Client Gift Address Spreadsheet (CSV) Template, Plus the 9 Mistakes That Send Gifts Astray

We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address on a list like this. The template works for any mailing.

Key facts

• Excel "automatically removes leading zeros" (Microsoft), so a ZIP like 02108 turns into 2108.
• ZIP codes in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont start with 0 (ZIP Code, Wikipedia).
• USPS uses 2-letter state codes; APO and FPO addresses use AA, AE or AP (Pub. 28, Appendix B and §225.1).
• Personalized Gifts Delivered ships to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now: each row is one box, $35 delivered. We ship from New York. Our order page also reads lists in other shapes, flags any row we can't ship to, and shows you every card, greeting its person by first name, before you pay.

What Columns Does a Client Gift Address Spreadsheet Need?

Scroll sideways to see the whole table →

No phone or email columns: a name and an address are all a box needs. P.O. boxes are fine: we send those boxes by USPS (gifts to a P.O. box).

Download the Free Template

Download client-gift-address-template.csv: the header plus three fake sample rows.

First Name,Last Name,Company,Address Line 1,Address Line 2,City,State,ZIP
Jordan,Sample,,123 Example St,,Anytown,MA,01000
Alex,Example,,456 Sample Ave,Apt 4B,Exampleville,NJ,07000
Pat,Placeholder,Placeholder Partners LLC,789 Demo Blvd,Ste 200,Sampletown,IL,60000-0001

Pat's box goes to an office, so Pat's row names the company; Jordan and Alex get theirs at home. There's no card message column: you write the message once when you order.

How to Fill In the Template, Step by Step

1. Open the template. In Excel, use Data > From Text/CSV and set the ZIP column to Text as you import (Microsoft); a double-click turns 01000 into 1000. Then delete the three sample rows.
2. Set the ZIP column to Text before you paste anything. In Excel, select column H, press Ctrl+1 (Cmd+1 on a Mac), and choose Text on the Number tab. In Google Sheets, choose Format > Number > Plain text.
3. Paste one recipient per row, each piece of the address in its own column.
4. Move apartment, suite and unit numbers into Address Line 2.
5. Change every state to its 2-letter code, and take out rows we can't ship (mistake 4 below).
6. Check every first name. It goes on the label, and your card can greet each person with it, so use the name they go by.
7. Run the checks below.
8. Save as CSV with everyone on one tab.
9. Upload the file when you order (you can also paste the rows, or link the Google Sheet). 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.

The 9 Mistakes That Send Gifts Astray

1. Excel Turned 02108 Into 2108

ZIPs in New England and New Jersey start with 0, and Excel strips leading zeros from numbers (Microsoft). Fix: format the column as Text first. If the zeros are gone, rebuild 5-digit ZIPs in a spare column with =TEXT(H2,"00000"), then paste the values back. Reopening the saved CSV in Excel can strip them again.

2. The Apartment or Suite Number Is Missing

A box addressed to a building without the unit can stall in a lobby. USPS says the pound sign "should not be used as a secondary unit designator if the correct designation, such as APT or STE, is known", and "If the pound sign (#) is used, there must be a space between the pound sign and the secondary number" (Pub. 28, §213). Fix: filter Address Line 2 for blanks and check every apartment building and office tower.

3. "MI" Is Michigan, Not Mississippi

Eight states start with M: MA Massachusetts, ME Maine, MD Maryland, MI Michigan, MN Minnesota, MS Mississippi, MO Missouri, MT Montana (Pub. 28, Appendix B). Fix: use 2-letter codes only (never "Mass." or "Calif."), then sort by State and scan. Our order page turns "Massachusetts" into MA, and flags a row whose ZIP belongs to another state (a Mississippi ZIP on an MI row), so you can fix it or keep it.

4. A Row We Can't Ship

Personalized Gifts Delivered ships to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now. These State codes can't ship: AK, HI, TX, PR; the other possession codes GU, VI, AS, MP, FM, MH and PW (Pub. 28, Appendix B); and AA, AE or AP, the codes APO and FPO addresses use (Pub. 28, §225.1). Fix: move those rows to another tab before you upload (where we ship); our order page flags any that slip through.

5. Last Year's Address

Clients move, and last year's holiday sheet carries every move since. Fix: confirm addresses before you send. Ask "where should it go?", not "what's your home address?" (12 templates). If a box does reach an old address, here's what to do.

6. An Office Address for Someone Who Isn't There

An office gift can sit in a mailroom while the recipient works from home or the office is closed for the holidays. Fix: ask which address they prefer. Fill in Company only for office deliveries, so the mailroom can route the box.

7. The Same Person Twice

Merging two lists creates duplicates, and every row is a $35 box. Fix: in Excel, use Data > Remove Duplicates on Last Name, Address Line 1 and ZIP. Microsoft warns "the duplicate data is permanently deleted" (Microsoft), so work on a copy. Our order page flags a row with the same name and address as another; the same person at a home and an office address is yours to spot.

8. Sorting One Column Scrambled the Rows

Sort a single column and the rows stop matching: Jordan's name lands on Alex's address. Excel "offers to expand the selection, or let you proceed with the current selection" (Microsoft). Fix: always expand the selection, then spot-check that each name still sits with its own street and ZIP.

9. Only One Tab Got Saved

Excel's CSV format "Saves only the active sheet" (Microsoft). If returning clients sit on one tab and new clients on another, only the open tab reaches us. Fix: put everyone on one tab before you save.

How Do I Check 50 Addresses Before Shipping?

Add these checks in spare columns on a copy:

Scroll sideways to see the whole table →

Then:

1. Filter First Name, Last Name, Address Line 1, City, State and ZIP for blanks.
2. Open the free USPS ZIP Code Lookup and use Find by Address on every address that's new or changed this year.
3. If USPS can't match an address, or shows a different ZIP, fix the row or ask the client.
4. Read down the First Name column: it's the name on each label, and on each card if your message greets people by name.
5. Delete the check columns, then save the CSV.

What Does Our Order Page Do With the List?

You don't have to rebuild your list to fit the template. When you add your address list (typed, pasted, a CSV or a Google Sheet), the order page reads it and shows you what it found:

You pay once every flagged row is fixed or taken out, and you see the mug and every person's card before you pay. What it can't know is whether an address is current: that's what the checks above are for.

How Does the Card Use This List?

The list holds addresses only. You write one card message and one sign-off when you order, and the message can greet each person by first name: "Hi {first name}, thank you for a great year" prints as "Hi Jordan, thank you for a great year" on Jordan's card. You see every person's card before you pay, and the order page tells you if a card is too long to print with a long name in it.

Want "Merry Christmas" on some cards and "Happy holidays" on others? Split the list into two orders, one message each (how to choose). One box is a complete order.

A gift message or sign-off column in your list? The order page skips it; every card gets the one message you write.

Can I Print the Labels and Ship the Gifts Myself?

Yes: you can, 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. Cleaning up the list and buying 25 labels is about 1½ hours of it; packing is about 3½. Priced from retail supply packs, DIY boxes come to about $38 each with USPS counter postage (about $34 with commercial postage), about even with our $35, with $1,192.84 up front for the mugs, the supply packs and 25 postage labels, as of Oct 26, 2026 (DIY vs ordering). With us, you paste the list, check the preview and pay. We print, pack and ship each box to its own address.

What to know before you order

• Where we ship. We can't ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Texas (for now), Puerto Rico, APO/FPO addresses or abroad. The order page flags those rows, and the rest of your list ships as normal.
• Gift limits. Each box is $35, delivered. Federal employees may accept "unsolicited gifts having an aggregate market value of $20 or less per source per occasion, provided that the aggregate market value of individual gifts received from any one person … does not exceed $50 in a calendar year" (5 CFR 2635.204(a), read Oct 29, 2026), and some industries set their own caps (see gifts to government employees). This is information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rule (or check with the recipient's agency ethics official) before you send.
• Each box needs an address. A name and a mailing address are all it needs; to collect them, ask where the gift should go (12 templates).

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered Fits: From This List to a Box at Every Address

The list is the part only you can do. Once it's in, the rest is ours: your logo printed small on each 11 oz mug; each box packed by hand (Ghirardelli cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles in the mug, foam around it, black tissue under a gold seal, your card on top); and each one shipped to its own row's address, with tracking. It's $35 per box with shipping included and no minimum, and when the boxes ship, one email gives you a spreadsheet of recipient, ship date, carrier, tracking number and $35 per box.

New to this? Read how shipping to each client works. List ready? Upload it and send a custom logo mug gift box, $35 delivered, no minimum.