8 Custom Corporate Awards To Recognize Your Top Performers

Your top performers deserve recognition that actually matters. A generic trophy collecting dust on a shelf doesn't show real appreciation. You need awards that reflect your company's brand, look professional and polished, and make recipients feel genuinely valued for their contributions. But choosing the right award takes work. With so many materials, styles, and customization options out there, figuring out which type fits your budget, timeline, and specific occasion can feel like a project on its own.

This guide walks you through eight custom corporate award options you can order online. You'll discover what makes each style unique, how to add your logo and custom engraving, which occasions each award suits best, and what to expect for pricing and delivery times. Whether you're recognizing a quarterly MVP, celebrating a 20-year employee, or honoring an entire sales team, you'll find practical options that match your needs and budget.

1. Custom glass awards from Prize Possessions

Glass awards deliver timeless elegance with unmatched clarity that showcases your engraving beautifully. Prize Possessions specializes in custom glass pieces that range from classic rectangular shapes to modern curved designs, all crafted to highlight your recipient's achievement with professional polish.

Overview of this award style

Custom glass awards feature smooth surfaces and crystal-clear visibility that make engraved text and logos stand out sharply. You can choose from standard shapes like vertical towers and horizontal rectangles, or opt for unique geometric designs that add visual interest. The material itself catches light naturally, giving each piece a subtle glow on display shelves or office desks. These awards work particularly well when you want something that looks high-end without the premium price tag of full crystal.

Customization and branding options

You can add your company logo through precision laser engraving that creates crisp, permanent markings on the glass surface. Prize Possessions lets you include multiple lines of text for recipient names, achievement details, dates, and personalized messages. Their engraving process ensures your branding remains sharp and professional, whether you're ordering a single award or placing a bulk order for your entire team. Color fill options add contrast to engraved areas, making text more visible from a distance.

Glass awards give you professional customization that matches higher-priced materials while keeping costs manageable for recurring recognition programs.

Best occasions to use this award

These awards fit quarterly performance recognition, sales milestones, and project completion celebrations. You'll find them ideal for annual ceremonies where you need multiple awards that look consistent and professional. Glass works equally well for individual contributors and team leaders, making it versatile for various recognition levels within your organization.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Expect to spend $30 to $100 per glass award depending on size and complexity. Standard production typically takes 5-7 business days, with rush options available for urgent needs. Order at least two weeks before your event to account for production and shipping. Prize Possessions offers volume discounts for bulk orders, so request a custom quote if you're ordering more than ten pieces.

2. Crystal awards for executives

Crystal awards represent premium recognition that signals top-tier achievement within your organization. These pieces feature superior weight, brilliant clarity, and optical properties that create stunning light refraction, making them the go-to choice when you need to honor C-suite executives, senior leadership, or milestone career accomplishments.

Overview of this award style

Premium crystal delivers substantial heft and exceptional brilliance that glass simply cannot match. You'll notice the material's density immediately when handling these awards, which adds to their perceived value and prestige. The optical clarity allows for intricate 3D laser engraving inside the crystal itself, creating impressive depth effects that make logos and text appear to float within the piece. Executive recipients appreciate this level of craftsmanship, particularly for career-defining moments like promotions to senior leadership positions or major business achievements.

Customization and branding options

Crystal accepts both surface engraving and internal laser etching, giving you flexibility in how you present your company branding. You can incorporate detailed logos, photographic elements, and complex text layouts that would look cluttered on other materials. The material's clarity ensures every detail remains visible and sharp. Color bases in black, blue, or rosewood add contrast beneath clear crystal towers, making engraved text more prominent during formal presentations.

Best occasions to use this award

These custom corporate awards fit executive promotions, major contract wins, retirement ceremonies, and board-level recognition events. You'll want crystal when the occasion demands something beyond standard recognition, particularly for individuals whose contributions significantly impacted your company's success or strategic direction.

Crystal awards communicate that you reserved your finest recognition for achievements that genuinely deserve it.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Budget $75 to $300 per crystal award based on size and complexity. Production requires 7-10 business days for standard orders, with rush service available at additional cost. Order three weeks ahead for important ceremonies to allow time for approval of engraving proofs and secure shipping. Request samples before placing large orders to verify quality meets your expectations for executive-level presentations.

3. Acrylic awards for modern teams

Acrylic awards bring contemporary design and durable construction at price points that make sense for frequent recognition programs. You get clean lines, bold colors, and modern shapes that appeal to younger teams and tech-forward companies looking to move beyond traditional trophy styles.

Overview of this award style

Modern acrylic pieces feature sleek geometric designs with vibrant color bases that create striking visual impact on office desks. The material resists scratching better than glass while maintaining excellent clarity for engraving visibility. You can select from minimalist rectangular towers, curved wave shapes, or angular modern designs that reflect innovation and forward-thinking culture. These custom corporate awards weigh less than crystal or glass, making them practical for shipping to remote team members or multiple office locations without excessive freight costs.

Customization and branding options

You can incorporate full-color printing directly onto acrylic surfaces, allowing for complex logos with multiple colors and gradients that laser engraving cannot achieve. Standard engraving works beautifully on clear acrylic, while colored bases add contrast beneath text and branding elements. Prize Possessions offers options to combine printed graphics with engraved text, giving you creative flexibility to match your brand guidelines precisely.

Best occasions to use this award

These awards excel for monthly team recognition, innovation challenges, product launch celebrations, and startup milestone events. You'll find them particularly effective for tech companies, creative agencies, and organizations targeting millennial and Gen Z employees who appreciate modern aesthetics over traditional trophy designs.

Acrylic awards let you recognize achievements frequently without budget concerns that limit how often you celebrate your team's wins.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Plan for $25 to $85 per acrylic award depending on size and customization complexity. Production typically requires 4-6 business days, with expedited options available. Order in batches if you run recurring recognition programs to secure volume discounts and maintain consistent inventory for spontaneous celebrations.

4. Engraved plaques for milestones

Engraved plaques offer traditional elegance with wall-mountable designs that create lasting displays for significant career achievements. You get a classic recognition format that recipients can showcase in their offices or homes, serving as permanent reminders of their contributions to your organization's success.

Overview of this award style

Traditional plaques feature metal or wood bases paired with engraved plates that display recipient information and achievement details. You'll find options ranging from classic walnut finishes to contemporary black piano wood, with brass, aluminum, or stainless steel plates mounted on the front surface. These custom corporate awards carry substantial visual weight on office walls, making them ideal for achievements that deserve prominent, long-term display. The mounted format ensures your recognition remains visible for years rather than getting tucked away in desk drawers.

Customization and branding options

You can engrave detailed text blocks including recipient names, dates, achievement descriptions, and company logos directly onto metal plates. Prize Possessions offers multiple plate finishes that complement various wood base colors, letting you match your corporate aesthetic. Text formatting options include multiple fonts and sizes, allowing you to emphasize key information while maintaining professional appearance.

Best occasions to use this award

Plaques work perfectly for years of service, safety milestones, department leadership transitions, and professional certifications. You'll want these for achievements that mark permanent career progression rather than temporary performance wins.

Plaques transform milestone achievements into permanent office fixtures that recipients display proudly throughout their careers.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Expect costs between $40 to $150 per plaque depending on size and material quality. Production takes 6-8 business days for standard orders. Order four weeks ahead for retirement ceremonies to accommodate shipping and installation hardware.

5. Perpetual awards for ongoing goals

Perpetual awards track continuous achievement through renewable recognition cycles that keep teams motivated month after month or year after year. You install these custom corporate awards in prominent locations where they display current winners while building a visual history of past recipients, creating healthy competition and sustained performance momentum across your organization.

Overview of this award style

These awards feature fixed base plaques with individual nameplates that you add sequentially as new winners emerge. The main display remains in place while you attach small engraved plates listing each period's recipient and achievement date. Most designs accommodate 12 to 48 nameplates, giving you years of recognition capacity before needing replacement. You'll find formats ranging from vertical towers to horizontal wall-mounted designs, all built to maintain visual impact as nameplate sections fill over time.

Customization and branding options

Your company logo and program title get permanently engraved on the main plaque section, establishing brand presence that remains constant throughout the award's lifecycle. Individual nameplates carry recipient names, dates, and achievement categories in matching engraving styles. Prize Possessions can supply initial nameplate sets plus additional plates as needed, ensuring consistent appearance across all entries.

Best occasions to use this award

You'll use perpetual awards for employee of the month programs, safety record tracking, sales leader recognition, and departmental excellence competitions. These work best when you need visible, ongoing recognition that builds participation and maintains energy around specific performance goals throughout the year.

Perpetual awards turn individual achievements into collective success stories that grow more impressive as your team's history expands.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Initial investments run $150 to $400 for the main plaque, with individual nameplates costing $5 to $15 each. Plan 10-14 business days for the first order including the base structure. Order nameplate refills in batches to secure better pricing and ensure you have inventory ready when announcing winners.

6. Service awards for loyal employees

Service awards recognize tenure milestones that demonstrate sustained commitment to your organization. These custom corporate awards honor employees who've dedicated significant portions of their careers to your company's success, typically marking 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25-year anniversaries. You're acknowledging loyalty that directly impacts institutional knowledge, team stability, and organizational culture.

Overview of this award style

Long-term service recognition typically features elegant designs that reflect the significance of career commitment. You'll find options that incorporate gemstones, unique materials, or special finishes that correspond to traditional anniversary designations (crystal for 15 years, silver for 25 years). The awards themselves often display larger surface areas to accommodate detailed achievement summaries and personal messages that acknowledge specific contributions throughout the recipient's tenure. Most designs emphasize sophistication and permanence, matching the enduring nature of the relationship you're celebrating.

Customization and branding options

Service awards accommodate extensive personalization including recipient names, hire dates, milestone years, and career highlights or department histories. You can add company logos alongside commemorative text that details the employee's journey within your organization. Many formats allow for multiple engraving zones that let you balance corporate branding with personal recognition elements that make each award uniquely meaningful to its recipient.

Best occasions to use this award

Deploy these awards during formal anniversary celebrations, annual recognition ceremonies, or retirement events that mark career transitions. You'll want service awards for milestone years that warrant special acknowledgment beyond standard performance recognition.

Service awards validate career-long dedication with recognition that honors both individual loyalty and shared organizational history.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Plan $60 to $200 per service award depending on milestone significance and material selection. Production needs 7-10 business days for standard fulfillment. Schedule orders six weeks before anniversary dates to coordinate with HR records and ensure delivery aligns with formal presentation timing.

7. Team awards for group wins

Team awards celebrate collective achievements that require coordinated effort from multiple people working toward shared objectives. These custom corporate awards recognize that some of your organization's biggest wins come from collaboration rather than individual performance, making them essential for building department cohesion and reinforcing the value of teamwork across your company.

Overview of this award style

Group recognition pieces typically feature larger display surfaces and multi-recipient formats that accommodate entire team rosters. You'll find designs ranging from standalone trophies with spacious engraving areas to matching individual pieces that each team member receives while a master award remains on permanent display. Many formats include special sections that list all participating members, ensuring everyone receives equal acknowledgment for their contributions to the project's success.

Customization and branding options

Your team name and project details get prominent placement alongside company branding elements. You can list individual member names, project completion dates, and achievement metrics that quantify the team's impact. Prize Possessions accommodates extended text blocks that tell the complete story of your team's accomplishment, creating meaningful recognition that captures the full scope of collaborative work.

Best occasions to use this award

Use team awards for major project completions, departmental goal achievements, cross-functional initiatives, and record-breaking performance periods. You'll want these when success required coordinated efforts that no single person could accomplish alone.

Team awards validate that collaborative wins matter as much as individual achievements in driving your organization forward.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Expect $50 to $175 per team award depending on size and recipient count. Production requires 5-7 business days for standard orders. Order two weeks ahead to coordinate with team celebration events and ensure all member names appear correctly.

8. Branded gifts as performance awards

Branded gifts shift recognition from traditional trophy formats to functional items that recipients actually use in their daily work or personal lives. You're giving performance awards that serve practical purposes while keeping your company brand visible, making these pieces ideal for organizations looking to combine recognition with brand reinforcement.

Overview of this award style

Functional branded items include premium pens, leather portfolios, executive desk accessories, quality drinkware, and tech gadgets that feature your company logo through engraving or printing. These custom corporate awards deliver utility alongside recognition, ensuring recipients engage with the award regularly rather than letting it collect dust on a shelf. You'll find these particularly effective when your team values practical recognition that integrates into their professional routine.

Customization and branding options

Your logo placement can appear through laser engraving on metal items, embossing on leather goods, or printing on drinkware and tech accessories. Prize Possessions offers engraving on premium gift items that maintain professional appearance while incorporating recipient names and achievement details alongside corporate branding.

Best occasions to use this award

These gifts work for spot recognition programs, sales incentives, onboarding welcome packages, and client appreciation events. You'll want branded gifts when recognition needs to feel less formal than traditional awards while still acknowledging performance achievements.

Branded gifts turn performance recognition into everyday reminders of accomplishment that recipients see and use consistently.

Budget, lead times, and ordering tips

Costs range $20 to $120 per item depending on product selection and customization complexity. Production takes 5-8 business days for most items. Order in quantity to secure volume pricing for ongoing recognition programs that require regular gift distribution.

Final thoughts

You now have eight distinct award options that match different recognition needs, budgets, and company cultures. Each style serves specific occasions, from glass awards for quarterly wins to crystal pieces for executive milestones to branded gifts for practical recognition. The key is matching the award format to the achievement's significance and your recipient's preferences rather than defaulting to whatever looks flashy in an online catalog.

Start by identifying your most pressing recognition needs and budget constraints. Then select 2-3 award styles that cover your regular recognition programs plus special occasions. Prize Possessions specializes in custom engraving and can help you personalize any of these custom corporate awards with your logo, recipient details, and achievement information. Browse their complete catalog and request a custom quote for your specific requirements at Prize Possessions to get started with recognition that genuinely resonates with your team.