Case Study: PERMA Points® Enrolls 350 NY Public Entities

What’s Inside

The Challenge: Making safety proactive in a sector built to react

Workers’ compensation risk management has a long-standing engagement problem: most municipal employers respond to safety requirements rather than pursue them. As the largest self-insurance pool for public entities in New York State, PERMA set out to change that across a membership of more than 800 municipalities and public entities.

The obstacles were real. Compliance-based approaches—training mandates, reporting requirements—had limited reach. PERMA’s members operate with tight budgets, lean administrative staff, and safety risks that vary widely, from K-12 schools and fire departments to highway crews and county offices. PERMA needed a way to make prevention something members actively worked toward, not just another requirement to satisfy.

The Solution: Consumer loyalty mechanics applied to public-sector safety

PERMA Points, built on the eGifter Rewards platform and launched in June 2025, borrows the points-and-rewards mechanics that drive consumer loyalty programs and applies them to a sector that had never used them. Members earn points for completing designated safety activities throughout the year, then redeem those points for rewards tied directly to workplace safety. The incentive loop stays closed: safety activity earns rewards that fund more safety.

Getting there meant solving three problems at once.

• Seamless technology: The program integrates directly with PERMA’s existing membership management system. When a member completes a qualifying activity—such as safety training, facility assessments, or certifications—the action is recorded in PERMA’s system and automatically transmitted to the eGifter-hosted points platform, with no manual tracking. Single sign-on lets authorized users check their balance and see exactly what they’ve earned and redeemed at any time.
• A safety-specific catalog: Rather than a generic rewards menu, PERMA built a catalog of safety-focused options—PPE and worksite supplies from specialized vendors such as Stealthware protective clothing and New Pig, a New York State-approved Defensive Driving course, and registration for PERMA’s annual member conference, a professional-development path that doesn’t come out of a department budget.
• Net-new gift cards built from scratch: The specialized safety vendors in the catalog had never offered gift cards before. eGifter Rewards worked directly with each participating vendor to create and issue new gift cards, with each vendor serving as the issuer for its own card—establishing gift card relationships that simply didn’t exist in the safety sector.

Together, those three pieces turned a familiar loyalty concept into something purpose-built for public-sector safety—and getting that structure right is where PERMA leaned on eGifter’s experience.

“We knew what we wanted to accomplish, but we didn’t have experience building an incentive program from the ground up. eGifter helped us think through the structure—how members should earn points, how vendors could create gift cards, and how to make it feel relevant to our members rather than generic. Their knowledge of what works in incentive programs was something we couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.”

— Alfred G. Campney, Deputy Executive Director, External Relations, PERMA

The Results: Strong early adoption and a first-of-its-kind gift card infrastructure

Since launching in June 2025, PERMA Points has driven measurable increases in member engagement with safety programming across New York State:

• 350 member organizations enrolled—more than 40% of PERMA’s total membership
• 800,000+ points issued across the membership to date
• 15 net-new gift cards brought to market with participating safety vendors, each issued by the vendor and currently available exclusively through the PERMA Points platform

The early member response reinforces the numbers.

“The PERMA Points Program has been a great addition to our town-wide safety initiatives. The ability to earn points has helped us analyze injury trends and identify targeted solutions through training and equipment. We’ve successfully used points to purchase safety equipment across multiple departments. The process was easy, and it helped relieve budget pressures. Now we’re hooked and waiting for the next opportunity to earn points.”

— Town of North Hempstead

“We recently redeemed PERMA Points to enroll our county employees in three defensive driving courses. The process was straightforward, quick, and seamless. The gift card vendor, American Safety Institute, made it easy to get everyone set up, and the online course ran smoothly. We highly recommend that members take advantage of this excellent program.”

— Sullivan County

Ready to build a rewards program like Perma Points?

If you want a full, integrated program—custom catalog, automated point tracking, and net-new gift cards built for your audience—let’s talk. If you just want to buy rewards in bulk and start sending today, you can open a free account—no setup fees, no contracts.