Gifts for the Gift Giver

Every family and every office has one: the person who remembers every birthday, keeps a drawer of spare cards, wraps other people's presents and quietly covers for everyone who forgot. They are the reason the whole thing runs, and they are almost always the last person anyone buys for.

This page is for them. A gift for the gift-giver works on two levels - something nice for them to keep, and something that makes the giving easier next time. A set of blank cards, a good pen, a candle for the evening after the party, a pin badge that admits what they are.

Everything here is designed in house and posted from the UK, and it all sits in normal gift budgets rather than grand-gesture ones.

What to buy the person who buys for everyone

• 1. A stash of blank cards. The single most useful gift you can give an organiser: they will use every one, and it saves them a panic trip to the shop in February.
• 2. A pin badge that says what they are. Cheap, wearable, and it acknowledges the role without making a speech about it.
• 3. A candle for after the event. The gift-giver is always the last one clearing up, so give them something for the hour when the house finally goes quiet.
• 4. A good pen. They write more cards than anyone you know and are almost certainly using a biro from a hotel.
• 5. A coaster for the desk where all the admin happens - lists, RSVPs, birthday reminders and everyone else's shopping.
• 6. A print for the wall with a line that makes them laugh. It is the one thing they will choose for the house and never buy.
• 7. A postcard set, so the person who always writes to other people has something nice to write on.
• 8. A card written properly by you. Name the specific thing they did this year. Organisers are thanked in general terms and almost never in detail.
• 9. A notebook for the lists they keep on the back of envelopes.
• 10. Their exact coffee or tea, bought properly rather than as an afterthought - the treat they buy for guests and not for themselves.

How to spot the gift-giver

• They know everyone's birthday without checking a phone.
• They have spare cards, spare wrapping paper and spare tape in a drawer.
• They start the group whip-round and put in the most.
• They wrap other people's presents at the kitchen table on Christmas Eve.
• They remember what you said you wanted in June.
• They are the only person who writes in the card everyone else signs.

What to avoid

• Anything that gives them a new job to do.
• Vouchers for a shop they only ever use to buy things for other people.
• A gift that is really for the household rather than for them.
• Something that needs organising, booking or chasing.
• Waiting for the right occasion. A gift for the gift-giver lands hardest when there is no reason at all.

Pin badges

Small, wearable and the easiest thing to give with a card.

Cards to keep in the drawer

Blank inside, designed in house and printed in the UK.

Candles and coasters

For the desk where the admin happens and the evening after the party.

Where to shop next

• Gifts for the gift giver: the guide
• Funny gifts
• Pin badges
• Greetings cards
• Postcards
• Posters and prints
• Thank you card messages
• Just because gift ideas
• Secret Santa gift ideas
• All guides
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Gifts to make someone smile
• Thinking of you gifts

Frequently asked questions

What do you buy someone who is always buying for other people?

Something they would never justify buying for themselves, plus something that makes the giving easier: a set of blank cards, a good pen, a candle, a coaster or a pin badge, with a card that names what they actually do for everyone.

Is a card bundle a good gift?

For an organiser, yes. They get through cards faster than anyone and usually buy them in a rush. A stack of blank ones in a drawer is genuinely useful all year.

How much should you spend?

This is a thank-you rather than a milestone present, so £10 to £25 is plenty. The point is that somebody thought of them first for once.

When should you give it?

Any time there is no occasion. Straight after Christmas, the week after a party they organised, or the first quiet Tuesday in January all land better than another date on their own busy calendar.

What do you write in the card?

One specific thing they did this year and what it meant. "Thank you for everything" is forgotten by the weekend; "thank you for sorting mum's 70th when nobody else did" is kept.