one week. An HR poster on r/humanresources wrote: "This week alone, 5 different managers reached out to request employee addresses to send holiday gifts" (Dec 2023, 89 comments) (thread).
• The principle many replies backed: "it is incumbent on managers to request that information directly from the employee so that they can opt in" (same thread).
• A gift needs a name and an address. Our address spreadsheet template has 8 columns and no phone or email column.
• What we keep: our privacy policy says we delete a recipient list "within 150 days after the order's boxes ship."
• Where Personalized Gifts Delivered ships: the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas addresses for now. P.O. boxes are accepted (they ship by USPS).

Why HR Won't Give Managers Employees' Home Addresses

The HR poster in that thread described the bind: "Each time I tell them I cannot give out the personal information and let them know they need to request it directly." The managers were frustrated; the HR person felt bad. Many of the replies said they were right to decline.

The fullest answer came from a commenter who framed it around consent: "Some people have reasons for not disclosing their personal information. Never assume that an employee wants to receive gifts through the mail. That is why it is incumbent on managers to request that information directly from the employee so that they can opt in." They added: "holiday gifts are not official use. That's why many companies hand out holiday gifts at work."

Not everyone agreed. Several commenters said managers at their companies can see their direct reports' addresses, and one HR team asks new hires during onboarding, in their words "something like 'do you consent to HR sharing your address with staff in order to send things?'" Policies differ by company, so check yours. But asking directly works under every policy, and it has a practical upside one commenter pointed out: with records on file, "half of them are probably wrong. A lot of people rarely update when they move."

If you work in HR and field these requests, one commenter shared the reply they said they paste "a lot this time of year":

"I am not permitted to share an employee's personal information. I recommend that you ask the employee directly if they would be comfortable sharing their address with you, but be sure to let them know that it is strictly voluntary."

The Opt-In Email (Copy and Paste)

Send it to each person individually or as a blind copy, never as a visible group list. Replace anything in [brackets].

Subject: Where should we send your holiday gift?

Hi [First name],

We're sending everyone on the team a small thank-you this December. If you'd like one, reply with the name and address where you'd like it delivered by [reply-by date]. It can be your home, the office or anywhere else in the lower 48 states or Washington, DC, except Texas addresses for now.

We'll use your address only to send this gift and share it only with the company that ships it. We'll delete our own copy once the gifts have arrived. If you'd rather skip it, just say so; no reason needed.

One more thing: the gift includes chocolate and hot cocoa. If that's a problem for you, tell us and we'll sort out something else.

Thanks, [Your name]

Four details in that email do real work:

• "Anywhere else" lets people use the office, a relative's home or a P.O. box instead of their own home.
• The area line flags teammates in Texas, Alaska, Hawaii or abroad early, so you can plan another gift for them. If you aren't ordering from Personalized Gifts Delivered, change it to your seller's area.
• "Only to send this gift" is a promise. Keep it: don't add the list to a mailing database. The seller keeps its copy under its own policy; ours says we delete a recipient list "within 150 days after the order's boxes ship" (privacy policy).
• The food line surfaces allergies and diets before you order, not after.

For a quick chat message instead (Slack, Teams or text):

We're mailing everyone a small holiday thank-you. Want one? Send me the name and address you'd like it sent to by [date]. Totally optional, used only for this, and I'll delete my copy after. It has chocolate in it, so flag anything I should know.

The Opt-In Form: Six Questions, and What to Leave Out

A form works better than email replies for larger teams: every answer arrives in the same shape, and form tools such as Google Forms export the answers as a spreadsheet. Ask these, in this order:

Add one line at the top of the form: "Optional. We'll use your answer only to send this gift, share it only with the company that ships it, and delete our copy after the gifts arrive."

Leave out what the gift doesn't need: phone numbers, personal email addresses, birthdays, clothing sizes. Every extra field is one more thing to protect and one more reason for someone to skip the form. If the gift goes to an office, add an optional "Company or building name" field; it maps to the Company column.

Turn the Answers Into an Address List

1. Export the answers to a spreadsheet, and work on a copy.
2. Delete the "No thanks" rows, and move anyone who flagged a food concern to a separate tab with a note.
3. Match the columns to the address spreadsheet template: First Name, Last Name, Company, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City, State, ZIP.
4. Format ZIP as text so 02108 doesn't become 2108, and use 2-letter state codes. The template page lists the nine mistakes that send gifts astray.
5. Check every first name. You write one card message for the whole order, and it can greet each person by first name from this column, so use the name they go by. The message can be up to 300 characters.
6. Save the file as CSV and keep it with the form answers, in one place.

Shipping the gifts yourself? This list is also your label file: by our estimate, cleaning up 25 addresses and buying 25 shipping labels is about 1½ hours of the roughly 9 hours of hands-on work that 25 logo mug gift boxes take, plus a week or more waiting for supplies. To ship from it with Personalized Gifts Delivered instead, the steps are short. 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. That's how you send a logo mug gift box to each employee's home: upload a spreadsheet, no minimum, $35 delivered.

Keep the List Private: a Checklist

• One person owns the list. Name them in the email ("reply to me").
• Use it only for the gift. No mailing database, no "while we have your address".
• Keep it in one place. One file with restricted access, not copies in email threads and chat.
• Share it only with the seller that ships it. Read that seller's privacy policy first. Ours says we delete a recipient list "within 150 days after the order's boxes ship" (privacy policy).
• Remember the tracking email. When your boxes ship, you get one email with a spreadsheet of recipient, ship date, carrier, tracking number and $35 per box. It lists everyone, so file it with the list.
• Delete your copy after the gifts arrive (our suggestion: once tracking shows every box delivered and any reship is done).

The box itself is discreet at a home address: it ships in a plain white shipping carton with only the shipping label, and the label's return address shows PersonalizedGiftsDelivered.com, never your company's name. Your name appears only on the card inside.

People Who Say No, or Live Where We Can't Ship

• "No thanks." Accept it and don't ask why. If the gift has real value and you'd like to include them, offer to hand it over at work instead.
• Teammates outside our shipping area. We ship to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas addresses for now: no Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other US territories, APO/FPO or international addresses. Send those teammates a gift of equal value through another seller, at the same time, and tell the team that's the plan.
• A food concern. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels. Ask before you send: the email's food line surfaces it before you build the list.

What to Know Before You Order

• You collect the addresses; we ship to them. We don't email recipients a link to type in their own address. The email or form above gets you the list, and you upload it once.
• Where we ship. The lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas addresses for now. The order page flags any row we can't ship to, so you can fix it or take it out.
• Offices work too. If your company doesn't mail gifts to homes, put the office address on every row: each box ships in its own carton, ready to hand out.
• The treats. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels. The email's food line asks before you order.

A gift exchange has its own steps: remote Secret Santa. The rest of the remote-team plan: gifts for remote employees. Asking clients rather than staff: how to ask clients for their home address.

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered Fits Once You Have the List

Collecting the addresses is the part only you can do. Everything after it is ours. Upload the list as it comes out of the form: type it, paste it, upload a CSV or link a Google Sheet, and the order page reads messy lists and flags any row we can't ship to. Every card greets its person by first name from that list, and you see each one before you pay. We print each mug with your logo, pack each box by hand with its Ghirardelli cocoa, Lindt truffles and sealed card, and ship it to its own address in a plain white carton whose return address shows PersonalizedGiftsDelivered.com. We delete the recipient list within 150 days after the boxes ship.

It's $35 per box, delivered, whether you send 1 or 50, with no minimum. When the boxes ship, you get one email with a spreadsheet of recipient, ship date, carrier, tracking number and $35 per box. List ready? Start your order.