Getting started with rewards in HeyTaco

Rewards are a great way to add extra meaning to the tacos your team earns. This guide walks through everything you need to know to set up a successful rewards program.

When should I introduce rewards?

We recommend waiting until your team has been using HeyTaco for a little while before adding rewards. When people are already giving tacos regularly and the habit is established, rewards feel like a celebration of that culture rather than an incentive to participate. Introducing rewards too early can make recognition feel transactional.

Once tacos are flowing consistently, you're ready.

Step 1: Understand what your team values

Before creating rewards, think about what would be meaningful to your team. Common categories include work-related perks (desk accessories, headphones), wellness (fitness subscriptions, spa treatments), personal experiences (gift cards, travel), and collaborative rewards (team outings, charity donations). See "What are some reward ideas?" for a full list of ideas crowdsourced from HeyTaco teams.

Step 2: Choose your reward types

HeyTaco supports three types of rewards: custom rewards, collaborative rewards, and instant gift cards. Custom rewards are anything you create and fulfill yourself — a piece of swag, a lunch with leadership, an extra day off. Collaborative rewards are team goals where everyone pools tacos together toward a shared experience. Instant gift cards are automatically fulfilled by HeyTaco and sent directly to the recipient's email.

Step 3: Price your rewards

A good starting point is 4 tacos per $1 of value. This keeps rewards accessible without depleting too quickly. See "How should I price and budget for rewards?" for more guidance, including how to adjust pricing as your taco economy grows.

Step 4: Set up your Taco Shop

Go to the Taco Shop page in HeyTaco and click "Add Reward" to create your first reward. Only admins can create rewards — if you don't see the button, you don't have admin permissions. See [How do I create a custom reward?], [How do I create a collaborative reward?], and [Getting Started with Instant Gift Cards] for setup guides for each reward type.

Step 5: Announce it to your team

Let your team know rewards are now available in the Taco Shop. Share what's there and how redemption works. Consider starting with just a few rewards and rotating them over time to keep the shop fresh and engaging.

A note for teams that have been using HeyTaco for over a year

If your team has accumulated a large number of redeemable tacos before rewards were introduced, you may want to reset redeemable taco balances before launching. This creates a fair starting point and avoids immediate depletion of your rewards. A reset does not affect given/received taco counts or leaderboard standings — only the redeemable balance. Admins can do this from Admin → Settings.