从 IMEX America 精选：10 项可用于会议与活动的 CSR 活动与公益礼品创意

Skift Take

Giving back has become the norm on the convention floor, and charitable giving has earned a permanent place in planners' budgets. These 10 options for doing both were inspired by IMEX.

CSR activities and socially conscious gifting are woven into the fabric of many meetings, including the industry’s major trade show, IMEX America. This year’s event, held in Las Vegas in mid-October, showcased some new ideas for activations and supported several nonprofits.

Giving back is increasingly built into the meeting experience, and so is the aim to support local vendors. The Industry Outlook for 2026: Merchandise, Gift Cards, and Event Gifting by the Incentive Research Foundation found that planners are prioritizing high-value, locally sourced gifts, not only to help attendees remember the destination but also to avoid shipping costs as they deal with mounting budget pressures.

Skift Meetings’ editors have curated a collection of 10 socially conscious activities and gifts from the IMEX show floor and beyond.

1. The Foundation for Hospital Art

Since 1984, The Foundation for Hospital Art has been dedicated to bringing paintings, wall murals, and ceiling tiles into hospitals to brighten patients’ days. It estimates that more than 1 million volunteers have created 59,000 paintings for more than 9,500 hospitals in 195 countries. 

Meeting organizers can host PaintFest Events for all sizes of groups, into the thousands, on site at a hotel or convention center. Teams typically paint in groups of 12, and the activity lasts between 90 minutes and 2½ hours.  

There's no artistic talent required: The Foundation draws the designs in advance and the attendees simply follow the colored dots and add their own creativity.

2. Light the Candle & Care Closets

At 17, Jordan Lacey’s life changed when she watched her aunt and uncle adopt her two young cousins from the foster care system in New York. She decided to do something for all those kids who were not adopted.

That was the start of Light the Candle. At first, she and her friends met after school and made cards, and today, Light the Candle works with small groups of up to around 30 people to maintain the quality of the cards.

For larger groups, Lacey has started Care Closets, which are located in child, youth, and family services offices. Social workers are able to go to the Care Closet and pull items for the foster children, everything from diapers to deodorant to hair products, so they don't have to spend their allocated funds on personal care. The activity fits neatly into any agenda and can take just a few minutes. Light the Candle supplies signage and the protocol, and the planner is responsible for the products and bags. The filled bags can be shipped from any location, and Lacey’s team takes care of distributing them.

3. Wine To Water

Never before has water been such a commodity. The nonprofit Wine to Water works with meeting groups to assemble DROP Filters — one of which can supply 10 to 12 people with clean water — with guidance from the Wine to Water team. Attendees also write notes to the families who will receive the filters. A DIY option is available for smaller groups, complete with all the materials and a step-by-step guide. Corporate clients have ranged from Lenovo to American Express to United Airlines.

4. Billion Oyster Project

Oysters are a foundational species in New York Harbor, and their ecological systems once made it one of the most productive estuaries on Earth. The nonprofit Billion Oyster Project is rebuilding a habitat for marine life, with a goal of one billion oysters restored.

Groups can join corporate volunteer days, which are hosted from April through October on Governors Island. Teams contribute directly to active restoration efforts, from preparing oyster shells for deployment to building reef structures to supporting the maintenance of the fabrication facilities.

5. MATTERbox

MATTER’s MATTERbox CSR activities benefit nonprofits focused on food insecurity and housing instability, and were designed for large shows. The activations, where attendees can assemble snack packs, take place right on the show floor and require two feet of table space per participant. Among the conventions that have used the MATTERbox activation are the NGA Show, which packed up over 1,000 snack packs for the San Diego Food Bank, and the National Association of Elevator Contractors, where 100 attendees packed more than 5,000 snack kits for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston.

Charitable Gifting

6. Pyvot

Pyvot’s colorful socks showcase the work of local and global artists. Meeting planners who purchase the socks are not only donating a portion of each sale to the maker, but Pyvot, which exhibited at IMEX, also commissions the artists to create murals through its Art Giveback Program.

Collaborations include FeeBee, an Austin, Texas–based muralist and designer, and Jayson Atiernza, whose projects range from Nike murals in Shanghai to custom pieces for brands like Ray-Ban and Lululemon.

7. Opportunity Village

This Las Vegas–based nonprofit highlighted at IMEX has been serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for more than 70 years. Opportunity Village’s Artworks Studio has participants work with artists and mentors to create original artwork, which event organizers can commission for gifting. The selection of corporate gifts includes everything from fabric tote bags to wooden cutting boards to hand-painted silk scarves.

8. Joycoast

Joycoast sunglasses, watches, and accessories are not only made from FSC-certified wood, but the company plants 10 trees for every product gifted — which means that one event can plant hundreds or thousands of trees.

Caesars Entertainment included an activation during a press breakfast at IMEX, where attendees left with new shades for the week ahead. Joycoast has also brought its sustainable gifting to incentive trips and sales kickoffs across the country.

9. Congo Clothing Company

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been embroiled in conflict for more than 25 years, subjecting women, in particular, to atrocities including horrific sexual violence.

Enter Congo Clothing Company, which has been recognized by the United Nations for its approach to social impact. This Miami–based company donates 10% of the proceeds from each sale of its chic hoodies, T-shirts, and bottoms to fund job-skills training for survivors of sexual violence in the DRC. 

10. Gifts for Good

Why not let attendees choose their gift?

Gifts for Good, a certified B Corp, sources from more than 70 nonprofits and social enterprises, and attendees can choose a product or a local experience, or donate the value of their gift to a cause of their choice. Each product ships with a card naming the maker and the impact of their work. The platform also lets companies create impact reports for management and B Corp reporting.