A greeting card can be used in many different ways – just take a look at all the different types of corporate greeting cards available on this website! The first use that comes to mind is an expression of goodwill towards the recipient, be it for a holiday, a birthday, or to congratulate or thank. That goodwill, however, can be “paid forward” with just a simple act.

Many customers order their corporate greeting cards with a special imprint. Some thank patrons or clients at Christmas time with mention of their end-of-year donation to a favorite charity inside of their greeting cards. Others celebrate the birthdays of their employees by donating to an organization in the employee’s name.

Using a greeting card to pay it forward doesn’t always have to include such a grand gesture. Small acts of kindness are just as meaningful. Think of a colleague who may be having a rough time, and send her a thinking of you card. Perhaps a client is having her first child. Send a congratulations card. Did colleagues in the office pilot a recycling program for the company? Why not send thank you cards? You can even choose a greeting card made with windpower in light of the situation.

In my greeting card Googling (yes, I do Google greeting cards – it comes with the job description), I discovered what, to me, may be the most interesting use of greeting cards in the “pay it forward” aspect. Amnesty International annually asks members to send greeting cards with messages of support to prisoners and human rights defenders worldwide. This small act of goodwill lets those receiving the greeting cards know someone remembers them, and the message to write in the greeting card is as simple as “We’re thinking of you.” I was disappointed to discover that the 2007 Holiday Card Action program had ended in January, but it’s a great cause to remember during the 2008 holiday season.

I recently got back from visiting a friend who lives in Cincinnati. The trip was very enjoyable, with the exception of the return flight back to Newark. On that flight, I accidentally spilled my complimentary soda on Roy, a very well dressed business man sitting next to me. I was extremely embarrassed to find out that he had to go directly to a meeting after landing at the airport. I felt so bad about the incident that I offered to give him some money to cover the cost of dry cleaning. What was even more embarrassing was that I was all out of cash when I opened my wallet! So I took down his full name and address, promising that I would send him the dry cleaning money in the mail once I got home.

When I returned home, I immediately opened up a box of business thank you cards. I enclosed $25 in the card and wrote a note thanking Roy for his patience and understanding. A few months later, I received a greeting card in the mail. Apparently Roy had pulled my address off the return label of the original envelope and decided to send me a thank you card. Inside he wrote a note saying that he was impressed with my honesty in sending him the dry cleaning money. In addition to this, Roy was intrigued with the concept of using corporate greeting cards and started sending them to his business clients. He noted that he has already gotten positive feedback on the cards, which he feels will lead to customer loyalty.

The best part of this story was that Roy enclosed a small envelope inside the card. It contained $8.73…the leftover change from his dry cleaning bill.