A Gift Story is a private, personalised multimedia experience created by ForestNation. Think Instagram Story or Facebook Story, but hosted by ForestNation, private between the sender and the recipient, and built around the act of planting real trees in the recipient’s name in Tanzania.
The sender creates a Gift Story from videos, images, and different types of media slides. They can add a personal voiceover. They write a message. They choose how many trees to plant. Then they send it, to one person, to a thousand, or triggered automatically via API webhook. The recipient gets a notification email with their name and the sender’s forest message, and that email links to their Gift Story.
The Gift Story is the experience. The email is just the door.
Key Takeaways
- A Gift Story is a private multimedia experience, similar to an Instagram Story, created by ForestNation and shared between sender and recipient.
- The sender builds it from videos, images, and media slides, and can add a personal voiceover. It is as expressive and personalised as the sender wants it to be.
- The Gift Story shows the recipient how many trees were planted on their behalf, and links to their Forest Profile which proves it.
- The forest message appears on both the sender’s and recipient’s Forest Profiles, connecting the two.
- Sending options: individual, scheduled, bulk, or via API webhooks. From one person to thousands.
- Start creating Gift Stories at forestnation.com/net/gift-stories. For corporate programmes: forestnation.com/companies.
What Is a Gift Story, Exactly?
A Gift Story is best understood as a private story format, like Instagram or Facebook Stories, but built specifically for meaningful gifting. The sender creates it using ForestNation’s platform: they upload videos, photos, and other media; they add slides; they can record a voiceover. The result is a rich, expressive, personalised message from sender to recipient, not a form email, not a generic notification.
At the heart of every Gift Story is a real tree planted in the recipient’s name in one of ForestNation’s five verified Tanzania sites. The Gift Story shows the recipient exactly how many trees were planted for them, and links directly to their Forest Profile which proves it, with the tree’s location, field-measured CO2 data (0.025 tonnes per tree per year), and ongoing growth information.
What Does the Recipient Experience?
The recipient receives a notification email personalised with their name and the sender’s forest message. That email links to their Gift Story, the full multimedia experience the sender created for them.
Inside the Gift Story, they see the sender’s videos, images, voiceover, and slides. They see how many trees were planted on their behalf. They can navigate to their Forest Profile to see the trees verified, located, and tracked. The forest message from the email is also displayed on their Forest Profile, and on the sender’s Forest Profile, connecting the two profiles together as a permanent record of the gift.
The Gift Story is private: only the sender and recipient see it. It is not a public post, not a social media share, it is a personal experience between two people (or a company and its employees, or a company and its clients), with real trees growing in Tanzania as the proof of the gesture.
How Is a Gift Story Different from a Tree Certificate?
A tree certificate is a document. A Gift Story is an experience. The difference is significant.
A certificate tells the recipient that a tree was planted. A Gift Story shows them: the sender’s message in their own voice, the number of trees planted on their behalf, the Tanzania location verified on their Forest Profile, and an ongoing connection to that forest as it grows. The sender’s effort is visible. The impact is traceable. The connection between sender and recipient is documented on both their Forest Profiles permanently.
How Personalised Can a Gift Story Be?
Fully personalised. The sender can upload any videos, photos, or media they choose. They can structure the story across multiple slides. They can add a voiceover in their own voice. The forest message is written specifically for the recipient. The recipient’s name is on the Gift Story and on the Forest Profile.
A Gift Story for a new employee on their first day can show a welcome video from their manager, slides introducing the team, and one tree planted in their name. A Gift Story for a client at deal closing can be the CEO delivering a personal thank you, with five trees planted to mark the partnership. A Gift Story for a friend’s birthday can be a photo montage of shared memories, with a tree growing in their name in Tanzania.
The format is the same. The content is entirely up to the sender.
How Are Gift Stories Sent?
Gift Stories can be sent in four ways:
- Individual: One Gift Story to one recipient. Created and sent directly from the ForestNation platform or via giftstory.ai.
- Scheduled: Create the Gift Story now, deliver it at a specific date and time.
- Bulk: Send personalised Gift Stories to many recipients simultaneously. Each recipient gets their own personalised Gift Story, with their name and trees planted specifically for them.
- API and webhooks: Trigger Gift Stories automatically when events occur, a new employee starts, a deal closes, a customer completes a purchase. The Gift Story is created and delivered without manual intervention.
For individual gifting on personal occasions: forestnation.com/net/gift-stories. For corporate programmes with bulk delivery, API integration, and ESG reporting: forestnation.com/companies.
What Occasions Are Gift Stories For?
Any occasion where a personalised, meaningful gift is appropriate:
- Personal occasions: Birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, memorials, farewells, thank yous, Christmas. See meaningful gifts and send a gift.
- Employee occasions: Onboarding, work anniversaries, appreciation days, team milestones. The Gift Story arrives on the employee’s first day, or their fifth anniversary, or Earth Day, personalised, with their name on it, with trees planted specifically for them.
- Client occasions: Deal closings, contract renewals, introductions that converted, project completions. A Gift Story at the right moment says more than any hamper. For corporate Gift Stories: forestnation.com/companies.
- ESG and CSR campaigns: Earth Day, World Environment Day, sustainability milestones. Plant trees for every employee, every client, every product sold, delivered simultaneously as personalised Gift Stories. Start at forestnation.com/corporate-gift-a-forest.
What Is the Environmental Impact of a Gift Story?
Every Gift Story plants real, verified trees in Tanzania. The environmental contribution:
- CO2 sequestration: 0.025 tonnes per tree per year, field-measured by the Working Trees study across five Tanzania sites.
- Biodiversity: Native species appropriate to each site, restoring habitat.
- Community livelihoods: Planting carried out by local communities in the Arusha region.
- ESG reporting: The CO2 data is specific, field-measured, and publishable in corporate ESG reports under EU ECGT, UK Green Claims Code, and US FTC Green Guides.
Full methodology: forestnation.com/impact-methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Gift Story from ForestNation?
A Gift Story is a private multimedia experience, similar to an Instagram Story, created by the sender and shared with the recipient. It is built from videos, images, slides, and a personal voiceover. Real trees are planted in the recipient’s name in Tanzania. The recipient gets a notification email linking to their Gift Story, where they see how many trees were planted for them, and their Forest Profile proves it. It is hyper-personalised and works for one person or thousands.
How does a Gift Story differ from a greeting card or e-card?
An e-card delivers a static message. A Gift Story delivers a full multimedia experience, plants real trees in the recipient’s name, links to a Forest Profile with verified environmental data, and connects the sender’s and recipient’s Forest Profiles permanently. The gift is the trees and the story. The card is just the envelope.
Does the recipient need an account to receive a Gift Story?
No. The Gift Story is delivered to the recipient’s email. They can view it immediately without an account. Their Forest Profile is accessible from the Gift Story. No login, no download, no setup required to receive and experience a Gift Story.
Can Gift Stories be sent at scale for corporate programmes?
Yes. Gift Stories can be sent in bulk, scheduled, or triggered automatically via API webhooks. Each recipient gets a fully personalised Gift Story with their name and trees planted specifically for them. For corporate Gift Story campaigns: forestnation.com/companies. No minimum order. Campaigns live in 48 hours.
