Two Aussie mothers have found a way to cut out the waste associated with giving gifts by making it easy for friends to chip in for a group present through an online gifting tool.
GroupTogether Mumpreneurs Ali Linz and Julie Tylman’s are revolutionising the way Australians are gifting with a website that takes the hassle out of collecting for a group gift. In 2015, over 10,000 Australians have enjoyed the ease of it and the way it takes the awkwardness out of collecting money.
GroupTogether doesn’t sell gifts. The user-friendly platform does the inviting, reminding, collecting, tracking and the sending of the money and group card to the organiser. It simplifies pooling of funds to give one gift that’s really wanted without the waste. Friends can also add a photo and message to the group car. For those who want to “give back,” there’s the option to donate a portion of the gift pool to your favourite charity.
Julie Tylman, ex-banker, explains: “Ali and I have seven children combined. We met for coffee one day after a weekend of ferrying kids to and from birthday parties. We were exhausted from the driving, parking, buying, wrapping gifts, drop offs and pick-ups involved in attending kid’s parties. We were also gob-smacked at the amount of money we had spent (seven kids x two parties’ x $20ish gifts + wrapping & card) only to find out that the birthday kids either already had the gifts, were given multiple copies of the gifts or didn’t love them.”
Ali Linz, ex-marketing strategist, continues: “As well as cutting out the waste, we also felt that there was an opportunity to create a culture of mindful giving. That’s why we made it easy to donate a bit of the group gift to charity so kids can learn the joy of giving back.”
Tylman remembers that on one of her children’s milestone birthdays, he received six sets of headphones, five mini speakers and t10 bottles of aftershave. She knows that her son’s friends received similar gifts. This was a lightbulb moment for her. It drove her to develop an easy way to cut out the waste and replace it with one great gift a birthday child will truly love, a card that’s actually worth keeping and a small donation to share their good fortune with others.
The Mumpreneurs behind GroupTogether have found a way to cut out the waste associated with giving gifts by making it easy for friends to chip in for a group gift and to hopefully share a bit of it too. They like to think of GroupTogether as Mindful Giving.
Inside Small Business
