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The CEO Gift Guide

Tuesday, December 02, 2025 | By: Charlene Stackle

The CEO Gift Guide: Thoughtful, Useful, and Not-Your-Logo-on-a-Mug Ideas for Clients (and You!)

Every year, 17Hats releases their annual gift guide—always beautiful, always inspiring.
And every year, I love looking through it… while also thinking, “Okay but where are the gifts CEOs actually give?”

It’s partly my fault. They ask for submissions every fall and I’m always knee-deep in client work when the deadline rolls around. But next year? I’m submitting. Hold me accountable.

In the meantime, I’ve created my own CEO Gift Guide—made specifically for small business owners, creative CEOs, OBMs, coaches, and service providers who want gifts that feel personal, intentional, and aligned with how they actually work and live.

Whether you’re shopping for clients or putting together your own wish list, this guide will give you practical, thoughtful ideas you can use all year long.

Let’s jump in.

Gifts for Clients: Useful, Personal, and Actually Appreciated

There are two kinds of client gifts:

  1. The ones clients politely thank you for (and never use).

  2. The ones that make them feel genuinely seen.

We’re aiming for the second category.

These are the gifts that consistently land well for B2B and creative clients.

Sugarwish

My personal #1. Clients get to choose exactly what they want—sweets, snacks, candles, coffee, even wine. If none of it fits, they can donate the value to Make-A-Wish. A win whether they want a treat or want to give back.

Sugarwish

BoxFox

An all-time favorite. Elegant packaging, curated boxes, and gifts that feel high-touch without feeling corporate. BoxFox is perfect when you want thoughtful gifting without DIY-ing the whole thing. 

Box Fox

Lively Root 

Plants brighten up home offices and Zoom backgrounds, but this recommendation comes with a gentle caveat:

🌱 This is for plant people.

Not everyone has an indoor green thumb, and gifting a living plant to someone who doesn’t enjoy caring for one is more stress than joy. But if your client already has greenery or talks about plants? This lands beautifully.

Lively Root

Personalized Printables with Their Branding

Not yours. Theirs.

As OBMs and service providers, we tend to put our own logos on everything… but clients rarely use those items. Instead, gift them something featuring their branding:

  • A branded water bottle

  • A notebook or planner with their logo

  • A small canvas print for their shelf or Zoom backdrop

  • A framed print of their mission or values

  • A simple office door sign

It feels intimate, thoughtful, and surprisingly powerful. You can design these in Canva. While your at it design one for yourself.  

Local Gift Boxes

One of the easiest ways to deliver a personal gift without breaking the bank.

Examples I’ve gifted:

  • Local honey

  • Cornbread mix from a local shop

  • A Washington-themed kitchen towel

Clients—especially out-of-towners—love the connection to where you live.

JibJab E-Cards (For Cheerful Moments)

If a client is overwhelmed, sick, or stuck in a slump, sending a silly animated e-card with your faces can lift their spirits instantly. It’s a small gesture that goes further than you’d think.

Jib Jab

Gifts for YOU (CEO Edition)

Many CEOs forget to include themselves in their own gifting season. The funny thing is, several of the items in this category work beautifully for clients too—especially if you're B2B and want to gift something genuinely helpful.

Below is the breakdown of which items are great for clients and which are truly CEO-only.

The PA Planner (CEO Gift)

Beautiful, structured, grounding. Your annual go-to.
It’s a splurge-worthy personal gift, not typically something you’d send a client. Go ahead and send it to them if you feel like they could use it. Another option is to send them the PDF file so they can print for themselves.  Don't worry, Alexandra sends an email out with your purchase encouraging you to send the PDF to a friend. 

MY PA Planner

Clever Fox Password Book

Everyone should have one.
Perfect for you and totally appropriate as a client gift.

Clever Fox Password Book Amazon

Rocketbook Notebook or Planner

A beautiful hybrid of handwritten notes and digital organization.
A flexible gift for you or for clients who are always jotting down ideas.

Rocket Book

Soundcore Noise-Canceling Headphones (CEO Gift)

Perfect for deep work, focus sprints, batching days, and travel.
This stays firmly in your “treat yourself” category.

Soundcore Space One Amazon

Desktop Vacuum

Great for you and for clients who love tidy spaces or enjoy practical office tools. Weirdly satisfying and surprisingly useful.

Desktop Vacuum Amazon

brain.fm (CEO Gift)

One of the best tools for focus, creativity, and productivity.
Amazing for CEOs during content days and long task sprints.

Brain FM

Wellow Compression Socks (CEO Gift)

A lifesaver for CEOs who sit, stand, fly, or work long hours.
Definitely a personal gift—keep these on your own list.

Wellow

Books That Change the Way You Lead, Think, and Scale

Books can be meaningful client gifts or great tools for your own growth. These are some of my go-tos:

Leadership, Teams & Client Experience

Money, Mindset & Personal and Relationship Power

Branding & Creative Courage

These make great year-end gifts, onboarding gifts, or personal resets.

Gift Cards + Digital Gifts

Perfect for clients you don’t know well yet or those who prefer flexibility:

  • Audible credits

  • Starbucks or local coffee cards

  • A session with you (audit, consult, VIP Day credit)

  • Course or membership vouchers

Flexible. Appreciated. Simple.

The Heart of Client Gifting: Acknowledgment, Not Performance

Client gifting isn’t about proving your worth or “doing the most.”
It’s about acknowledgment:

  • I see you.

  • I value you.

  • I’m grateful for our partnership.

  • You matter to me as a person, not just a contract.

And that sentiment carries into gifting for yourself, too.

Whether you choose one gift or ten, choose what feels aligned, thoughtful, and supportive of the season you’re in.

This guide isn’t just for December. It’s for onboarding, offboarding, birthdays, milestones, and those spontaneous “you’ve been on my mind” moments that build strong relationships. 

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