Natalie Stolarz
So you've decided to run a corporate step challenge and need some great prize ideas to go along with it. You've come to the right place!
We'll be covering 80 prize ideas for any budget to help you find the right rewards for your company step challenge. Incentivizing with rewards and prizes is a great way to motivate your participants to do their best and have some fun.
After years of running challenges for companies of all sizes at MoveSpring, we've discovered 4 key points about rewarding and employee recognition:
- Rewards can help to drive engagement.
- Rewards work best when they are customized & thoughtful.
- Rewards should be available to more than just the top steppers.
- Rewards can fit any budget!
Rewards are a cornerstone of a successful wellness program and can incentivize habit change and health engagement. While the saying goes "cash is king", prizes actually work best when they're uniquely curated to your challenge theme or organization itself! When you take the time to reward participants based on their interests and goals, it helps to foster appreciation between employer and employees.
If you're feeling worried that you don't have a large budget to spend on prizes, no sweat! You can show recognition to your participants with any budget. Really!
In this blog post, we'll be covering creative ways to reward your participants that go beyond recognizing top steppers. In addition, you'll find our favorite 80 prize ideas for a corporate step challenge broken down by category and budget.
If you're ready to create a reward strategy for your challenge that ensures participants are engaged, excited, and ultimately more active, read on!
Rewards: The Basics
Let's start off with the basics. When creating a reward strategy for your company step challenge, you'll want to decide on a couple of key points upfront:
What's your overall budget & how many prizes will you be offering?
Budget is a big thing to consider starting out. By identifying your total allocated budget, you'll be better prepared to figure out what kinds of prizes you can offer for your step challenge! If you're only running one challenge, we recommend offering around 5-10 different prizes for participants to win. If you're running company step challenges often, 2-3 prizes should be enough per challenge to keep competition and excitement high. Keep in mind, prize number recommendations might vary based on the size of your organization.
With the prizes we've listed below, we're sure you'll find some great options, no matter what your budget may be.
How will you structure your rewards strategy?
Next, you'll want to decide how you'll structure your rewards strategy. Rewards can be based on the entire duration of the challenge, or you can make users eligible for different rewards weekly for more fun!
For example, include smaller weekly prizes for participants who average a certain amount of steps. Then, announce the grand prizes after the challenge ends based on total challenge stats. Participants will have something to look forward to every week!
Looking for an extra-exciting option? Create a raffle where participants become eligible for entry when they meet certain challenge goals or maintain activity averages. This keeps anticipation high and ensures everyone has a chance to win while they're crushing their goals.
How will your participants qualify for prizes?
Finally, you'll want to determine exactly how participants qualify for prizes. While you may feel tempted to reward the top steppers on the Leaderboard, this method can be a bit disheartening! You may inadvertently discourage other participants who are trying their best, but ultimately can't compete with your most athletic employees. After all, the goal is to be inclusive and reward everyone who is working hard to be engaged and more active!
There are many ways to recognize participants that go beyond just recognizing your top steppers. We recommend giving participants a few different ways to earn a reward to diversify your reward strategy. The more ways they have to participate and engage, the more chances they have to win!
Ways to Reward Participants
Below, you'll find four ways to reward your participants creatively, whether you're using the MoveSpring platform or not:
Achievement
Reward top-stepping participants as one part of your overall reward strategy. We also recommend recognizing users who are most improved over the course of the challenge. Additionally, you can recognize participants who made new personal records (like most activity in one day)!
For example, reward a few users who are most improved from weeks 1-2 to weeks 3-4 with PTO half day passes.
💡The Leaderboard, Journey, and Target modes on MoveSpring are ideal to measure individual achievement.
Teamwork
Reward winning teams in competitive challenges or celebrate goal completion in collaborative challenges.
For example, reward the team with the highest average steps with a team pizza party.
💡Try the Team Leaderboard, Group Journey, Group Target, or Group Target Fundraiser modes on MoveSpring to recognize teamwork.
Consistency
Reward participants who consistently meet their activity goals over time. Those who average a certain number of steps, distance, or active minutes throughout the duration of the challenge become eligible for prizes.
For example, create a raffle to reward users who maintain a 5k step average for 30 days with a $20 gift card to a local grocer.
💡The Streak & Stick to It modes in MoveSpring are a great way to measure consistency and stay on top of your goals.
Participation & Engagement
Reward participants for joining the challenge and actively syncing. With the help of MoveSpring admin reports, you can also recognize those who engage with the app, content, or chat on a regular basis.
For example, reward the most engaged user in the MoveSpring app with a healthy snack box.
💡With MoveSpring’s Engagement Reports, you’ll have access to engagement stats from the MoveSpring Admin Center.
Reward Ideas for Any Budget
Now that you've got your reward strategy basics down, let's get to the fun part: prizes!
Sure, we all love an Amazon gift card, but there are plenty of other outside-of-the-box prize options for you to choose from as well. We recommend tailoring your rewards specifically to your challenge theme or your employees' goals and interests. Your employees will appreciate the personal touch, and they'll be more motivated to engage with your challenge and ultimately their health.
Our favorite 80 prize ideas are broken down into five main reward categories: wellness prizes, prizes beyond wellness, experiences, corporate benefits, and recognition. Each category has options for any budget; the opportunities to get challenge participants pumped are endless!
Budget Key:
🆓 ($0 per participant)
💲 ($1-$50 per participant)
💲💲 ($51-$100 per participant)
💲💲💲 ($101+ per participant)
Wellness Prizes
This is a fitness challenge after all! Your participants will feel motivated to keep up the investment in their health and wellbeing with these wellness-themed rewards.
💲
1 Yoga mats
2 Workout equipment (for example: weights, resistance bands, or foam rollers)
3 Mini desk humidifier
4 Insulated water bottles
5 Goal setting journal
6 Habit tracking calendar
💲💲
7 Healthy snack boxes
8 SodaStream machines
9 Corporate care packages
10 Blender or smoothie-maker
11 Light therapy desk lamps
12 Back roller/wheel
💲💲💲
13 Free workout or personal training passes
14 Bikes
15 Standing desks or ergonomic chairs
16 Weighted blankets
17 White-noise sleep sound machine
18 Smart alarm clock
💲 -💲💲💲
19 Subscriptions to health & wellness apps (for example: Headspace, Calm, or Noom)
20 Food kit subscriptions (for example: Blue Apron, HelloFresh or Daily Harvest)
21 Gym memberships or fitness subscriptions
22 Fitness trackers
Prizes Beyond Wellness
There are endless options of prizes beyond wellness that you can purchase for your participants! Go with the theme of your challenge or something unique to your organization. By customizing, you'll get folks excited to participate in future challenges!
💲
23 Company swag (Go with practical options! For example: Water bottles, shirts, hoodies, coffee cups, Moleskin notebooks, or backpacks)
24 Sunglasses
25 Packing cubes
26 Travel pillows
27 Small potted plants or flowers
28 Golf umbrellas
29 Dry cleaning gift certificates
29 Scratch-off tickets
30 Dry cleaning gift certificates
31 Gourmet olive oil or spice sets
33 Themed coffee table books
34 Paid subscriptions to media (for example: The New York Times, New York Magazine, Tech Crunch, or Audible)
35 Adjustable laptop stands
💲💲
36 Themed gift baskets
37 Kindles
38 Coolers
39 Air Fryers
40 Upgraded office supplies (For example: a new keyboard, mouse, monitor, or speakers)
41 Outdoor hammocks
42 Smart mugs
💲 -💲💲💲
43 Gift cards (For example: large retailers or grocery stores. Support your local businesses by opting for gift cards to local shops, restaurants, or cafés)
44 Tech (For example: headphones, portable charging batteries, Bluetooth speakers, instant cameras, or tablets)
Experiences
Delight your participants with more than just "stuff"; give them an experience they'll never forget! Experiences can be especially effective in team challenges as an additional team-building exercise that's sure to be a good time.
🆓
45 Host a potluck
46 Host a spirit day. Pick a fun theme like costumes, sport jerseys, or fun socks!
💲
47 Catered/ food truck team lunch (if you have a remote team, try offering delivered lunches via a courier service like Postmates or Uber Eats)
48 Host an office party or picnic!
💲💲
49 Professional development courses (For example: LinkedIn Learning)
50 Cooking class passes
51 Museum or art exhibit tickets
💲💲💲
52 Local boat cruise tickets
53 Food or brewery/winery tours
💲 -💲💲💲
54 Spa experience certificates (For example: massages, facials, or manicures/pedicures)
55 Airbnb experiences
56 Rock climbing day pass or intro classes
57 Tech (For example: headphones, portable charging batteries, Bluetooth speakers, instant cameras, or tablets)
58 Indoor skydiving experience
If your company offers benefits to employees, why not include those options to reward your challenge participants? A practical solution that is sure to be exciting.
🆓
59 PTO day pass
60 One-on-one mentoring with a fellow employee
💲 -💲💲💲
61 Company stock
62 Student loan contribution
63 Transit benefits (For example: Uber/Lyft credit or credit towards local public transportation)
64 Session with a financial advisor
65 Pay one month of a utility bill
66 Donate to a charity of your participant's choice on their behalf
67 Bike share credits
68 Subsidize one month of health insurance premiums
69 HSA contribution
70 One-time monetary bonus
Recognition
You don't always have to shop or spend for the perfect reward! Leverage existing resources or individuals in your organization to recognize participants uniquely.
🆓
71 Feature in a company newsletter or signage around the office
72 Standing ovation during a meeting
73 Entry into an employee hall of fame
74 Temporarily re-name a conference room (or something else in your office) after the participant for bragging rights
75 Video shout-out or handwritten note by CEO or other company executive
76 Extra long lunch pass
77 Create a custom Slack emoji with a company-wide shoutout
78 Give a professional endorsement on LinkedIn
💲 -💲💲💲
79 Dinner with the CEO or other company executive
80 Order a Cameo of someone famous in your industry (or a favorite celebrity)
So there you have it! The most important rule is to have fun with creating your rewards strategy and give it a personalized touch. We're certain your fitness challenge participants will appreciate the uniqueness you've added to the experience. Aside from bragging rights, they'll sure have a lot more to brag about. 😉 Happy Stepping!