So, you’re a nice parent. You want to show your gratitude. After all, that teacher has looked after your precious child all year! But you’re also a realist. What gift can you buy for $20 … because no teacher needs another 20 mugs (or scented candles). A group gift for the teacher would be much better – and everyone can spend a little less but give something really good. But ugh … how can it happen without the hassle!

As one mum said “I don’t have time to stalk parents in the playground!”.

Research with over 200 Australian teachers to find out what gift they really want showed that:

• Teachers don’t expect a gift but a card is appreciated
• If you’re going to give a gift, 73% of teachers preferred a group gift; ideally a gift card.

However, for more gift ideas, check out our blog ‘Best & Worst Gifts for Teachers’!

Here's How To Organise A Group Gift Without The Hassle

Two Sydney mums invented GroupTogether.com. You just create and share a link with the parents and they pay online and sign the card. It does the heavy lifting – the inviting, reminding, collecting, tracking and then sends you the money or a gift card. Set it up EASILY in 2 minutes from your phone or computer. No tech knowledge or design skills required.

• It’s free to set up.
• It’s free if you convert your gift collection into a gift card.
• If you’d prefer to buy your own gift, the money can be transferred to you. It’s only 2% + 25c per contribution. That’s 65c for a $20 contribution.

How it Works

By getting parents to chip in together, you can combine resources and buy more with less. It’s tough to find a great gift for $15, but if 15 parents chip in together, then 15 parents x $10 = $150. Now you can give one great gift, spend less and reduce the amount of waste all at the same time!

But there’s a rub, someone has to organise the parents, and sometimes that’s much more hassle than trying to find a $15 gift on your own. Emails are sent, people don’t respond, some give cash at drop-off (who was that again?), others send it in our child’s backpack (which gets lost or used for tuck shop) and others tell us they’ll give us the money later.

To take the hassle right out of this equation, now, there’s GroupTogether.com. GroupTogether makes it easy to organise a group of parents to chip in together. In a few short minutes, a collection can be created online. Then the website does the rest:
• Send invitations
• Collect contributions online
• Send reminders
• Create a group card with messages and photos from all the kids in the class
• Transfer the gift funds at the end.

Worried a Gift Card Doesn't Feel Personal Enough?

GroupTogether has that sorted too. The group card lets everyone write a message and upload a photo, which is a great keepsake for the teacher. Parents simply click on a link and can choose to contribute (or not, depending on how you choose to set it up) and then sign the card and add a pic. Simple!

If you want to just give a group card, you can do that too. For free!

Send it online, print it out at home or get it printed professionally.

It’s the best of both worlds – a thoughtful card from the whole class AND a gift they actually want.

Better yet, select a GroupTogether AnyCard which can be printed inside the card and the teacher can choose their own gift card from any of our retailers.

Common Questions:

Privacy and Safety – We’re two Sydney mums with 7 school children between us. We understand the privacy issues! We don’t share your pictures or your emails.

Are Transactions Secure? – We don’t store credit card details. Transactions are encrypted to the highest level. Credit cards are processed by SecurePay and bank transfers by Poli, both owned by Australia Post.

Fees – It's free for a gift from one of our retail partners. Or if you want to transfer the money to your bank account it’s only 2% + 25c per contribution. That’s 65c for a $20 contribution.

Got More Than One Teacher? – There’s one card that parents can sign per collection. So, either write a title like “Thank you Miss Manning, Mr McGoo & Miss McGee” or create a separate collection for each recipient.

What's The Average Amount That Parents Contribute? – Most classes state on the invitation “There’s no obligation at all, but if you’d like to contribute …“. You can either specify a set amount or leave it open and suggest a range. Generally we’ve found that people collect about $20 per child for a teacher but it’s up to you.

Can You Print The Card? – Yes. It’s super cute! Print it at home or take it to be printed on card for about $2 at Officeworks.

How Long Does It Take For People To Contribute? – Give people as long or little as you like. We find that sometimes short times (2 -3 days) can work a treat to get people moving. After all, they can pay online from their phone via direct debit or credit card.

Which Cards Do You Offer? – The brilliant thing is that we let the recipient (teacher or friend) choose. We send you a voucher to give or forward. The teacher clicks the link, a smart gift box magically opens and lets them choose the gift card they really want.

GroupTogether Talk About Teacher Appreciation with Ticker TV.

Watch our Co-Founder, Ali Linz, talk about Teacher Appreciation and the best teacher gift ideas with Ticker TV.