Corporate Christmas Gifts, Ordered Before December Eats the Budget

Here is how corporate Christmas gifts usually happen in South Africa.

In October, somebody in a meeting says, "We must do something nice for the clients this year."

Everybody agrees. Enthusiastically. Somebody even writes it down.

Then nobody mentions it again until 9 December, when the MD stops at your desk and asks how the gifts are coming along.

Spoiler: there are no gifts.

So let's do it differently this year. Let's do it now, while there is still budget, still time, and still a courier who answers the phone.

Here are our corporate Christmas gifts for the person holding the list. Things your team will use every day, with their names on. Client gifts that go on holiday with them. All made by hand in our George workshop.

December Eats Budgets. We Have Seen It Happen.

Here's the thing about a year-end gift budget.

It gets approved in October. Lovely.
In November it pays for the year-end function. Fair enough.
By December it has been spent on 40 sosaties, a jumping castle nobody asked for and a DJ who only plays 2009.

And the clients get an email that says "Season's Greetings" in a font called Festive Script.

So here's our very scientific Wild Mongoo test for corporate Christmas gifts:

Will it still be on their desk in March?
YES: order it.
NO: that's a lanyard with a bow on it. Put it down.

For the Team: Put Their Name on the Thing They Use at 8am

Every office has a mug war.

Sipho from Finance has guarded the same mug since 2019. Nobody touches Sipho's mug. People have tried. People have been spoken to.

Meanwhile Bongi on reception drinks her rooibos out of whatever is left in the cupboard, which this week is a mug from a conference about tyres.

This is how Christmas solves the mug war. Everybody gets their own. With their name on it. In writing.

Navy Floral Personalised Tumbler

R259

Navy and gold florals, their name down the middle, and a lid that survives the commute. Keeps the 8am coffee hot through the 9am meeting. And the 10am one. Classy enough for the MD. Personal enough that Sipho finally relaxes.

Add their names

Doing the whole building? The Personalised Floral Mug is R99 a head, in pink or green, with each person's name across the middle. Forty mugs, forty names, zero arguments in the kitchen. Well. Fewer.

A little tip from us: please don't type thirty names into thirty carts. WhatsApp us the list on 073 442 5344, or email hello@wildmongoo.com, before you check out. We'll tell you honestly what's ready and what needs making.

And check every spelling twice. Annemarie is one word. Ask Annemarie. She has been correcting people since Grade 1, and she would love Christmas off.

For the Colleague Who Is Never, Ever Wrong

Meet Riaan from Sales.

Riaan has not lost an argument since 2014. Riaan once won an argument about the office aircon by explaining it to the aircon technician.

Riaan does not need a stress ball. Riaan causes stress. Riaan needs coasters.

Sarcastic Ceramic Coaster Set

R150

A stack of ceramic coasters with opinions, in their own little stand. The top one says I'M NOT ARGUING, I'M JUST EXPLAINING WHY I'M RIGHT. Riaan will think it is about somebody else. Let him.

Shop the coasters

Prefer something a little calmer for the boardroom table? The Green Geometric Coaster Set (also R150) looks like it came from a very expensive tile shop. Nobody needs to know.

For the Clients, Who Will Be at the Coast by the 15th

Here is the thing nobody tells you about client Christmas gifts in South Africa.

By the middle of December, half of your clients are on leave. Mrs Naidoo, who signed in March and renewed in August, is in Plett. Her out-of-office says "back 12 January". She means it.

So don't send her something for the office. Send her something for the holiday.

Sailboat Wine Cooler

R450

A sailboat-print cooler that keeps one good bottle cold from the car to the beach. For the sundowner, the picnic and the very important "let's circle back in January". Every time it comes out, so does your name.

Shop the wine cooler

Smaller client list, or a smaller budget? The Marble Gin Tumbler (R249) is the classy one. Very neutral. Very "we value this relationship". Fills up with whatever Mrs Naidoo is drinking in Plett.

And for the one client you really, really want to keep? The Midnight Mesh Laptop Bag (R999). Sleek, dark, and it goes to every meeting with them next year. Including, hopefully, the ones with you.

If you would rather go proudly local, our South African corporate gifts guide has protea tumblers, Africa necklaces and the cooler bag that went to a LOT of Heritage Day braais.

For the Person You Forgot. There Is Always One.

It is 18 December. The gifts are wrapped. You are feeling very organised.

Then you remember the new intern. Keabetswe. Started on Monday. Very keen. Not on any list.

The Wild Mongoo Gift Card arrives by email, instantly, from R100 to R2,500. She chooses. You look organised. Nobody ever needs to know about the list.

Your Corporate Christmas Cheat Sheet

In a rush? Here's the short version, sorted by who you are thanking.

Please Don't Leave It Until the Year-End Function

We say this with love.

Personalised pieces are not sitting on a shelf in a warehouse somewhere. Once your order comes in, one of our women makes each one by hand, for the person whose name is on it. Thirty names means thirty pieces. Then a very patient courier carries the lot from George to your office.

And December is our busiest month of the year. Every office in the country remembers the clients at the same time.

Today? Lovely.
Early November? Great.
The morning of the year-end function? You may be handing out a printed photo of a tumbler, with a very sincere speech.

One small thing: anything with a name on it is made for one person only, so it can't be returned or resold. Is it Lizelle or Liezel? Check the list twice. Santa does. So does HR.

Your Corporate Christmas Questions, Answered

A Thank-You, Said Twice

Here's the really good bit.

A corporate Christmas gift is a way of saying thank you for the year. To the team who showed up. To the clients who stayed.

Every mug, tumbler, coaster and cooler on this page was made in our George workshop by women who are earning, learning and building a future of their own.

100% of our proceeds go straight back into empowering women. Into jobs, skills, training and opportunities.

So your thank-you gets said twice.

Once to the person who unwraps it.
And once to the woman who made it.

Personalised Floral Mug

R99 a head, a name each

R99

Shop now

Personalised Gym Waterbottle

Their name on the step challenge

R298

Shop now

Green Geometric Coaster Set

For the boardroom table

R150

Shop now

Marble Gin Tumbler

For the client in Plett

R249

Shop now

Midnight Mesh Laptop Bag

For the client you want to keep

R999

Shop now

Wild Mongoo Gift Card

For the one you forgot

R100 to R2,500

Shop now

Made by hand in George. Handed out before the year-end function. Used well into next year.