Farewell, anniversary, or retirement at work: how to arrange the gift, card, and moment
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
7 min reading time
A farewell or anniversary at work usually doesn't fail due to budget, but because no one takes ownership. Here's the checklist: who does what, what does it cost, when do you order it, and what supplies do you really need.
Someone leaves. After seven years, or after thirty. The email goes around on a Tuesday afternoon: "Who's organizing something?" And then nothing happens for three weeks, after which someone quickly grabs a bouquet of flowers from the gas station on the morning of the event. Sound familiar? A farewell, an anniversary, or a retirement is precisely the kind of moment where organization fails because no one feels responsible.
This article is the checklist you need: who does what, what does it cost, when do you order it, and what supplies do you really need. Not a grand party — just a moment that feels right.
First this: determine the type of occasion
There's a difference between a colleague who moves to another employer after eight months and someone who retires after 25 years. That difference determines your budget, your audience, and your time investment. Roughly three categories:
Type
Who attends
Budget per person
Lead time
Short tenure, departure
Immediate team
€ 3 – € 5
1 week
Anniversary (5, 10, 12.5 years)
Team plus manager
€ 5 – € 10
2 to 3 weeks
Retirement or long tenure
Multiple departments, sometimes family
€ 10 – € 20
4 to 6 weeks
Agree on that amount verbally in the group chat before buying anything. Otherwise, you'll end up with the classic situation where three people contribute €20, seven people contribute nothing, and you cover the difference.
Appoint one owner and one backup
The most common mistake is that "the team" arranges something. Teams don't arrange anything. One person buys the gift, one person arranges the card and signatures, one person organizes the event itself (when, where, who speaks). Three names, three tasks. You don't need more structure than that.
The card: the item kept longest
The gift disappears into a closet. The card with signatures doesn't — you'll find it in a drawer years later. Yet, it's usually the item that's handled worst: too small, half-filled, and half the signatures are missing because the card lay on one desk for three days.
Practically: take a card or sheet large enough, circulate it with a deadline ("return to me by Friday 4 PM"), and make sure you have a suitable envelope. For standard greeting cards, size 156 x 220 mm works well — the Greeting Card Envelopes 156x220 mm in a box of 500 pieces cost €2.95 and will last you all year. If you want neutral postal envelopes for invitations, the White Envelopes 156x220 mm, 500 pieces for €3.00 are a logical stock for the office cabinet.
Does your team work partly remotely? Then don't pass the card around, but lay out an A4 sheet on which you can stick the individual notes that colleagues send you via app or email. Faster, and no one is left out.
The gift: choose something that fits on a desk or counter
A good farewell gift is useful, not large, and doesn't need to be funny. What often works:
Something for the new workplace. The Desk Organizer with Phone Holder costs €5.00 and is the kind of thing people never buy themselves but use daily.
Something for on the go. For retirement or a move to a job with more travel time, a Water Bottle with Time Marker of 2 liters for €24.95 is a gift that will be used.
If you want to include a joke: the Golden Award Trophy of 15x5 cm for €12.95 works well if you link it to something specific — "the man who was always the first to arrive for thirty years." Barrier tape with text, 25 meters for €2.95 is a cheap way to demarcate a corner of the canteen. And Name candles cost €1.00 each if there's cake.
When the colleague is no longer there
Increasingly, someone leaves on a day when half the team is working from home, or the last workday has already passed before the gift arrives. Just send it then, but wrap it as a gift and not as a package of office supplies.
For a mug, a card, and something small, the Pink Shipping Box 15x10x4 cm for €1.99 is a neat base. If it's something flat and non-breakable, then the Metallic Bubble Envelopes 22x17 cm from €0.90 each are sufficient. Put the card loosely in the box, not taped to the gift — otherwise, it will tear when unwrapped.
Six weeks in advance, or this afternoon
Do you know already? Then put three moments in your calendar: ordering (four weeks in advance), circulating the card (one week in advance), and the day itself. Just found out? Then order the gift and packaging today, and arrange the card tomorrow. The order is more important than the lead time.
Everything you see above is in stock with us. For packaging, check Gift Packaging & Gift Boxes, for cards and mail check Envelopes, for workplace supplies check Office & School, for mugs check Mugs and for decorations check Party Supplies. Are you with a group of forty people and want to know what you need, or are you looking for something within a certain budget? Feel free to email info@verpakkingdeals.nl — we'll help you with quantities and packaging.
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