FAQs

Embraved serves two communities: personal gift-givers who want meaningful, story-driven gifts for the people they love, and mid-market organizations — nonprofits, foundations, law firms, government contractors, and mission-aligned businesses — that need thoughtful Recognition Gifts for donors, employees, clients, and partners.

We're built specifically for organizations that care about the story behind their gifts — who made it, where it came from, and what it represents. If you've ever sent a generic branded mug or a logo-stamped tote and felt like it didn't reflect your mission, this is the brand for you.

Three things, specifically:

We're regionally rooted. Embraved.co is based in Alexandria, Virginia, with our laser engraving studio in the heart of the DMV — not a fulfillment warehouse 2,000 miles away. We know our region, our buyers, and our donor communities personally. For organizations in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia metro, that closeness matters.

We're founder-led. Embraved.co is the sister brand to FundRaiz, an established philanthropy consultancy serving the DMV. We've spent years inside nonprofits, foundations, and mission-driven organizations — we know how recognition programs actually work and what donors and employees actually keep.

We curate with conviction. Every product comes from a named maker — women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disability-owned artisans across Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the United States. Then we locally engrave personalized pieces in our Alexandria studio. 10% of profits fund nonprofit missions.

There is no hard minimum. We work with organizations ordering as few as 10 gifts for a board retreat or as many as several hundred for a national conference. Pricing tiers reflect order size — orders of 25+ units receive volume discounts of 15–25% off retail, with custom logo engraving included on most products.

For orders under 10 units, we recommend shopping our retail Boxes of Stories collection, which is ready to ship within 48 hours.

Yes — logo engraving is one of our core capabilities, and we produce every engraved piece in our Alexandria, Virginia studio. We work with bamboo, hardwoods, cork, leather, and engineered wood. Our standard products available for logo engraving include cutting boards, coaster sets, leather keychains, journal covers, custom signs, and ornaments.

The logo authorization and approval process is built into our intake form. Once you upload your logo and approve the engraving proof, production begins. We send a digital proof for your sign-off before any laser cuts material.

Yes — most of our engraved products include a personalization tool right on the product page. You can add a name, monogram, initials, date, or short custom message before adding the item to your cart. A live preview shows you exactly how the engraving will appear before you check out.

Personalization is free on most products; some specialty designs (custom artwork, photo engraving, hand-drawn graphics) include a small design fee, noted on the product page. Personalized items take 5–7 business days to produce before shipping, since each piece is engraved by hand in our Alexandria, Virginia studio.

Important note: All personalized engraved items are final sale and cannot be returned. Please review your personalization carefully before completing checkout — including spelling, capitalization, and any special characters.

We reserve the right to decline any engraving request that we determine, at our sole discretion, violates our terms or policies — including but not limited to hateful, discriminatory, sexually explicit, threatening, defamatory, or unlawful content, or content that infringes on third-party trademarks or copyrights. If we decline a request, we will contact you within one business day and issue a full refund.

Standard production timelines after proof approval:

•     Orders of 10–24 units: 7–10 business days

•     Orders of 25–49 units: 10–14 business days

•     Orders of 50–99 units: 14–18 business days

•     Orders of 100+ units: 18–25 business days, with a dedicated production schedule

These are production times from the day you approve the engraving proof. Shipping adds 2–5 business days via USPS Ground Advantage. For time-sensitive orders (donor galas, conferences, board meetings), we recommend reaching out 4–6 weeks before your deadline to ensure room in the production schedule.

No — never. Every gift ships without a packing slip and without any pricing visible to the recipient. This is one of our three core brand promises. A gift should feel like a gift, not a transaction. Whether you're sending one Boxes of Stories or 200 Recognition Gifts, the recipient sees a beautiful package, the maker stories behind the items, and a handwritten note — not an invoice.

Yes — and we believe this is one of the most important parts of any meaningful gift. Every order on Embraved.co can include a complimentary handwritten note, written by our team on a branded card and placed inside the package before shipping. No printed digital messages, no impersonal labels.

On every product page, you'll see an optional "Add a handwritten note" toggle. Click it to open a text field where you can write your message — up to 150 characters (about 25–35 words — enough for something genuinely meaningful, short enough to fit beautifully on the card). If you're not sending the item as a gift, simply leave the toggle off and skip the note.

Some examples to inspire you:

•     "Thinking of you today. I love you. — Maria"

•     "Congratulations on the new home. May it be filled with everything good. — The Rodriguez family"

•     "You've shown up for me again and again. This is just a small thank-you. — Sarah"

If you're sending to multiple recipients (multi-address shipping), you can write a different note for each item by adding it on each product page before checkout. For Recognition Gifts bulk orders, we can write the same note across all recipients or customize per-recipient — your call.

The handwritten note is always included free with every gift, no upcharge, ever. It's one of the three brand promises that defines Embraved.

10% of Embraved's net profits are donated quarterly to nonprofit partner organizations through the FundRaiz network. We distribute four times per year — March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31 — and publish an annual impact report each January naming the organizations supported.

Yes — this is one of the populations we know best. Our founder has more than 20 years inside nonprofit and philanthropy work. We understand donor cultivation cycles, board recognition protocols, major gift acknowledgment, and the difference between a $500 donor gift and a $50,000 donor gift.

For nonprofits and foundations, we can build a Recognition Gifts program around your annual giving calendar — board retreats, donor stewardship moments, end-of-year appreciation, and major gift acknowledgments. We can also create branded gift boxes that align with your specific mission language and visual identity.

Yes. Beyond our pre-curated Boxes of Stories — including The Latina Heritage Box, The Women-Owned Box, The DMV Maker Box, The Sympathy Box, and our specialized fertility journey boxes — we build custom gift boxes for organizations who want a fully tailored selection.

Custom box projects typically begin with a 15-minute consultation to understand your recipient, occasion, budget, and brand requirements. We then propose a curated selection (typically 5–8 items per box) with full visibility into makers, materials, and impact labels. Minimum custom box order is 15 units; pricing reflects materials plus a small curation fee.

Every product on our site carries at least two impact labels (Woman-Owned, Latino-Owned, Asian-Owned, Black-Owned, LGBTQ+-Owned, Disabled-Owned, Eco-Friendly, Organic, Gives Back, Handmade) — and every label is verified through our process.

Every Boxes of Stories ships with an Artisans Story Card behind each item inside. Personalized engraving on bamboo, wood, leather, and cork is done by our founder in our Alexandria, Virginia studio.

Three options, depending on your timeline:

Browse and request a quote online. Our Recognition Gifts intake form takes 5 minutes. We'll send a custom quote with proposed products, pricing, and engraving mockups within one business day.

Book a 15-minute consultation. If you have a specific occasion, budget, or recipient list in mind and want to talk it through, schedule a call directly with our founder. We'll discuss your needs and follow up with a tailored proposal.

Email us directly. For straightforward questions, email hello@embraved.co. We respond within one business day, Monday through Friday.

We ship from our Alexandria, Virginia studio via USPS Ground Advantage, with typical delivery in 2–5 business days within the continental United States. We currently ship to U.S. addresses only.

Processing times depend on what you're ordering:

•     Boxes of Stories and Marketplace items: Ship within 1–2 business days of order placement

•     Personalized engraved items: Ship within 5–7 business days (each piece is hand-engraved in our studio)

•     Recognition Gifts bulk orders: Ship within 7–25 business days depending on order size (see Question 6)

Shipping cost: Free on orders of $100 or more. Below that threshold, shipping is calculated at checkout based on weight and destination — typically $8–$15.

Multi-address shipping (sending one order to multiple recipients) is available at checkout. Each address may have separate shipping costs.

Every gift ships without a packing slip or visible pricing — because a gift should never feel like a transaction.

Yes. Our checkout supports multi-address shipping from Day 1 — you can place a single order and have us ship individual gifts to 5, 50, or 500 different recipients at their own addresses. This is one of the most-requested features for Recognition Gifts buyers, and we've built our system to handle it cleanly.

For organizations with frequent multi-address needs (employee onboarding gifts, donor appreciation programs, anniversary gifts), we can also set up a recurring relationship with stored recipient lists.

Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery for any reason, with the following exceptions that are final sale:

•     Personalized engraved items (cutting boards, keychains, ornaments, journals, and other items engraved with names, monograms, logos, or custom messages)

•     Food and consumable products (teas, chocolate, honey, soaps, candles that have been opened)

•     Recognition Gifts bulk orders once production has begun (after engraving proof approval)

To return an eligible item, email connect@embraved.co within 30 days of delivery. We'll send a return authorization. The item must be in its original packaging — for Boxes of Stories, this means the entire box returned intact, not individual items removed.

Return shipping is the buyer's responsibility. Once we receive the returned item in good condition, we refund the full purchase price to the original payment method within 5–7 business days. Customers are fully responsible for shipping return fees.

Damaged or lost packages: If your gift arrives damaged or doesn't arrive within the expected window, email us within 14 days of expected delivery. We'll work with you to send a replacement or issue a refund — and we cover return shipping in those cases.

See our full Shipping & Return Policies at embraved.co/pages/shipping for complete terms.