How to Send Dunkin’ Gift Cards: Guide For Reward Program Managers

If you're planning an employee recognition or incentive program, you might be surprised just how easy it can be to send a Dunkin' gift card to your audience. 

In fact, it's never been easier for HR teams and incentive program managers to access Dunkin' Donuts cards, alongside other effective digital incentives.

Finding simple, flexible, and affordable ways to reward employees or thank customers can make a huge difference in your engagement strategy. And because they're so popular and versatile, Dunkin' gift cards are particularly well-suited for quick recognition or small incentives—whether that's celebrating a sales win, acknowledging great service, or just saying thanks for being awesome.

In this article, we’ll explore how to send a Dunkin' gift card in your loyalty, engagement or incentive program. 

👉 This is an actionable guide that will help you pick the easiest, most effective approach for your goals. 

What are the main ways to send a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card?

When it comes to sending a Dunkin’ gift, you’ve got a few reliable choices.

Namely, you could either pick up a few physical gift cards at the store, you could order digital cards online (also known as egift cards) and track them yourself, or you could work with a gift card distributor.

Each approach is best for different scenarios and budgets. The approach you choose will depend on your unique needs and budget. 

• While a little dated, physical cards can work when you need something tangible to hand out at events or meetings, or when you're starting a new program and want to test the waters. 
• Purchasing digital egift cards is a slightly more modern approach that can work well for things like rewarding small remote teams or one-off online surveys. You'll have more flexibility and control than you would with physical cards, but you'll likely have to invest more time to keep everything organized. 
• And when working with a gift card company, you'll get access to a full suite of tools to automate, track, and report on every card sent. This will prove vital if you’re managing multiple incentive programs, planning to scale, or need to show clear ROI.

🤔 Not sure what sending option you need?

Each method covers specific needs, so matching your process to your goal is key.

Think about the amount of cards you’ll send, if you need to track usage, and whether you want delivery options like email or text.

To help you do this, we're covering each option in more detail below.👇

Can I use physical Dunkin’ gift cards for rewards and incentives?

You'd be hard pressed to find someone today who's never given or received a physical gift card. They've been one of the most popular gifts for decades now, in large part because they're such an easy, enjoyable way to treat friends and family. 

But it's one thing to slip a physical card in a Christmas card. Will that work just as well for employee rewards, say, or customer loyalty? 

The answer depends on your goals. 

If you are just getting started, of course there's nothing stopping you from going to your closest Dunkin' and buying a stack of cards (you can also get them at retailers like Walmart, or directly through the Dunkin' website). Simply then give them out as needed. 

If you only need cards for a few in-office employees or a one-off project, there's no reason this method can't work. 

But keep in mind that physical cards are hard for larger programs and almost impossible to responsibly scale. Someone needs to take the time to physically buy, sort, and potentially ship them. Manual tracking is tricky (are people actually getting their cards? are they using them?). And if a card is lost or stolen, there’s little you can do.

You also won't be able to add any of your own branding, and you won't have dedicated support if something goes awry. 

Case (Study) In Point:

Employee rewards and incentives are an important part of Factors Group's culture. Physical cards worked for their employee rewards program . . . until they didn't. 

At the start,  an HR manager used to buy a stack of physical prepaid Visa® cards that she could then manually deliver to team members. 

The problem? A high value of cards sat too long in a drawer, and they were about to expire, unsent and unused. 

This revealed how inefficient their rewards program was becoming for a growing company of their size. 

The solution? They started using a gift card platform to streamline their processes and better grow their internal reward program. 

👉 See the case study now. 

Can I buy digital Dunkin’ gift cards and email them myself? 

Similarly, it's easy to purchase digital Dunkin’ cards directly from the Dunkin’ website or major third-party vendors. You choose an amount, pay, and either send it to your own email to forward later or direct to the recipient. If you’re managing a handful of rewards at a time or just want to send a surprise donut break, this might be your best bet.

Still, this isn't your easiest choice for program management. 

Yes, your recipients will get instant digital rewards, which is great for remote teams or last-minute recognition.

With digital gifts, you get fast delivery and easy access from anywhere, and you can record card numbers and emails for partial tracking. 

But expect the manual side to kick in fast. If you’re rewarding dozens or hundreds, copying codes and keeping tabs on which code went to which recipient gets overwhelming. There aren’t built-in reporting tools, and it’s easy to miss who’s claimed their card. The process suits low-volume needs best.

Case (Study) In Point:

Research and consulting company Prime46 uses gift card incentives to encourage participation in surveys, interviews, and focus groups. 

Their project manager bought digital Amazon cards, which he delivered via email and kept sorted in a spreadsheet. 

The problem? Sending and tracking was a headache. All that manual work amounted to wasted hours every week—a major issue, especially since Prime46 bills clients hourly.

The solution? Prime46 integrated sending directly into their survey software, through a gift card API. 

With just a few developer hours (two days, to be exact!), they automated the entire process:
•Gift cards were purchased and delivered automatically.
•Delivery, redemption, and invoice tracking happened in a single dashboard.
•No manual spreadsheets, no misdirected codes, no follow-ups.

The result? The program manager estimates he now saves 5 to 10 hours per week.

👉 See the case study now.

What is a gift card distributor?

For the rest of this article, we'll focus on how to automate gift card delivery with the help of a gift card distributor. So, what exactly is that? 

A gift card distributor is a B2B platform that connects the brands that issue gift cards with the companies that need to send them at scale, removing the need to manage dozens of individual merchant relationships.

Good distributors will secure bulk pricing from those brands and layer on software or APIs so you can buy, deliver, and track rewards in one place.

Most distributors handle both digital and physical cards, but their real strength is instant digital delivery via email, SMS, links, or QR codes, giving recipients immediate access to their reward. This eliminates the printing, packaging, and shipping costs that can bog down traditional programs. 

Moreover, modern gift card platforms add dashboards, analytics, and recipient support so you always know which cards were delivered and redeemed, making it much easier to track and prove program ROI.

All combined, these features can turn gift card delivery into a flexible, scalable incentive channel for marketing, HR, and research teams alike. 

Pricing models differ, but transparent distributors charge only the face value of the reward, avoiding fees, minimums, or long contracts. That clarity lets you better forecast and ensure that all your budget goes towards the people you're trying to motivate. 

How Can a Distributor Help Me Send Dunkin’ Gift Cards?

Gift card distributors like Giftbit will let you deliver Dunkin’ gift cards in lots of ways: by email, SMS text and app notifications, or through using powerful API connections. You can send a single card or thousands—all with just a few clicks or by scheduling delivery.

Ultimately, if you need to deliver a high volume of Dunkin' cards or just want a better way to track and manage all your rewards and incentives in one place, automated gift card distribution with a partner company is your best bet.

Note: with the right gift card provider, you won't be restricted to one brand. The same platform you use to send Dunkin' gift cards should also let you send lots of types of gift cards (including other coffee gift cards, like those from Starbucks and Tim Hortons), along with prepaid cards (i.e., Visa and Mastercard® incentive cards). 🙌

💌 How do I send Dunkin’ gift cards by email through a distributor?

To email Dunkin' gift cards through your platform, start by uploading your recipient list (either type in emails or pull from your HR software or CRM).

You can customize each message, add a company logo, and select when cards get sent (right away, or on a set date like an anniversary or contest day).

The platform delivers the egift card straight to inboxes, complete with a redemption link and instructions. You’ll see opens, deliveries, and redemptions in your online dashboard.

This makes it simple to coordinate company-wide celebrations or ongoing recognition.

Plus, you don’t have to chase anyone down for delivery status—it all lives in one place.💪

📱Can I send Dunkin’ gift cards by text message (SMS)?

Maybe your recipients aren't big on email but never miss a text message.

If that's the case, be sure to pick a distributor that lets you deliver egift cards as a secure link via SMS.

It’s simple: recipients click the link in the message and access their gift card in seconds. For ongoing or urgent campaigns, SMS usually means great open rates and speed.

Why text delivery for gift cards? Because it's immediate and attention-grabbing, texts work well for field staff, on-the-go employees, or rewards during live events. No email required, just a mobile number, making this especially useful for recipients who may not be tied to desks or screens.

💻 How to send Dunkin’ gift cards from your CRM (and other apps)

Don’t want to code, but still looking for automation? Zapier can connect your everyday tools—like CRM, Google Sheets, or marketing software—to a distributor’s platform.

Indeed, no-code gift card integration is perfect for programs that want modern automation without IT bottlenecks or the need for developer resources.

It works by triggering card sends based on actions (think: a positive survey response, a new employee anniversary, or other CRM milestone). 

Case (Study) In Point:

Educational technology app Curipod uses gift card incentives to encourage participation in surveys, interviews, and focus groups. 

Their COO & Co-Founder Eirik Hernes Berre wanted an easy way to manage this new incentive program—and he found one in a simple Zapier hookup. 

In just ten minutes, he was able to start sending Visa prepaid cards automatically, based on referrals tracked in HubSpot. No more work required after that initial setup. 

The result? An easy way to distribute payouts while growing their base, no coding needed. 

👉 See the case study now.

🚀Can I use an API to send Dunkin’ gift cards automatically?

Meanwhile, companies or teams with their own custom apps or portals might prefer to build an API connection. This approach supports high-volume needs and deep customization. With the right setup, you’ll have real-time delivery, flexible gift card denominations, and brand selection built right into your platform.

APIs make hands-free, fully automated rewards possible—no spreadsheets or manual steps required. Learn more here: Gift card APIs. 

Create a successful Dunkin' campaign

You can’t improve what you aren’t tracking. When you roll out a coffee card campaign, monitor these core gift card metrics:

• Claim rate – what portion of issued cards are redeemed
• Resend ratio – how often you need to resend cards because the first notice slipped by
  Incremental lift – do the coffee perks spark added meetings, extra survey responses, or more employee shout-outs?

to learn which reward options create the strongest pull, you might also try:

• Segmenting audiences
• Experimenting with different coffee shop brands 
• Or offering full choice from the rewards catalog. 

If a gift sits unclaimed, fire off a short reminder email; that gentle prod can recover plenty of value.

Then keep refining and repeating for even sharper outcomes, just as you’d tweak a recipe to brew the perfect cup. 😉

Giftbit makes it easy to send Dunkin' gift cards as rewards, incentives, and payouts. Reach out to learn about revenue sharing or complex integrations, or to ask any other questions you might have.