Though I’m sure my kids’ teachers, coaches, and other VIP’s appreciate the effort that goes into collecting money for a group gift at the holidays, I just dread being the poor person in charge of that thankless job. Bugging people for money, no matter how noble the cause, isn’t on my list of favorite things to do. But now I’ve found HipChip, a new website that makes it so easy to collect money from a group, I may actually volunteer to do the collecting this year.
HipChip takes on most of the legwork needed to collect money from other busy people. I only have to input the email addresses of those who will be chipping in, which is even easier since I can import directly from Gmail.
Then contributors can take care of their part at their convenience, without needing to reconnect in the school pickup line or on the flag football sidelines. They decide the amount to donate, from $5-$500, and do it directly via the HipChip website. No crumpled bills hastily passed, no checks you need to cash. And HipChip is pretty cool about not bugging people to death with reminders; in fact, those emails stop entirely once a donation is made to the group gift.
Best of all? There are no fees if you pick one of almost 50 retailers whose printable or emailed e-gift cards are available, including Amazon, Piperlime, Sephora, and Staples, as well as other national stores and restaurants. There is a $5 fee if you’d rather choose a plastic VISA gift card over an e-card but no other hidden fees. So our deserving teachers, coaches, and other VIP’s can get as big a gift as possible for all they do throughout the year.
Check out the HipChip website to see how they can help make collecting money for a group gift this holiday a lot easier.
