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Let's get your team on their way to wellbeing.

  • Writer's pictureMegan Gilbert

11 Wellness Challenge Prize Ideas for the Workplace

Updated: Jun 13

Get your employees active and focusing on their wellbeing by choosing the right prizes.



woman pulling a ribbon and opening a gift box



Are you setting up a wellness challenge but don't know what to give as a prizes? The prize selection can make or break your challenge - if they're not lucrative enough, you'll struggle to get participation.


Choose prizes based on your employee's hobbies and interests for the best participation. 


You can use the FitPros Wellbeing App to host challenges and track their progress via leaderboards. The app gamifies challenges, rewarding employees with badges and showcasing their progress toward completion. We also distribute wellness challenge prizes to help make your challenges successful! 



Key takeaways:


  • Pick wellness prizes based on employee’s hobbies and interests

  • Provide a mix of prizes for challenge winners and participation 

  • Use the FitPros Wellbeing app to gamify your challenges



What is a wellness challenge?

A wellness challenge is a healthy competition among employees to encourage positive lifestyle behavior change. For example, challenges might include moving more and sitting less, getting more or better quality sleep, meditating, or doing daily yoga. For the best results, challenges should be customized to your employees.



What is a good prize for a fitness challenge?

Choosing the right prizes for your wellness or fitness challenge will help motivate and get more employees involved.


Prizes can vary and can be distributed to winners, runners-up, or even a sweepstakes prize for all entrants who completed the challenge. Below, you will find twelve wellness challenge prize ideas for work:


1 — A gift card or cash prize

One of the most popular wellness challenge prize ideas is a gift card. You can set an amount, perhaps $100 to be spent on popular sites such as Amazon for employees to choose what they want to buy for their prize.


And while gift cards are easy to do and fun, some employees may prefer a cash prize. So do your research before buying a gift card for a store that nobody shops at!


2 — Extra paid vacation days

All employees want extra paid vacation days. You don’t even have to ask! Reward employees with additional paid time off for challenge completion or for the challenge winner. 


3 — Tickets to sporting events

This wellness challenge prize idea is a must-have for sports fans at work. Examples of sporting events might include tickets to a basketball game, Formula One, or the NFL.


For better participation, ask your employees what sporting events or other non-sporting events they enjoy. 


4 — Office swag

There are lots of office swag options to kit out your employees, from baseball caps to three-quarter zips, hoodies, and insulated water bottles.


Other office swag ideas include:


  • Coffee mugs

  • Beer glasses

  • Notebooks 

  • Socks

  • Laptop bags

  • Backpacks

  • Waterproof jackets

  • Tote bags

  • Quality workout gear


5 — A voucher for their favorite coffee shop

Chances are, most of your employees enjoy a hot cup of coffee. A voucher for a local coffee shop or larger coffee chain is a great way to help cut their monthly coffee costs. And as any avid coffee drinker will tell you, those expenses can build up quickly!







6 — A personalized gift basket

A gift basket can be as bespoke as you’d like. If your challenge is movement-related, it can be packed with items such as protein bars, shakers—not the cocktail kind—epsom salts, a water bottle, and other wellness products. 


7 — A vacation 

If you really want to get your employees engaged in your wellness challenges and you have the budget, you can offer a paid vacation. It doesn’t have to be a weekend at the Ritz in London, but it should be a nice getaway.


8 — A paid-for day out

If a paid-for vacation is out of budget, why not do a paid-for day out? It can be dinner and bowling or something a little more adventurous, perhaps tomahawk throwing? 


Again, you can offer this prize to the overall challenge winner or as a team participation prize.


9 — A massage or spa day

Why not offer a massage or spa day to the winner of your challenge? This is especially rewarding for movement or step challenges. Simply purchase a massage or spa voucher and get your employees moving!


10 — Charitable donations

Wellness challenge prize ideas can also be charitable. You can use this as the main prize for the winner or as a separate prize for participation. For example, if all challenge participants complete the challenge, you’ll donate a set amount of money to a charity of their choice.


This is an excellent way to motivate your employees while giving back to your community. 


11 — A fitness tracker 

There’s no better wellness prize than a fitness tracker for wellness enthusiasts or those just starting their wellness or fitness journey. A Garmin or Polar is a good option if your employees are more active. If you’re looking for something a little more versatile and modern, an Apple or Google Watch are both fantastic options. 


Wellbeing app fitness challenges

How to set up a wellness challenge at work?  

Setting up a wellness challenge at work—or a series of challenges—can be very rewarding for your employee's health and productivity at work. For more benefits and a step-by-step guide on setting up a wellness challenge, read our workplace wellbeing challenge guide here.




Looking for more? Contact a Wellbeing Manager to discuss your organizational wellbeing needs.


 


FitPros logo in white inside a fuchsia colored box.

We provide workplace teams with mindful practices, personal and professional wellbeing growth, fitness instruction, and opportunities for social connection. We aim to inspire the highest potential in people at work, in life, every day, so they can show up healthy and at their best.

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