October 5 is World Teacher Appreciation Day, and while it’s not something we generally celebrate in a huge way here in Australia (we should, by the way, teachers are a gift from the gods!) it does give us the gentle reminder that we’re heading into last term, and that means the year is nearly at a close.
Teacher gifts are quite the conundrum. On the one hand, you want to show them how much you appreciate them nurturing your child for the year, on the other … who has spare money at the end of the year to do that appreciation justice?
Group gifts are a great way to spend less while still rewarding the teacher with a gift more substantial than another ‘Best Teacher’ mug.
But they’re not always smooth sailing either, are they? Someone has to initiate that collection, then hound everyone for the money and the card signing. And what do you get with your pooled resources? How do you know what the best way to spend that money is?
Do teachers even want gifts?
Ali Linz, Co-Founder, GroupTogether – an online group collection platform set up by two Sydney mums, says teachers don’t expect a gift at all.
After surveying both teachers and parents, GroupTogether discovered that while teachers appreciate the chocolates, hand creams and mugs, there comes a point where they often go unused because of the sheer volume that they receive.
“Most teachers say that they really appreciate a meaningful card,” says Linz. “Teachers say that they definitely don’t expect anything at all, however, if they do receive a group gift from their class, they do generally prefer a gift card.”
Let’s face it though, they definitely deserve a thank you. Have you ever volunteered in your child’s class? How do they do it? HOW?
Linz and GroupTogether Co-Founder, Julie Tylman have found what can only be described as a genius solution to the teacher gift conundrum. They’ve created a site where parents can create and share a link to their group collection. No playground hounding – they do it for you. How good is that?!
In less than a minute, parents can contribute an affordable amount to a group gift, sign a card, add a cute pic of their child and the rest is all done for them.
Once the collection is complete, the group can either decide to take the money they’ve jointly pooled and buy a gift, or redeem it for a gift card of their choice, orrrrr – and here’s the best part – the teacher themselves can choose the gift card they’d most like.
Not into Bunnings? Sweet, you can visit a day spa, or get your groceries … whatever you need, Teach.
Have you ever volunteered in your child’s class? How do they do it? HOW?
Last year GroupTogether collected group gifts for over 2000 Australian teachers. The data shows that out of an average class size of 25, about 19 families contributed around $25 each, meaning that those teachers received a gift amount of $485. Chocolates are nice and everything but…
And of course there are other reasons you might want to consider a group collection for your child’s teacher.
“We collected just under $1 million worth of gifts for teachers last year. That means we saved 40 000 trips to the shops and 40km of wrapping paper landing up in landfills around the country,” says Linz.
They had me at ‘we do the hounding for you’. How about you? What will you give your child’s teacher as a gift this year?
