GiftCard Partners Blog

College graduation has come and gone and now many have the honor of calling themselves Alumni! But what will keep that school spirit going after the diploma has been hung on the wall? College and University Alumni Associations across the country ask themselves this very question constantly. Well look no further, the answer is Gift Cards! Gift Cards are a great way to increase membership, thank donors and more:

Motivating employees is about ensuring that your employees feel appreciated and supported by the organization. Showing your employees you care is the best way to get them to invest their time and energy into their jobs and make a difference. The most important piece of employee motivation is showing that appreciation and giving rewards in a way that works for the employee you are trying to reach. Quiet, hardworking employees do not want public attention drawn to them, but giving a gift, reward, or praise in a one-on-one atmosphere will show them appreciation and motivate them, rather than make them uncomfortable in front of their peers. To an innovative thinker, knowing a bit more about the "big picture" and how their work affects that makes a big difference. Taking time to provide them some more strategic information, in addition to a reward will go a long way. Analytical employees want to know how their piece fits into the greater puzzle, and want to be compensated based on the size of their piece. Giving them spot rewards, such as a restaurant gift card, for small achievements, and larger bonuses for reaching long-term goals will show this employee organizational appreciation, and motivate them into the future. Tailoring motivation and rewards to how an employee will best recieve the praise is important. If you reward and motivate an employee, but the delivery embarasses them, belittles them, or does not speak to their professional goals or intellecutal style the impact of the reward and motivation could be lost.
For more information on how to motivate effectively check out this Time Magazine article.

As the economy continues to improve, I for one am thinking about how and where to vacation this summer. On a personal level, I know I will grab up deals with extra gift card dollars wherever I can find them. And with professional interest, Harris Interactive’s recent survey (on behalf of Choice Hotels) seems like really great timing for the loyalty rewards market. The survey reports that out of  the 2,100 U.S adults that were surveyed, over 87% of Americans plan to travel for leisure this summer, and they report that if they had an extra $50 to spend on their vacation, they'd be most likely to spend it on:

No matter if you gave your mom a gift in person this past Sunday, sent her flowers, or just called to let her know you were thinking of her, the most important thing was that you sent her a personal message. 1-800-Flowers teamed up with celebrities and professional athletes this Mother's Day to send personalized messages to both their moms, and potential 1-800-Flowers customers. The celebrity Facebook posts about sending mom flowers on Mother's Day served as ads on sponsored pages encouraging consumers to do as the celebrities did, and use 1-800-Flowers's services, but they are also using social media in a dynamic way. Using Facebook as an advertising forum, while still staying true to the traditional form of personalized social media messages is a new trend. Chris McCann, President of 1-800-Flowers noted“Getting customers to tell stories is better than us telling the story,” and went on to comment about how Facebook is used to facilitate relationships. Those relationships can be between a retailer and a consumer, or between a mother and child. How did you celebrate your mom this Sunday? Did you use social media to let your network know just how much Mom means to you? Leave us a comment and let us know!  
For more information on unique usage of social media for mother's day campaign check out this New York Times Media Decoder blog post.

GCP has a standing presence in the corporate gift card buyer, loyalty rewards, Scrip, and retailer/merchant communities, and now we are expanding into a little less corporate attitude with our
Facebook page. Our new GiftCard Partners Facebook page offers non-corporate entities similar BULK gift card discounts that corporations have known about, and saved with, for years. Check out our Facebook post: The perfect gift for Teachers, PTAs, and PTOs … and it's no apple! Teachers, PTAs, and PTOs will love this for Teacher Appreciation Week and End of Year THANK-YOU’s. Check
GCP's Facebook page for ideas you can use to reward with gift cards, in bulk.