Corporate Gifting Policy Template for India: Employee & Client Gifts

A corporate gifting policy template helps your company decide who receives gifts, what can be given, who approves the spend and how each gift is recorded. It gives HR, Admin and Procurement a common starting point before anyone contacts a supplier.

Picture a familiar situation. HR approves a festive hamper, a department head requests a more expensive version, and Finance asks whether the quotation includes branding and delivery. Meanwhile, someone has already promised a dispatch date.

The problem starts before the purchase. Nobody agreed on the rules.

A written policy makes those decisions clearer. Employees understand eligibility, managers know their approval limits, and the buying team can give suppliers a complete brief. The template below covers employee and client gifting, with separate guidance for gifts received from suppliers.

📌 Did You Know?

Gift approval and budget approval answer different questions. A gift can fit the spending limit and still need further review because of its recipient, timing, or purpose. Check both before placing an order.

What should an editable corporate gifting policy template include?

It should include clear rules and usable sample wording: purpose, scope, eligibility, permitted gifts, restrictions, spending limits, approvals, records and responsibilities. For ideas that fit different employee and client occasions, explore our corporate gift kit ideas, then select products that match your approved category and budget.

Use the following company gift policy template as an editable starting point. Replace every bracketed field and have Finance and Legal or Compliance review the final version for your organisation.

How should you complete the policy details?

Policy field	Information to enter
Company	[Registered company name]
Policy owner	[Role or department]
Approved by	[Authorised role]
Effective date	[Date]
Review date	[Date]
Version	[Version number]
Questions and disclosures	[Internal email or reporting channel]

Assign ownership to a role, such as Head of HR, so the document remains useful when people change jobs. Record the current contact separately.

What sample clauses can your company customise?

Purpose and scope. “[Company] provides gifts for approved employee recognition, business appreciation and company events. This policy applies to people requesting, approving, purchasing or distributing gifts on the company’s behalf. It also sets reporting rules for business gifts offered to employees.”

Eligibility and occasions. “Gifts may be provided to recipients listed in [approved eligibility schedule] for occasions listed in [gifting calendar]. HR will confirm employee eligibility. The relevant business owner will confirm client or partner eligibility.”

Permitted gifts. “Approved categories may include stationery, drinkware, apparel, suitable food hampers and other items listed in [approved catalogue]. Products must meet the company’s quality, branding and recipient-suitability requirements.”

Restrictions. “No gift may be used to influence a business decision improperly. Gifts must respect the recipient organisation’s rules. Cash, cash equivalents, public-sector relationships, active negotiations and other sensitive situations must follow the company’s specific restrictions and review process.”

Spending and approvals. “Each occasion has an approved overall budget and per-recipient limit. Requests must include the complete expected cost, including applicable branding, packaging, taxes and delivery. Approval is required before an order or other commitment is made.”

Responsibilities and records. “The requester documents the purpose and recipients. The designated approver authorises the request. Procurement or Admin coordinates the supplier, while Finance reviews the invoice and relevant accounting treatment. The programme owner maintains the gift register.”

Recipient information. “Only information needed for the approved delivery may be shared with the supplier through an authorised channel. Access, retention and deletion requirements must follow the company’s privacy and security procedures.”

Exceptions and review. “Exceptions require written reasons and approval from [designated role]. An exception cannot authorise unlawful conduct. The policy owner will review this document on [schedule] and when relevant business, legal or operational changes occur.”

This corporate gift policy template leaves room for your company’s decisions. A supplier’s suggested budget should never become your internal approval limit automatically.

Who can receive corporate gifts, and on which occasions?

Employees, clients and partners can receive gifts where your company’s policy permits them. Define eligibility by recipient group and occasion before collecting names or selecting products.

How do you keep employee gifting consistent?

Explain whether each programme covers permanent employees, probationers, interns, contract staff, and employees serving notice. Include a cutoff date where necessary, and document how people on leave or working remotely will receive their gifts.

For example, if two people join a week apart before Diwali, their managers should be able to find the eligibility rule without asking Finance to decide each case.

Consistency does not require identical gifts for every event. An onboarding kit and a retirement gift serve different purposes. What matters is that comparable situations receive consistent treatment and differences have a clear explanation.

Occasion	Decision to document
Employee joining	Eligible joiners, kit contents and delivery responsibility
Festival	Recipient cutoff date and approved gift category
Work anniversary	Recognised milestones and eligibility rules
Client appreciation	Business purpose and recipient-policy confirmation
Company event	Audience, distribution method and unused-stock handling

What should you check before sending client gifts?

Confirm that the recipient can accept the gift, identify its business purpose and check whether a tender, renewal or purchasing decision makes the timing sensitive.

As a real company-policy example, Paytm’s published anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy states that “nothing should be expected in return.” Its rules also consider recipient-employer policies and approval requirements. Those are Paytm’s internal rules, not a universal gifting allowance.

That principle is useful when drafting a corporate gifting policy in India: appreciation should not carry an expectation of preferential treatment.

Who should approve corporate gifts?

Approval should follow both spending authority and the circumstances of the gift. Your corporate gifting approval matrix should make the normal route clear and identify situations that require additional review regardless of price.

A corporate gifting policy template becomes useful when employees can tell which route applies to their request.

What should an approval matrix look like?

Situation	Suggested approval route to customise	Evidence to retain
Employee gifts within an approved programme	Programme owner and authorised budget approver	Recipient list, approved specification and complete quotation
Gift outside the approved category or budget	Budget owner plus designated exception approver	Reason, revised cost and written decision
Client or partner gift	Business owner and relevant policy reviewer	Purpose, recipient-policy check and approval
Supplier gift offered to an employee	Designated disclosure or Compliance owner	Sender, context, estimated value and final action
Public-sector recipient or sensitive commercial decision	Legal or Compliance review before any commitment	Written assessment and decision, including refusal where required

These are suggested internal routes. Your authorised reviewers must decide what is permitted in each situation. A manager’s signature alone does not resolve a legal or recipient-policy restriction.

Should spending limits apply per gift or per year?

State the measurement period explicitly. A per-occasion limit and an annual aggregate limit serve different purposes, so your policy may need both.

Explain which costs count towards each internal limit. Finance should separately determine valuation and treatment for relevant tax or accounting requirements.

For detailed cost planning, use the SwagLabs corporate gifting budget guide. Keep this article focused on who decides, what they approve and how that decision is recorded.

What should a corporate gift register template track?

A corporate gift register template should connect the approval to the actual gift, its cost and its outcome. It should show what happened after the purchase order was raised.

Which fields belong in the register?

Field group	Suggested information
Identification	Campaign ID, date, occasion and department
Recipient	Employee ID or suitable recipient reference; organisation where relevant
Purpose	Reason for the gift and recipient category
Approval	Requester, approver, decision date and exception reference
Cost	Estimated value, actual value and relevant period totals
Supplier	Vendor name, order reference and invoice reference
Outcome	Delivered, declined, returned, cancelled or awaiting resolution
Review	Outstanding issue, responsible person and closure date

Use a campaign ID across the quotation, approval, purchase order and register. That small step makes it easier to match records later.

Keep home addresses and other delivery details in a restricted fulfilment file where practical. Everyone reviewing the gifting budget does not need access to employees’ personal contact information.

Should you record gifts that were refused?

Yes. Record a refused gift and what happened next, even when no delivery was completed. Otherwise, the register may show a purchase without explaining a return, refund, or unused item.

You can copy the fields above into a spreadsheet to create your corporate gift register template. Add fields only where they help an actual decision or reporting requirement.

How do you run a bulk gifting campaign without last-minute confusion?

Use a corporate gifting SOP that assigns responsibility from the first request through delivery and invoice reconciliation. The policy defines what is allowed; the SOP explains how the team carries it out.

What should happen before the order?

First, confirm the occasion, recipient list, quantities, delivery locations and spending approval. Then send the supplier a brief that includes product expectations, branding, packaging, and the date recipients need the gifts.

Ask for an itemised quotation. Confirm whether samples, name personalisation, shipping and applicable taxes are included. A lower product price is difficult to compare with a complete delivered quotation until both cover the same requirements.

Review the product specification and artwork before production. Discuss sample availability, substitutions, packing checks and damaged-item handling. The SwagLabs corporate gift branding guide explains logo placement, printing and packaging decisions in more detail.

What should happen after approval?

Confirm the final quantity, approved artwork version, delivery plan and order terms in writing. Changes to the product, cost or recipients should return to the relevant approver where required.

Track delivery exceptions separately from successful shipments. A dispatch update does not confirm that an employee received the gift.

Close the campaign after checking the invoice, delivery outcomes, replacements and refunds. Feed recurring problems into the next planning cycle. This gives your corporate gifting SOP a useful feedback loop.

How would the policy work for an Indian company?

The following examples are hypothetical. They demonstrate decisions and calculations; they are not SwagLabs quotations, customer case studies or industry price benchmarks.

How would you manage Diwali gifts for 100 employees?

Assume a company approves gifts for 100 eligible employees, with a complete campaign ceiling of ₹1,50,000. Admin obtains a quotation of ₹1,42,000 that includes the agreed products, branding, packaging, applicable taxes and specified delivery arrangements. For product ideas and planning inspiration, explore our Diwali gifts for employees guide.

Planning item	Illustrative figure
Eligible recipients	100 employees
Approved campaign ceiling	₹1,50,000
Assumed complete quotation	₹1,42,000
Quoted cost per recipient	₹1,420
Uncommitted budget headroom	₹8,000

HR confirms the list, Finance checks the complete quotation, and the authorised approver releases the order. The supplier receives the agreed delivery information and approved artwork.

Suppose 98 gifts arrive successfully and two parcels require address corrections. The register keeps those two deliveries open. Admin confirms any redelivery cost before authorising it and closes the records after the outcome is known.

This is where a corporate gifting policy template earns its place. It connects eligibility, approval, purchasing and follow-up instead of leaving each team with a different version of the campaign.

What happens when a client cannot accept the gift?

Assume a client declines a hamper because their employer does not allow business gifts. The relationship owner acknowledges the restriction and cancels or arranges the return where possible.

The team records the refusal and any financial outcome. It does not send the hamper to the person’s home as a workaround.

A polite message is enough: “Thank you for letting us know. We respect your company’s policy and will not proceed with the gift.”

How should employees handle gifts from suppliers?

Employees should follow a separate receiving-gifts process: disclose the offer, avoid making promises to the sender and seek guidance where acceptance is unclear.

An employee gift policy template should identify the reporting channel, required information and person authorised to decide what happens next.

What should an employee disclose?

Record the sender, item, estimated value, date and business relationship. Explain whether the sender is involved in an active quotation, supplier review, negotiation or other decision.

The reviewer may direct the employee to decline, return, surrender or otherwise handle the item under company rules. Employees should not decide for themselves that sharing a gift makes acceptance permissible.

What if returning the gift is difficult?

Keep it secure and contact the designated owner. Document the agreed action, including any approved return, donation or other handling.

Your employee gift policy template should also explain how to raise concerns confidentially. Staff need a practical way to ask questions when a senior colleague or important supplier is involved.

How do you implement and review the policy?

Finalise ownership, test the process with realistic situations and communicate the rules before expecting employees to follow them.

Who should review the draft?

HR checks employee eligibility and communication. Procurement checks ordering and supplier responsibilities. Finance reviews cost controls, invoicing and applicable tax or payroll treatment. Legal or Compliance reviews sensitive recipients, conflicts, restrictions and exceptions.

A corporate gifting policy in India should similarly fit the organisation using it. A small team may have fewer approvers, but each decision still needs an identifiable owner.

How should you roll it out?

Publish the approved company gift policy template in a location employees can find. Explain the normal request route, the receiving-gifts process, and how to ask for an exception.

Test it with a routine employee order, an above-budget request and a supplier gift during a purchasing decision. If people cannot identify the next step, simplify the instructions before launch.

Review the policy on its stated schedule and after relevant changes or recurring problems. Keep a version history so the team knows which rules applied to each campaign.

Why Choose SwagLabs for Corporate Gifting in India?

Custom-Branded Gifts: Personalise products with your company logo and branding.
Bulk Gifting Solutions: Explore employee welcome kits, corporate merchandise, event gifts, and client hampers.
Product Selection: Choose gifts based on your occasion, recipient preferences, and approved budget.
Packaging and Delivery: Coordinate packaging and delivery requirements for your gifting campaign.
Pan-India Delivery: Plan gifting campaigns across multiple locations, subject to order requirements.
Order Planning Support: Discuss product specifications, artwork, samples, and delivery timelines before confirming your order.

SwagLabs lists minimum orders starting from 50 pieces, depending on the product. Sample availability and delivery timelines should be confirmed for your specific order.

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Final Thoughts

corporate gifting policy template helps businesses establish clear eligibility rules, approval limits and record-keeping procedures before placing an order.

Define who can receive gifts and on which occasions.
Establish spending limits and approval responsibilities.
Maintain a corporate gift register to track costs, deliveries and exceptions.
Confirm product specifications, branding, packaging and delivery before approving production.
Choose a corporate gifting supplier that can meet your requirements and provide a complete quotation.

Use these guidelines to build a consistent gifting process for employees, clients and business partners. When your requirements are approved, discuss your corporate gifting requirements with SwagLabs.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What should a corporate gifting policy template include?

A corporate gifting policy template should cover purpose, scope, recipient eligibility, permitted gifts, spending limits, approval procedures, restrictions, record-keeping and responsibilities.

Who should approve corporate gifts in a company?

Approval typically involves the programme owner and authorised budget approver. Client gifts, exceptions and sensitive business situations may require additional Finance, Legal or Compliance review.

How do you create a corporate gift register?

Record the campaign date, occasion, recipients, purpose, approved budget, actual cost, supplier, invoice reference, delivery status and any unresolved issues.

What is the difference between a corporate gifting policy and an SOP?

A policy defines the rules and approval requirements. A standard operating procedure (SOP) explains the steps for requesting, purchasing, distributing and tracking gifts.

Can a corporate gifting policy cover both employees and clients?

Yes. Define separate eligibility and approval rules for employees and clients, including recipient-company restrictions and sensitive commercial situations.

Can employee names and designations be added?

Personalization depends on the product and branding method. Suitable options can include names, designations, and congratulatory messages. Confirm the personalization format and artwork before production.

How do you plan a corporate Diwali gifting budget?

Confirm the number of eligible recipients, set a total budget, calculate the target cost per recipient and obtain a complete quotation covering products, branding, packaging, applicable taxes and delivery.

What should you check before choosing a corporate gifting company in India?

Compare product quality, custom branding, minimum order quantities, itemised pricing, sample availability, delivery coverage, timelines and replacement terms.

Does a corporate gifting policy template guarantee legal compliance?

No. A template is a starting point. Finance, Legal or Compliance should review the final policy against applicable requirements and the company's circumstances.

Swaglabs, powered by Star Gifting Solutions, helps businesses across India create premium branded merchandise and corporate gifting solutions. From custom branding and packaging to storage and PAN India delivery, we manage the entire process for orders starting from 50 to 5,000+ units