Making it simpler and easier – Collect for Anything by GroupTogether

This post is sponsored by GroupTogether. 

You might remember that last year I shared with you a great new Australian company called GroupTogether. GroupTogether is a start up founded by two mums who wanted an easy way to take the hassle and waste out of giving group gifts. They also wanted a way to make it easy for gift givers to include a philanthropic element, so when the created the GroupTogether platform they included an option to donate a portion of the gift funds to a charity that you can choose when you set up the collection, an idea I really love.

I have successfully used their service a number of times now, collecting for coaches, teachers and friend’s gifts. What I liked most about the service as both a contributor and an organiser, is how easy it is to use and how you can cut down on clutter and wastage, by buying one large present or experience without going crazy collecting or handing over the funds.

For a teacher last year, we organised a subscription to an Art Magazine, that not only gave her a monthly hard copy of the magazine, but also provided the school with free access to the online version as well.

Not just for gifts – Collect for Anything

Since GroupTogether started though, they have realised their service can help in more ways than just buying gifts. Being mums of many kids themselves, they know about the many and varied types of cash collections you are involved in as a parent and now you can use their Collect for Anything option to collect for things like:

  • Sports team registrations
  • Uniform payments
  • Walkathon etc sponsorship for the kids
  • Bus hire for traveling sports teams
  • Pizza / Pie nights etc

Regardless of what you are collecting for there are always the issues of:

  • letting everyone know how much they need to pay and when it is due
  • getting the money in the right hands – not having it lost or left in the kids bags
  • the awkward follow up when people haven’t paid
  • the delays caused by the chasing up that has to happen
  • someone having to physically collect and hold the cash
  • how much time can be lost on collecting for very simple needs

Then there are other not so kid related stuff that I can see GroupTogether being a great way to collect funds for:

  • Collecting money to buy tickets for sporting events or concerts
  • Footy tipping competitions – there is always someone who never hands over the cash!
  • Morning tea club – a great way to be able to buy healthier snacks for the office at a cheaper price, where everyone contributes.
  • Book groups – means you can collect funds and buy books in bulk, but no one has to hand over all the cash out of their own pocker.
  • Bulk discount shopping – where you pool together to buy items that are much cheaper in bulk, but where you don’t want to have to buy 5kg of almond flour for yourself.
  • Party host collection – some people have great houses to have parties at, but this can mean they are the ones left with the biggest outlay. You can make a collection so the host has cash upfront and isn’t stuck with the bill.

GroupTogether is free to setup and super easy to use. There is a small fee for each contribution and the organiser chooses whether to absorb the cost or add it on like a service fee. The fee is 3% for bank transfers, 4% for MC/Visa, 5% for Paypal or international credit cards.

So if you were for example collecting for futsal uniforms that cost $35 per kit, the fee would only be $1.40 if you were paying by Visa.  For me the ease of the process and the time it saves me is definitely worth it. You or the organiser, add the emails of the people involved in the collection, then GroupTogether does the rest. They send out the invitation with the links to make payment easy, they send out the reminders, then once the deadline passes, they transfer the money to your nominated account – how easy is that!

GroupTogether Book giveaway

This giveaway has now closed. Congratulations to Marta who won the fab book collection!

destination-simplexbetter-than-before.jpg.pagespeed.ic.WXOIUUFt-uThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying
The team at GroupTogether not only want to make collecting funds easier for you, but they want to give one reader of Planning With Kids three excellent books that will also help make life simpler and easier for you.

The book pack valued at over $50 includes Destination Simple – Everyday Rituals for a Slower Life by Brooke McAlary , Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying By Marie Kondo.

To enter simply leave a comment below (if you are reading via email, you will find the comments section here) letting me know how you would use GroupTogether to collect funds.

Terms and conditions

  • To enter you must leave your answer in the comments section of this post.
  • The giveaway is open to Australian residents only.
  • The winner will be notified via email. You must have a valid email address to enter. If no response is received with 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.
  • The give away will close Thursday 13th April 2017.
  • The winner will be chosen by Planning With Kids based on creativity and you can only enter once.
  • Please see full terms and conditions here.