Teacher’s Appreciation Day on May 8. What are you planning for your kids’ teachers? If you still aren’t sure, listen up, because I finally found the best way to show your gratitude for all the amazing work that teachers do.
I have been room mom for my daughter’s class for two years now and the first year I decided that it would be a great idea to give a whole-class gift for Teacher Appreciation Day. I have been a teacher myself, and believe me, they don’t want 25 #1 Teacher mugs.
My First Try at Teacher Appreciation
Even though I thought my idea to give a class gift was a great one, I quickly realized that it was a bit of a nightmare to organize. I sent out an email asking everyone to Venmo me, but only half of the parents responded. A few didn’t have Venmo and wanted to give cash. I forgot who had given cash a few times, and feeling rather embarrassed, I had to go back and ask. Then I found myself stalking those parents who hadn’t yet paid in the pickup line, which turned out to be pretty awkward!
A Better Way to Show Teachers You Appreciate Them
I’m the type of person who likes to find better ways to get things done, so after the stress of putting together last year’s Teacher Appreciation gift, I knew I’d be making some changes the next time around. After winter break, I started researching ideas and I came across GroupTogether.
GroupTogether lets you create a card and gift collection all online and it makes it easy to share with all the parents in your class. It even sends out reminders for you, so there’s no more awkwardly hunting down parents at drop-off!
Here’s a quick breakdown of how GroupTogether works:
- Create a card and gift collection: This only takes two minutes and you can invite parents via email or simply share a link via text, WhatsApp, or Facebook.
- Parents join online: Other families simply click to pay securely online and write a message on the card. No apps, signups, or subscriptions.
- Give a gift: This is the best part. You can choose from 150+ eGift Cards including Amazon and Target, or give the AnyCard and let the teacher choose.
- Send or print the card: Parents and kids sign remotely, and you have the option to print it out or send it digitally.
How to Choose a Teacher Appreciation Gift
Here are some tips for organizing your Teacher Appreciation gift:
Gift Cards Are the Way to Go
Did you notice how I mentioned gift cards above? Teachers want gift cards so that they can buy what they need and want. In fact, GroupTogether interviewed teachers and they found that 82% of teachers would prefer to receive a gift card rather than a physical gift.
Unless there’s something very specific that you know the teacher will want, it’s best to play it safe and choose a gift card.
We chose a Target card for our teacher this year because we happen to know that she lives by a Target. Otherwise, I might go for Amazon, because you can order almost anything through them. I also love GroupTogether’s option for an AnyCard so that your teacher can choose which store they want to shop at!
Use a Price Guide
I found that it was helpful to give parents a guide on how much to chip in, but I didn’t want to make anyone feel bad if they couldn’t afford to contribute. Here’s how I worded it on my gift collection page: “If you would like to contribute $10 to $15 towards our Teacher Appreciation gift, please do so using this link, any time before April 30. There is no obligation to contribute.”
Everyone was able to sign the card regardless of their ability to chip in, and no one knew how much anyone else donated.
Pad the Calendar
I gave my fellow parents a deadline of April 30 even though I didn’t need to have the card and gift prepared until a few days after that. Why? Because I remembered how overwhelming it was the previous year when a few parents reached out after my due date.
I would recommend setting your due date a few days before you actually need it, so you can easily re-open it for any last-minute contributions. But hopefully, the ease of being able to pay online from a phone will motivate most of your fellow parents to get it done right away.
Make it Personal
Teachers definitely want gift cards, but I felt like it was important to add a personal touch to the card. GroupTogether’s card lets everyone in the class leave a message and add a picture. One of the parents thought that it would be a nice touch to add a photo of each child, so we did that too and it looked quite beautiful.
GroupTogether made it so much easier for me to tackle Teacher Appreciation this time around, and I know that my daughter’s teacher will truly value both the gift and the card. I will definitely be using GroupTogether next year as well!
