Service milestones
The anchor program. Predictable, budgetable, and the one people notice when it is missed.
- 1 year
- 3 years
- 5 years
- 10 years
- 15 years
- 20 years and above
Recognition programs
One decision in January. Recognition all year.
Service milestones, performance awards and welcome gifts, agreed once and then run for you.
You set the award levels and send us the dates. We curate, engrave, pack, ship and report. Nobody on your team has to remember whose fifth anniversary is in March.
No platform or licence fee · From 50 awards a year · One invoice · Pricing locked for 12 months
Before you read on
Fewer than fifty a year? You don't need a program.
A program is a standing arrangement, and it only earns its keep when recognition happens all year round. Below roughly fifty awards you are better off using the quote builder as each occasion comes up. Same catalog, same engraving, no commitment.
Fifty awards a year is a company of roughly a hundred and fifty people, once you count service milestones, performance awards and new starters. Around three hundred people it is closer to ninety.
Why a program
The difference is not the gift. It's the system around it.
The calendarA late anniversary gift is worse than none. We hold the dates and prompt you thirty days out.
The budgetOne figure per award level, signed off once, held for twelve months.
The consistencyEveryone's fifth year looks like everyone else's fifth year. No favorites, no improvising.
The paperworkOne supplier, one agreement, one invoice a quarter instead of forty receipts.
Three programs
Start with one. Add the others when it works.
Most companies begin with service milestones because the dates already exist in the HR system. Performance and onboarding usually follow in year two.
Performance and incentives
Fixed award levels you draw from whenever someone earns one.
- Sales targets
- Employee of the month
- Peer nominations
- Safety records
- Project delivery
Welcome and onboarding
One kit per new hire, timed to arrive on their first day.
- New starters
- Relocations
- Returning from leave
- Contractor to permanent
The award ladder
What each level actually buys.
A starting structure, not a fixed menu. We adjust the values to your budget and build a curated shortlist at each level from 1,400 brands.
1 year · $50
They made it through the first year. Mark it.
- Drinkware
- Desk objects
- Skincare sets
3 years · $75
Past the point where most people move on.
- Premium drinkware
- Small tech
- Ready-made sets
5 years · $100
The first milestone that carries real weight.
- Audio
- Wellness
- Kitchen
- Travel
10 years · $175
A decade. The gift should look like one.
- Speakers
- Recovery tech
- Executive desk
15 years · $250
Something they would not buy themselves.
- Premium audio
- Luggage
- Timepieces
20 years and above · $350+
Quoted individually, chosen with you.
- Luxury brands
- Engraved keepsakes
- Recipient choice
How a program runs
You approve. We do the rest.
Thirty days of notice is deliberate: seven to ten business days to ship, at least five more for engraving, and time for you to approve. Anything tighter and anniversaries arrive late.
- 1 DesignWe agree the award levels, the budget at each, and the shortlist.
- 2 CalendarYou send the roster once. We hold the dates from then on.
- 3 PromptThirty days before each award we send you that month's batch to approve.
- 4 DispatchEngraved, packed and shipped to the office or to each recipient.
- 5 ReportA quarterly summary of what went out, what it cost, and what is coming.
Roster changes come to us by email as they happen. Nothing to log into, nothing to maintain.
What it costs to run
No licence fee. Nothing until something ships.
Recognition software is sold per employee, per month. A company of four hundred pays thousands a year in license fees before anyone receives anything.
MerrySend has no platform or licence fee. You pay for the gifts plus a 15% program & curation fee, shown on every quote. That is the whole arrangement.
- No platform feeNothing to pay before a single award ships. A 15% program fee on what ships covers curation, the calendar and the paperwork.
- Engraving setup waivedWaived for the whole year rather than per batch, so a month with four awards costs no more per gift than a month with forty.
- Pricing locked for 12 monthsA ten-year award costs the same in December as it did in January.
- One invoiceQuarterly by default, monthly if your finance team prefers it. Not one per shipment.
Minimum fifty awards a year. The 15% program & curation fee covers coordination, curation and account management.
Giving back
Recognition that does a little more good.
Giving back is part of how MerrySend is built. Our charitable giving is funded entirely by us. It is never added to your invoice, and it never comes out of an award.
We are finalizing our charity partners now, and we will share who we support here once those partnerships are confirmed.
- Funded by MerrySendNot added to your invoice, and not taken out of the gift.
- Partners announced soonWe will name the charities we support once our partnership agreements are in place.
Questions
Recognition program FAQ
Why fifty awards a year?
Below that, a program costs you more in setup than it saves. You can already send fifteen gifts today through the quote builder with no agreement and no commitment. A program earns its keep when recognition is continuous rather than occasional.
How many awards will we actually have in a year?
More than most people expect, because the one and three year marks are the largest groups by far. In a settled company with typical turnover, roughly thirty percent of staff reach a milestone year on a six-level ladder — about ninety awards for three hundred people.
A younger company looks very different: a business five years old has nobody at ten, fifteen or twenty years, so almost every award sits at the bottom of the ladder. Put your own numbers into the designer below and it will total them for you.
Where does the calendar live? Do we log in somewhere?
We hold it. You send us the roster once and we track the dates on our side, then prompt you thirty days before each award. There is no portal to learn and no system for your team to maintain. Roster changes come to us by email as they happen.
Do we need a different account?
No. The corporate account you can open today is the account. Once your program is agreed we add your locked award pricing to it, so the right prices show when you log in.
Whose branding goes on the gift?
Yours. Your logo goes on the gift itself through laser engraving, and on the printed card inside. Gifts ship in the brand's own packaging.
Not every product can take engraving — some finishes and materials cannot be marked cleanly. Tell us you are interested and we will confirm what is possible on your shortlist before anything is agreed.
Can we change the award levels partway through the year?
Yes. Levels and shortlists can be revised at any point. The pricing lock protects you against increases on what was already agreed; it does not stop you adding a level or swapping a product that is no longer available.
What if someone leaves before their award ships?
Tell us before we produce the batch and it comes off at no cost. Once an item has been engraved with a name it cannot be returned, which is the main reason we work thirty days ahead rather than thirty-six hours.
Can awards go to people's homes rather than the office?
Yes, and for remote teams it is usually better. We can ship to one office, to several, or to individual addresses. Available destinations are confirmed on your quote before you approve it.
Can the recipient choose their own gift?
On awards of $100 and above, yes. We send a shortlist at their level and they pick. We keep it to the higher awards deliberately, because chasing a reply is worth it on a ten-year milestone and not on a monthly incentive.
How does billing work?
One consolidated invoice per quarter by default, or monthly if your finance team prefers. Not one per shipment. Payment terms are agreed when the program is set up.
Something not covered here? Sketch out your program below and we will answer it in the proposal.
Design your program
Sketch it out. See what a year costs.
Put in roughly how many awards you expect at each level. You will see an annual figure before you send anything, and we will come back with a proper structure.
Your award levels
The figures below are an example only — a settled company of around three hundred people with typical turnover. Type over them with your own. Rough numbers are fine.
| Award level | Value | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| $50 | ||
| $75 | ||
| $100 | ||
| $175 | ||
| $250 | ||
| $350 | ||
| $100 | ||
| $100 |
Not every product can be engraved. We will confirm what is possible at each award level when we build your shortlist, and price it in the proposal.
That is under 50 awards a year.
A program will cost you more in setup than it saves at this volume. Send it as a one-off request instead — same catalog, same engraving, no agreement.
Use the quote builder instead
| Awards a year | 0 |
| Gift value | — |
| Program & curation, 15% | — |
| Engraving | quoted separately |
| Gift boxes | — |
| Platform or license fee | $0 |
| Shipping & handling | quoted separately |
| Estimated annual cost | — |
Estimate only, at list price. Engraving and shipping are quoted separately. Volume above 250 awards a year is priced individually. Prices in USD.
Tell us about your company
Structure only at this stage. Please do not send employee names or dates here — once the program is agreed we will send you a secure template for the roster.
Not ready to put numbers in?
Then just talk to us.
Most programs begin with a single award level and grow from there. Tell us your headcount and which milestones you want to mark, and we will come back with a structure and an annual cost.
A proposal within two business days. No agreement until you have seen the numbers.