A later company (~250,000 people): Quarterly awards with small bonuses, going to 1/50 of the top performers in the office (my office was a couple thousand people). The awards were taken quite well, with staff pinning them to their desk. What mattered for some staff was the recognition, and for some the aspiration (as faster rising, through the extreme hierarchy, staff tended to get awards more often). Frankly, it never appealed, and only motivated staff at the most junior levels. Those more savvy would use these awards as negotiation tolls in performance and salary reviews.
Current company (~1500 people): The boss just promotes who makes her feel good, and lets everyone have the freedom to do what they want as long as they also do their job. She's also wise to ass-lickers (unlike the previous one mentioned). Harmony is encouraged, so no special events, just promotions and increased levels of freedom.
If you know your people you should be able to work out what motivates them and come up with something specific. Whatever it is a chunk of money is a very poor motivator as it becomes expected and thus devalued very quickly.