Christmas whip-rounds for group gifts

August 17, 2022

Struggling to think what to buy for Great-Aunt Mildred's Christmas present? Responsible for the office Christmas whip-round? Collctiv is here to make your life easier! Say goodbye to cash, IOUs and sharing your bank details around. Say hello to easy money collection.

What is a whip-round?

The dictionary definition is 'a collection of contributions of money from a group of people for a particular purpose.' In the context of Christmas presents, it can be a real life-saver. Say you're stuck on what to get a relative on your modest budget. Or you know the perfect gift for your Mum but it's a little bit out of your reach. Well, doing a whip-round and collecting money from your friends and family can be just the thing to be able to make that purchase.

How whip-rounds usually work

Whip-rounds are an age-old way that people have collected money for various things throughout the centuries. The person instigating the whip-round asks people to contribute or 'chip-in'. Sometimes this is a set amount, and other times it is at the discretion of whoever is contributing. Those paying in will usually give a verbal commitment, and the person collecting will have to chase them for the money. If someone pays in cash, the collector will often have a brown envelope dedicated to that whip-round. Bank transfer is another way to pay into a whip-round. However, this is often a nightmare for the collector as they have to give out their bank details and keep a note of transactions appearing in their personal bank account that relate to the same thing. It's also just as inconvenient for the person paying in as finding the cash, as that person needs to set up a new payee with their bank and remember to make the payment.

How does Collctiv make whip-rounds easier?

Using Collctiv makes life so much easier for both the person collecting the money and the people paying in.

The Collctiv app helps an organiser to keep their collections and whip-rounds separate from the daily transactions of their day-to-day bank account;
With it's easy-to-use layout, an organiser can view their pot's balance as comes in and out;
The person collecting doesn't have to rely on their group downloading an app - no download is required for someone paying in;
Paying into a pot is as simple as buying something online - it takes less than 10 seconds.