GroupTogether: Teacher survey reveals the gifts they want (& don’t want)

74.4% of teachers prefer a group gift voucher with a lovely message and a group card
GroupTogether recently conducted research to find out what teachers love and hate when it comes to end of year teacher gifts. 198 teachers were surveyed in September and October 2016.
Top Teacher’s Gifts 2016
Winner: Voucher from the class
A whopping 74.49% prefer a group gift voucher with a lovely message and a group card
Second runner up: Other Group Gift from the class
8 Worst Teacher’s Gifts of 2016

Mug
Hand Cream
Chocolate/Food Items
Perfume
Pen
Candle
Pot Plant
Stationary

GroupTogether takes the hassle and awkwardness out of collecting for a group gift. One person sets up a collection in a few minutes. GroupTogether does the heavy lifting: the reminders, tracking and collecting contributions online. Then the pooled money is transferred to the organiser.
One teacher says: ““Definitely pool gifts with either the whole class or other families if cost is an issue to avoid 20 boxes of $5 chocolates.”
Another teacher adds: ““Whole class gift voucher works a treat, although as a teacher any form of appreciation from a student or parent is treasured.”
It’s more convenient for everyone to be able to pay online and add a personal message to the card. The printable card is such a nice keepsake for the teacher.
It’s free to set up and free to contribute for teacher collections (school/ballet/scouts) using the promo link.
www.fbfeefreemums.grouptogether.com

How does GroupTogether work
Click the link to set up a collection in 5 minutes.
Add parents’ email addresses to allow for weekly reminders
Or share a link – e.g. newsletters, SMS or email
Parents can contribute if they wish and add a message and pic to the card.
GroupTogether transfers the money to your account to buy the group voucher or group gift. Print the card and you’re done.
GroupTogether was founded by Mumpreneurs, Ali Linz and Julie Tylman. They are revolutionising the way Australians are gifting with a website that takes the hassle out of collecting for a group gift. In the last year, 15 000 Australians have enjoyed the ease of it and the way it takes the awkwardness out of collecting money.
GroupTogether doesn’t sell gifts. The user-friendly platform does the inviting, reminding, collecting, tracking and then sends the money and group card to the organiser. It makes it easy to pool funds to give one gift that’s really wanted without the waste. Friends can also add a photo and message to the group card. For those who want to “give back”, there’s the option to donate a portion of the gift pool to your favourite charity.
Julie Tylman, ex-banker, explains: “Ali and I have seven children combined. We met for coffee one day after a weekend of ferrying kids to and from birthday parties. We were exhausted from the driving, parking, buying, wrapping gifts, drop offs and pick-ups involved in attending kid’s parties. We were also gob-smacked at the amount of money we had spent (7 kids’ x 2 parties’ x $20ish gifts + wrapping & card) only to find out that the birthday kids either already had the gifts, were given multiple copies of the gifts or didn’t love them.”
Ali Linz, ex-marketing strategist, continues: “As well as cutting out the waste, we also felt that there was an opportunity to create a culture of mindful giving. That’s why we made it easy to donate a bit of the group gift to charity so kids can learn the joy of giving back.”
Tylman remembers that on one of her children’s milestone birthdays, he received 6 sets of headphones, 5 mini speakers and 10 bottles of aftershave. She knows that her son’s friends received similar gifts. This was a lightbulb moment for her. It drove her to develop an easy way to cut out the waste and replace it with one great gift a birthday child will truly love, a card that’s actually worth keeping and a small donation to share their good fortune with others.
The Mumpreneurs behind GroupTogether have found a way to cut out the waste associated with giving gifts by making it easy for friends to chip in for a group gift and to hopefully share a bit of it too. They like to think of GroupTogether as Mindful Giving.