Somebody announces they are leaving, an envelope goes round, and it falls to one person to buy the present. If that person is you, you know the difficulty. You have a few weeks at most, a budget set by other people's generosity, and a colleague you may know well at work and hardly at all outside it.
The usual answer is a gift card and a cake. That is fine, and forgotten by the following week. A leaving present can do better: it can be something they keep, which reminds them of the people they worked with.
What a leaving gift should do
- Mark the time they spent with you.
- Be useful or welcome in what comes next.
- Be easy to carry out of the building on the last day.
- Suit a group. It comes from everyone, so it shouldn't be too personal.
Start with why they are leaving
A new job
They will have a new desk, and it will be bare. Give them something for it.
- A desk mat. Used every day, in an office or at home. A calm design suits a workplace. Blue Mountain Fog, Space Cityscape on the Shore and Frost Owl are all good. See desk mats for work.
- A framed print for a new office wall. See new job gifts.
Retirement
They are going home. Give something for the house, and something that looks forward.
- A canvas or a framed print for a room they will now spend more time in. A calm landscape suits most people. See fog and mist in art.
- Something linked to what they plan to do: travel, a hobby, a place they love.
Moving to another city or country
- Something of the place they are leaving. If your office is in Chicago or Nashville, a skyline piece is an obvious and good choice. See Chicago skyline art.
- Something light and flat. They are packing. A poster in a tube, a tapestry or a keychain travels far more easily than a large frame. For an international move, send it to the new address once they have one. See international orders.
Going back to study, or starting a business
A picture about beginnings. An owl for study. A koi or a dragon for effort and success. A doorway for what is ahead. See bird symbolism, koi and dragon symbolism and portals and doorways in art.
Parental leave, or leaving to raise a family
A gentle piece for a nursery or a family room. Cosmic Deer or Frost Owl.
Redundancy, or a departure that isn't happy
Keep it simple and kind. A good card with real messages matters most. A small, cheerful present is better than a grand one.
Use what the team knows
You have seen their desk for years. That tells you a good deal.
- What was pinned up at their desk?
- What is on their mug, their phone case, their laptop?
- What do they talk about on a Monday: the game, the hike, the cat, the series they are watching?
- Is there a team joke that could be turned into something they would keep?
A cat person might love Laser Cat, which is funny and worth hanging. A science fiction reader has a whole shelf of options. See gifts for a sci-fi reader. A programmer: see gifts for a programmer.
If nobody knows their taste, choose from the safe list: a landscape, a night sky, blue. See how to buy art for someone when you don't know their taste.
By the size of the collection
Approximate prices at the time of writing.
- $15 to $25 (a small team): a keychain, a couple of pins, or a small poster with a card signed by everyone.
- $25 to $45: a desk mat, or a larger poster.
- $45 to $100: a small or medium canvas, or a tapestry.
- $85 to $165: a framed poster, ready to hang.
- $120 and up (a large team, or a long-serving colleague): a large canvas.
If the collection comes in over the mark, add a small extra, such as a matching pin or keychain, before you spend it on something unrelated.
What suits a gift from a group
- Neutral subjects. It comes from twenty people. Avoid anything edgy, romantic, religious or political.
- No clothing, unless someone knows their size for certain. Made-to-order clothing can't be exchanged, but you can return it within 30 days of delivery (you pay the return shipping).
- Humour only if it is kind and everyone, including them, is in on it.
- Ready to use. A framed print or a canvas is better than a poster that needs a frame.
Make it personal
- The card is half the present. Get people to write something particular: a memory, a thing they learned, a thank you.
- Sign the back. Everyone can sign the back of a framed print or the wooden bar on the back of a canvas. It will be found again in years to come.
- Say why you chose it. One line in the card.
Timing
This is what catches people out. Notice periods are short, and everything we sell is made to order.
- Allow 2 to 7 business days for production and 3 to 7 for US delivery. Order about three weeks before the last day.
- Items of different types ship separately.
- Have it delivered to the organiser's home. Office post rooms add delay, and the person leaving may see the parcel.
If there isn't time, don't worry. Give the card on the day and send the present to their home, or to the new workplace with a note for their first week. A parcel that arrives after someone has left is a nice surprise. See missed the gift deadline: what to do.
If you are the one organising
- Start the collection the day the news is announced.
- Set a closing date a few days later, so that you know the budget.
- Ask two or three people who know them best for ideas.
- Order at once.
- Keep the receipt and tell people what was bought.
A gift from one person
If you are giving your own present to a work friend, you can be more personal and spend less. A pin or a keychain in a design that means something between you, with a handwritten note, is plenty. See gifts under $20.
Browse the desk mats, framed posters and canvas art collections.