A Message From the Owner

Greetings,

    My name is Ken, the owner of GiveAGift. I’m very excited to have the opportunity to explain who we are and how GiveAGift came about.

        First, who we are. We are a group of people in the gift giving business—an online, automated gift giving service that allows your recipients to choose from a selection of gifts. As an example, you want to buy a colleague a gift, and let’s say you want to spend $50. You sign on, select the colleague, and then you select the $50 category. Your colleague receives an email stating you have sent him (or her) a gift. The email links to a choice of gifts; he picks his gift; and we ship it to the address he requests. Then we inform you of his choice and he immediately sends you a thank-you note through GiveAGift. That’s it. Very simple and he gets to choose his gift. Sounds prefect, doesn’t it?

        Now, how we came about. Let me start by saying, in the business world many companies give gifts for birthdays, holidays, reaching sales goals, or as a thank-you to their customers.

        Ok, with that said, as with most gifts, business gifts are generally well received—at least while you’re on the phone with them or standing in front of them. Then comes that moment after they hang-up or you have to leave and the thought . . . what the heck am I going to do with a 5 gallon pail of popcorn, or how are my wife and I going to finish this huge cheese and sausage tray that we couldn’t finish if we ate it everyday for a month? While still appreciated, it’s just not something they would have chosen for themselves (and being from Wisconsin, you can guess who sent out huge cheese and sausage trays).

        Well, thank God for great friends. I have what I consider the best of both worlds, a great friend and an excellent customer, Ron Rowland. Back in 2002, just before Christmas, I called Ron to express my gratitude for all his business throughout the year and how I’d love to show that gratitude by sending him and his wife, yes, one of those huge cheese and sausage trays. Ron promptly chose to say, “thank you, but no thank-you.” “I appreciate the gesture,” but “Gale (his wife) and I can’t possibly eat it all and it will go to waste” (this he knew from the prior year). Still wanting to give something or do something for Ron, I finally concluded, “Why not let him choose something more fitting? Something he’ll enjoy.” I thought if given a choice, surely there would be something Ron liked. A few days later, I put 5 different products on my website, and I re-approached Ron and told him to go choose his gift. Well he did choose and he was excited about his gift.

        So, with this I’d like to say, “Thank You Ron” for creating the thought process, for saying, “No thank you,” and helping create the “Let them choose” GiveAGift concept. The next year every gift we gave was a choice, and even years later, I still get calls saying thanks for that gift, “I use it all the time.”

        The story doesn’t stop there. In fact, that was just the beginning. It turns out we were no different than any other company; no different in that we gave gifts of appreciation and no different in not all of our customers really wanted the gifts we chose for them. Eventually I started getting calls from other companies asking me to set-up a gift choice program for their customers. They had the same problem—not knowing what to give and not knowing what people really want—and from this, GiveAGift was born.

        My hope is that GiveAGift becomes the standard in the way corporate appreciation is presented. Whether it’s a thank-you for your business or a Happy Birthday, I want GiveAGift to offer quality choices, a great assortment, with service second to none—Oh, and always to “Let them Choose.”

        If you ever have even the smallest recommendations on how we can make things better for you or your recipient, please contact us (by clicking “Contact Us” at the bottom of the page) with your suggestions. We are always looking to improve.

Thank you,
Ken
GiveAGift.net

        I’d like to also thank two very special people, Scott and Brenda Nason, for all your help early on. Without you two, I wouldn’t have realized this dream. Thank you for all your help, support and patience.