The best way to organise coach thank you gifts

Want to give the ultimate end-of-season coach gift to the legend who has volunteered hours of their time this winter sports season? Say ‘goodbye’ to the days of chasing other parents for cash and dealing with forgotten payments. GroupTogether is a game-changing platform that streamlines everything from collecting money to giving the gift. No more stress, no more confusion – just a simple, inclusive, and efficient way to organise the perfect gift.

The Winter sport season is drawing to a close, which means it’s time to start thinking about getting together a team gift to thank your amazing coach and manager. Whether your child has been playing soccer, AFL, rugby, tag, netball, basketball or any other winter sports, most coach roles are volunteer… so a thoughtful gift is very much appreciated!

A group gift means that you can buy them something significant and impressive (and saves them from getting lots of random boxes of chocolates, bottles of wine or candles!).

Luckily, the days of stalking other parents in the carpark, ending up with random amounts of cash or money in your bank with unknown senders, and then trying to wrangle everyone to sign the card are well and truly over, thanks to GroupTogether.

GroupTogether is a game changer (pardon the pun). You can create a gift collection in minutes, and it’s totally free. Everyone can chip in and sign the card online, so parents can easily do it from the comfort of their own homes (or from the car during practice). No more playing detective to find that elusive parent.

How GroupTogether Works

With GroupTogether, everyone can chip in for a gift and sign the card online. They streamline everything from collecting the money to giving the gift. You can GroupTogether for the coach or manager gift in two minutes. It’s free and super easy.

Create a link on GroupTogether.com and share it with the other parents via email, message, Whatsapp or wherever!
Everyone can sign the card online (and even add a pic!) and chip in if they’d like too.
You can print the card or send it digitally, and choose from their range of gifts or withdraw it. Most people give the AnyCard which lets the recipient choose the gift card they actually want (e.g. Rebel, David Jones, Woolies, etc.). Yay!

Start an end-of-season collection for your coach now!

5 Tips for organising the ultimate coach gift

Here are five tips from Ali + Julie, the Co-Founders of GroupTogether, to make your coach gift experience even better. They’re two Sydney mums who created GroupTogether because they were spending a tonne of time shopping, wrapping and giving gifts that weren’t necessarily what was wanted or needed. So, they built some simple tech to do the chasing up and keeping track to ‘avoid the awkward’ of group gifts. Now it’s trusted by 1 million Aussies!

Give people a range, but make it optional. E.g. “There’s no obligation, but if you’d like to chip in $5 – $10 for coach Mike’s gift, that would be great. Otherwise, please still add a message and pic to the card.”
Print the card at Officeworks – it costs less than $2. Just ask for “booklet print” on A3, and a slightly thicker card stock with a gloss finish always looks great.
Give the AnyCard. No one needs a pair of “Best Coach” socks! Forget the novelty gifts and give a gift card instead – even if it’s only for $50, when it’s paired with the card, it’s a fantastic gift.
Set the close date a few days early. There’s always someone who leaves it to the last minute, this way you can re-open the collection from your dashboard.
If you use emails to share the collection, GroupTogether can then send reminders for you. It’s a game-changer!

So, it’s now possible to show your coach some love and gratitude without all the stress and drama. With GroupTogether, you’ll be the MVP of gift-giving, and your coach will be forever grateful.

Here’s why we love it…

It’s inclusive

We all know how sensitive these things can be. Not everyone has the spare cash to put towards coach gifts, but some parents might be in the position to chip in and want to thank the coach and manager. GroupTogether lets you choose a set amount (e.g. everyone chips in $5), any amount or even just sign the card without contributing. That way, it’s truly a collective gift from the team and everyone can still add a message and pic to the card.

It’s the perfect coach gift

Now that you’ve got the money collection sorted, it’s time to decide on the perfect gift for your coach. Most people give the AnyCard, which lets the coach decide from 70+ leading retailers in Rebel Sport, JB HiFi, David Jones, Myer, Woolies and many more. You can also choose to send plants, flowers and hampers. Or, you can withdraw the funds for a tiny fee. We all know that most people really want a gift card, so it’s no wonder that’s the most popular option on GroupTogether. Who knew the coach really wants a medieval jousting sword?

The card is super cute

Receiving a GroupTogether card is like a burst of adorable awesomeness wrapped in gratitude and love. You can choose and personalise the card cover, even add a photo of the team and coach’s name. Then let everyone add their heartfelt messages and a photo – it looks awesome! You can either send the card online, or download it as a PDF to print and give at the last game of the season.

Start an end-of-season collection for your coach now!

Say goodbye to collection chaos

Here’s the snapshot for all you busy mums:

Don’t!

Be the CEO of reconciliations working out who paid via cash and EFT.
Run and get a card and the gift.
Deal with, “Can you put in for me. I’ll give it to you at the game”.

Do!

Use GroupTogether – they do it all for you! They collect, remind, track and sort the card and the gift.
Give parents the option to chip in, or sign the card without paying (very inclusive).
Enjoy the great selection of cards & gifts/eGift Cards.
Print a physical card, or send digitally. All super easy.
Take advantage of the nice selection of picture/GIFs to add to the card (it makes the message feel more personal).

If you’re always the “organiser mum”, then GroupTogether is also great for teacher’s gifts, kids’ birthdays, baby gifts, milestone birthdays and farewells at the office. It makes collecting money from a group so much easier, more inclusive, more fun and way less awkward.

Start an end-of-season collection for your coach now!

Need advice? Contact Ali + Julie from GroupTogether at [email protected] or on their online chat on the website at www.GroupTogether.com