Gift It! (Group Gifts)
What It’s For
A Gift It! event collects contributions from a group toward a single gift card for one person — a coach at the end of the season, a teacher at the end of the year, a volunteer who’s moving on. Contributors can leave a note, and the recipient gets a gift card they can redeem at over 1,000 retailers, plus every message the group left.
Setting One Up
- Go to Events > Create Event.
- Choose Gift It! and click Next.
- Fill in the details and click Finish.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Event Title | Required |
| Event Description | Why you’re collecting. Contributors read this before they give. |
| Header Image | Optional banner |
| Event Date/Time | When collection closes, not when a party happens |
| Suggested Donation | Pre-filled amount on the contribution form, and the starting point for the amount buttons contributors see. Defaults to $20. |
| Recipient Name | Who the gift is for. Required. |
| Recipient Email | Where the gift card goes. Required. |
Choosing the Date
On a Gift It! event the date and time are the deadline. The event page shows it as Closes and the date, contributions stop at the time you set, and the gift card is ordered the following morning. Contributors see only the date, not the time, so a time late in the day avoids surprises. Set it a few days before you want to hand the gift over.
Contribution Rules
| Rule | Amount |
|---|---|
| Minimum contribution | $5.00 |
| Maximum contribution | $100.00 |
| Increments | $5.00 |
| Maximum per event | $250.00 total |
Once contributions reach $250 the event stops accepting more. If your group is larger than that, run more than one event.
Fees
A credit card processing fee of 3% plus $0.35 is added on top of each contribution, so 100% of what someone contributes reaches the recipient. A $20 contribution charges the card $20.95 and puts $20 toward the gift.
Contributions are not tax-deductible and are non-refundable.
What Contributors See
A contributor opens your link and sees your header image across the top, shown whole and never cropped. Below it are a small Gift it label, your title, and your description. Once people start giving, a line beside the label shows how many have chipped in, such as “8 families chipped in.”
A box underneath shows Raised so far with the running total and the closing date.
Under Your Contribution, they choose an amount:
- Tap one of the amount buttons, which are based on your Suggested Donation. With the default of $20 they read $20, $40, and $100. A button never offers more than the $100 maximum or more than is left before the event reaches $250, so a larger suggested amount shows fewer buttons.
- Or tap Other and type their own amount. The amount box starts filled in with your suggested amount.
Then they click Next. A small window opens titled Almost done — who’s giving? It repeats their contribution and the event name, then asks for their name and email address. They click Continue to payment, or Cancel to go back.
On the next page they enter their card and click Pay. The button shows the full charge, including the processing fee — Pay $20.95 for a $20 contribution. After paying they can leave a message for the recipient and click Leave message.
They get an emailed receipt right away. No account or sign-in is needed.
After collection closes, the page shows “This event is no longer accepting contributions.”
What Happens When Collection Closes
The morning after your event date, HelpOut:
- Adds up every paid contribution
- Orders a gift card for that amount
- Emails the recipient at the address you entered, with a redemption code
The recipient opens the email, follows the link, and chooses which retailer they want their gift card from. Every message your contributors left is shown to them on the redemption page.
If the recipient loses the email, they can go to helpout.us/redeem and enter their 8-character code. See Redeeming a Gift.
Tracking Contributions
Click the Entries tab to see everyone who has contributed, with amounts and dates. Click Download for a spreadsheet with Name, Email, Amount, Message, and Response Date.
The total collected also appears on the event page itself under Raised so far, where contributors can see it.
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