Goodbye Gifts Vs Goodbye Group Cards: What’s More Meaningful When Someone Leaves the Team?

You know the drill when someone on the team hands in their notice – you wind up with gift planning chats, a card gets circulated and everyone’s on board…that is until the final day comes around without anyone having actually made a decision. And the card’s gone missing.

So after all your stress-inducing experiences, you may find yourself wondering if it’s even worth attempting to organise a gift or if it’s easier and more meaningful to just send a card. We’re here to unpack the pros and cons of both, how to take the chaos out of the organising process and find out which one means more. Let's get into it.

The Benefits of Goodbye Gifts

Before you write off group gifts – and we know, everyone’s got a traumatic group gift story to tell! – it’s worth making some slight adjustments. After all, farewell gifts give a team a tangible way to celebrate someone's contribution, mark the end of a chapter and send them off with something they'll enjoy.

The best farewell gifts don’t have to be ridiculously expensive, they should just show you’ve paid attention. Think:

• The coffee enthusiast: A voucher for a cafe is a great way to show you know how vital caffeine is to their sanity.
• The colleague with a new adventure ahead: A travel voucher for someone heading overseas is the perfect way to show you’ve considered their situation, without having to know everything about them.
• The office foodie: A restaurant voucher or a gift card for somewhere they've been meaning to try.
• The person who's impossible to buy for: The AnyCard, so they can choose a retailer eGift Card that suits them rather than pretending to love the novelty pen you've panic-bought.

A group gift also gives everyone the opportunity to contribute towards something more substantial than they'd buy individually – instead of a collection of small presents, the team can pool their money for one thoughtful gift.

So, instead of brainstorming a physical gift, consider an eGift Card if you’re ready to find out how easy group gifting can be.

But there’s one catch – a gift can show someone you've thought of them, but it doesn't always tell them why they'll be missed.

That’s where cards come in – a reminder of the time they rescued a disastrous client presentation, made everyone laugh during a stressful week or helped a new starter find their feet? That's the stuff that makes a farewell personal and brings the tears out.

The Benefits of Goodbye Group Cards

Most of us don't need another desk accessory, and while a good gift voucher is always appreciated, a gift without a heartfelt card can fall flat.

A group card gives everyone a chance to say something they might not get around to saying in the everyday rhythm of work. It's where the manager can acknowledge years of hard work and the work bestie can reference an inside joke that would make absolutely no sense to anyone else. It's also a chance to collect the little things that make a working relationship special.

For example, any of these are sure to hit home:

From a colleague:

"Who am I supposed to send a suspiciously specific meme to every morning? This is a terrible development for my career – I'm going to miss you more than you know."

From the manager:

"Thank you for the care, thought and effort you've brought to this team. You've made a real difference here, not just through the work you've done, but through the way you've supported the people around you. We'll miss having you on the team, but we're excited to see what you do next."

From a colleague who didn't work with them closely:

"We might not have worked together every day, but you always made time to help when it mattered. Thank you for being someone people could count on. Wishing you all the best for what's next!"

These aren't just nice words to read on their last day, they're reminders of the relationships they’ve built, the things they’ve contributed and the fact that people noticed.

A physical gift might eventually be eaten or tucked away in a cupboard, but a meaningful message can be revisited whenever someone needs a reminder of the people and moments that made that time special.

And unlike a gift, a group card is guaranteed to be affordable.

The Verdict: A Gift or a Group Card?

There's no universal winner – it depends on the person leaving, the team and the kind of relationship you've shared. Having said that, a thoughtful group card is the heart of a meaningful farewell, capturing the things that make someone more than just a name on the team directory. It also has the added bonus of being accessible to everyone on the team, regardless of their financial situation.

The Best Option: A Goodbye Gift and a Group Card

If you can manage both, this is where the magic happens – the gift gives them something to enjoy and the card pulls at their heart strings.

Imagine leaving a job and receiving a voucher for your favourite restaurant, alongside messages from the people who've made your working life better – it's practical and personal. A little celebration of what's next, and a reminder of what came before.

And the good news is that you don't need an enormous budget to make it happen with GroupTogether.

Organising the Farewell Gift

The farewell organiser often ends up doing everything: Chasing contributions, choosing the gift, finding a card, collecting messages and trying to get it all sorted before someone's final Friday – but it doesn't have to be that complicated.

With GroupTogether, you can create a group card, invite colleagues to add their own messages and photos, and collect contributions towards a group gift in one place. No messy WhatsApp chats or lost cards.

Here's a simple way to approach it:

1. Start the group card and collection: Choose a farewell card that suits the person leaving and set up your collection.
2. Share the link with the team: Send it through email, Slack or your usual team chat so everyone can join in.
3. Let everyone contribute in their own way: Colleagues can write a message, upload a photo and chip in towards the gift if they'd like to. Contributions don't have to be compulsory for someone to leave a message.
4. Choose a gift they'll appreciate: Pool the contributions towards something suited to their interests, or choose the AnyCard so they can select a retailer eGift Card themselves.
5. Give them the full send-off: GroupTogether digitally wraps the gift alongside the group card, so they leave with both something to enjoy and a collection of messages from the people they've worked with.

Yep, it’s that easy to get started.