With Teacher Appreciation Week around the corner, it’s time to brainstorm a gift for your kid’s teachers. It’s often the norm these days to do class group gifts for these occasions to avoid the teacher’s mug and candle collection from getting out of control. 🫠
Venmo has become a go-to for many Room Moms to collect money from the class and put together a gift from the class. However, Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal don’t quite cut it, especially when there are better options like GroupTogether available, which allows you to collect contributions and sign a group card all in one place.
Here are a few reasons to skip Venmo or similar platforms for collecting money for teacher gifts from parents:
Venmo is lacking in the privacy department.
Venmo transactions are often public by default, meaning everyone and anyone can see who paid whom and for what. Some parents might not feel comfortable with their financial transactions being visible to the world, especially in the context of a school community. Seeing that one mom donated $50 to the gift fund, but another donated $25 could lead to judgment and even push people to donate beyond their means.
Collecting money for teacher’s gifts doesn’t need to become a competition, and using Venmo leaves parents uncomfortable with the level of privacy they’ll have when deciding how much they can contribute.
Venmo doesn’t let the parents see where the money’s really going.
Using Venmo for collecting money might be handy, but lots of parents worry about transparency and where their cash ends up. As the Room Mom, you could find yourself grilled about how the money got used and what happened to any leftovers after buying the gift. It’s smarter to opt for a platform that gives total transparency on fund allocation, without the organizer having to shoulder any risks.
Not everyone has a Venmo account.
It’s often assumed that everyone has a Venmo account and can easily pay money using it. In reality, it’s estimated that only 24% of Americans have Venmo. That leaves 76% of the population unable to contribute using Venmo. Using a platform that not everyone has inadvertently excludes some parents from participating in the gift-giving process. It also leads to the organizer getting random contributions in cash form or other payment apps. If it sounds like a logistical nightmare, it is!
Venmo still doesn’t solve the headache of navigating the gift-buying journey.
After you’ve collected all the funds in Venmo, that’s when the real work begins! The organizer is then required to find a gift that the class will be happy about, go shopping to purchase the gifts, package it up, and create some sort of card from the class. Any mom knows that our time is valuable and spending time trying to make everyone happy with your choices is a challenge.
Security risks are always an issue.
Although Venmo is generally secure, there’s always a risk of cyber-attacks or unauthorized access to accounts. Some parents might not trust the platform’s security measures, especially when it comes to handling sensitive financial transactions.
So if Venmo is out, what is the alternative? GroupTogether provides the perfect alternative to Venmo for teacher appreciation gifts. With GroupTogether, you can set up a group gift collection and a group card that everyone can sign up easily online. Free to use and trusted by over one million people.
Here’s what a user had to say about using GroupTogether for teacher gifts:
This was a really beautiful way to display our appreciation to our teachers for the holidays. It was very easy to use and everyone was pleased with the outcome. The setup made it super easy for parents to use and complete in time!
No tracking of payments across cash, Venmo, Zelle, and CashApp, and no need for the other parents to have an account or app to participate. As recommended by San Francisco Bay Area Moms, GroupTogether allows everyone to securely pay online, and then upload pictures of their child and leave a message for the teacher.
The contributions are private to everyone except for the organizer. Once the funds have been collected, the organizer chooses from eGift Cards, gift baskets, flowers, and plants in our Gift Store.
This is a gift your teachers will cherish with a personalized greeting card filled with love from all the families in the class. If you’re tired of the last-minute scramble to organize the best teacher gift for your child’s educator, try GroupTogether to show your appreciation.
Try GroupTogether for your teacher appreciation gifts this year…for free!
