Group gift ideas for coworkers in Australia
When someone at work is leaving, having a baby, retiring or hitting a milestone, the office usually rallies — but actually organising the gift is where it gets messy. Someone has to pick the present, chase everyone for cash, and hope the spreadsheet adds up. If you've ever been that person, you know the drill.
The good news: a group gift for a colleague doesn't have to mean an envelope doing laps of the office. With a few practical group gift ideas for coworkers and one shared link to collect money, you can sort the whole thing in an afternoon — whether you're in a five-person team in Adelaide or a fifty-desk floor in Sydney.
This guide covers the best group gift ideas for Australian workplaces, how much to chip in, and the easiest way to start a group collection without becoming the office bank.
Last updated: June 2026.
Key takeaways
- The easiest group gift for a colleague is pooled money — one online collection link beats cash in an envelope, and everyone can chip in from their phone.
- A typical workplace contribution sits around $10–$30 per person, scaling up for closer teammates or bigger milestones.
- Workplace farewell gift ideas range from a group-funded experience or voucher to a cash gift the person chooses how to spend.
- For 20+ contributors, collecting money online removes the chasing — the organiser sees who's paid in a dashboard, with no IOUs.
- PocketWell is free for the organiser — guests cover a small fee, and there are no host or setup costs.
In this guide
- Why pooled money beats the envelope
- How much should each coworker chip in?
- Best group gift ideas for coworkers
- Workplace farewell and milestone gifts
- How to collect money for a group gift
- Office collection etiquette
- Frequently asked questions
Why pooled money beats the envelope
A pooled cash gift is the most flexible group gift for a colleague — it lets the recipient choose exactly what they want, and it spares the organiser from guessing someone's taste.
The old way is a physical envelope passed desk to desk. It works until someone's on annual leave, someone forgets, and you're left covering the gap yourself. There's no record of who's paid, and chasing the last few contributions over Slack gets awkward fast.
Collecting money online fixes all of that. You create one page, share a link or QR code, and everyone contributes when it suits them — even remote and hybrid teammates who never see the envelope. Across the group collections run through PocketWell, the office and farewell pages with the highest contributor counts are almost always the ones shared on day one, while the occasion is still front of mind.
Organising a whip-around? Start a group collection and share one link — everyone chips in, and you're not the one holding a pile of cash.
How much should each coworker chip in?
Most Australian office collections land between $10 and $30 per person, with the amount scaling to how close you are and the size of the occasion.
There's no fixed rule, and that's the point — a contribution gift (where everyone gives what they're comfortable with) keeps it inclusive. Junior staff and casuals shouldn't feel pressured to match a manager's contribution. The table below reflects the gift-amount norms we see across workplace collections, used as a starting point rather than a price of entry.
| Occasion | Casual coworker | Close teammate | Whole-team pool (per head) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birthday / small milestone | $5–$10 | $15–$25 | $5–$15 |
| Farewell (leaving the company) | $10–$20 | $25–$50 | $10–$25 |
| Baby shower / maternity leave | $15–$25 | $30–$60 | $15–$30 |
| Retirement (long-serving) | $20–$40 | $50–$100 | $20–$40 |
| Wedding / engagement | $20–$40 | $40–$80 | $20–$40 |
Methodology note: these ranges reflect real contribution patterns seen across group collections on PocketWell, alongside general Australian gift-etiquette norms. They're a guide, not a directive — always make it clear that any amount is welcome. If you want exact per-person figures for your team, the office collection calculator does the maths for you.
Best group gift ideas for coworkers
The best group gift is one the recipient genuinely wants — which usually means giving them either an experience, a quality item the group can afford together, or the freedom to choose. Here are the office collection ideas that consistently land well:
- A group cash gift. Pool the contributions and gift the total. It's the most popular choice for a reason — no wrong size, no wrong colour, no returns.
- An experience. A restaurant voucher, a day spa, a weekend away or concert tickets. Group budgets stretch to things one person wouldn't buy themselves.
- A quality "big-ticket" item. A good coffee machine, a premium tool, a piece of luggage — the kind of thing that's better as one shared gift than five small ones.
- A hamper, customised. Build it around what they actually like, whether that's local wine, specialty coffee or a new-parent care pack.
- A charity donation in their name — a thoughtful option for the coworker who genuinely doesn't want anything.
For larger teams, combining a small group-funded keepsake with a pooled cash gift covers both the sentimental and the practical. A group gift contribution splitter helps you work out a fair per-person amount if you've set a target.
Workplace farewell and milestone gifts
A workplace farewell gift should match the person's time and role — a few months versus fifteen years calls for very different gestures.
For a short-stint colleague, a signed card and a modest pooled gift is plenty. For a long-serving teammate or a retirement, the office often goes bigger: a significant cash gift, a memorable experience, or a personalised keepsake alongside the pool. Retirement, in particular, tends to draw the widest participation and the highest per-head contributions of any workplace occasion.
Common milestone moments worth a collection:
- Farewells — someone moving on, relocating, or changing careers.
- Retirement send-offs — often the biggest collection a workplace runs.
- New babies and parental leave — a maternity leave gift collection is a warm way to mark the news.
- Weddings and engagements — when a teammate ties the knot.
- Work anniversaries and promotions — smaller, but a nice touch.
Whatever the milestone, keep the recipient's preferences front of mind. The point of a group gift is to make one person feel valued — not to tick a box.
How to collect money for a group gift
The simplest way to collect money for a group gift is a single online page everyone contributes to — no cash, no bank transfers to remember, no spreadsheet.
Here's the workflow that keeps it painless:
- Set up the page. Create a group-gifting page in a few minutes, name the occasion, and set an optional target.
- Share the link. Drop the link (or a QR-code activation poster in the kitchen) into your team chat or email. QR-code activation just means people scan and pay on the spot — handy for in-office teams.
- Everyone contributes. Coworkers pay securely by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and can leave a message for the recipient.
- Track it in the dashboard. You see who's contributed and the running total — no awkward chasing, no IOUs.
- Receive the funds. Payouts are sent weekly on Tuesdays via Stripe (the first payout takes 5–7 business days for verification, then most land 1–3 business days later).
PocketWell is free for the organiser — there are no setup fees or host costs. Guests cover a 3.5% platform fee plus standard payment processing, shown clearly before they pay, and the organiser receives 100% of the gift amount. You can read the full breakdown on the fees and payouts page.
This approach scales beautifully. A five-person team and a fifty-person floor use the exact same single link — the only difference is the total. For office-heavy hubs like a Melbourne group collection, a printed QR code by the coffee machine often gets more contributions than a chat message alone.
Office collection etiquette
Good office collection etiquette comes down to one rule: make it easy to say no without guilt.
A few principles keep things fair and friendly:
- Keep contributions private and optional. Don't publish who gave what, and never set a minimum. "Chip in whatever feels right" is the gold standard.
- Give people a deadline and a heads-up. A clear cut-off date stops the collection dragging on for weeks.
- Don't pressure casuals or new starters. They may not know the person well, and that's completely fine.
- One organiser, one link. Avoid duplicate collections — it confuses people about where to send money.
- Say thank you on the recipient's behalf. A group card or a message wall lets everyone add their name without a second pass around the office.
Handled well, a workplace collection feels like a genuine team gesture rather than an obligation. The technology should fade into the background — the link does the admin so you can focus on the gift.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much should each coworker contribute to a group gift?
A: Most Australian office collections sit around $10–$30 per person, depending on how close you are to the recipient and the occasion. A casual coworker's birthday might be $5–$10, while a long-serving teammate's retirement could be $20–$40 or more. The key is to keep it optional and private — make it clear that any amount is welcome and that no one's contribution will be shared. If you want an exact per-head figure for a set target, the office collection calculator works it out for you in seconds.
Q: What's the easiest way to collect money for a group gift at work?
A: The easiest way is a single online collection page everyone contributes to from their phone. You create the page, share one link or a QR code, and coworkers pay securely by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay — including anyone working remotely. The organiser tracks contributions in a dashboard, so there's no cash to count and no chasing. You can start a group collection in a few minutes, and it's free for the organiser to run.
Q: What are good workplace farewell gift ideas?
A: Strong workplace farewell gift ideas include a pooled cash gift the person can spend how they like, an experience such as a restaurant voucher or weekend away, or a quality keepsake the group funds together. Match the gift to their time at the company — a brief stint suits a card and a modest pool, while a long-serving colleague or a retirement send-off often calls for something bigger. A short message from each contributor makes any farewell gift more meaningful.
Q: Is it rude to ask coworkers for money for a group gift?
A: Not at all — as long as it's optional and low-pressure. Asking people to chip in is standard workplace practice; the trick is in how you do it. Keep amounts private, never set a minimum, and make it genuinely fine to opt out. A shared link helps here, because people contribute quietly on their own time rather than handing cash to a colleague face to face. Frame it as an invitation, not an expectation, and most teams are happy to take part.
Q: How does the organiser get the money?
A: The organiser receives the funds via weekly payouts, sent on Tuesdays through Stripe. The first payout takes 5–7 business days while Stripe verifies the account, and after that most payouts arrive 1–3 business days after they're sent. The organiser gets 100% of the gift amount — guests cover the small platform fee and processing. There are no instant payouts, but the dashboard shows the running total in real time so you always know where the collection stands.
Q: Does it cost anything to organise the collection?
A: No — it's free for the organiser. There are no setup fees, subscriptions or host costs. Guests pay a 3.5% platform fee plus standard payment processing, shown clearly before they confirm, and the organiser keeps the full gift amount. You can see the complete fee and payout details on the FAQ page before you start.
Bringing it together
A great group gift for a colleague isn't about the size of the present — it's about the team showing up together. Pick something the recipient will actually love, keep contributions optional and private, and use one shared link so the admin doesn't land on you.
Whether it's a farewell, a baby on the way, a retirement or a milestone birthday, the modern way to run an office collection is online — one page, one link, everyone chips in.
Organising a group gift for a coworker? Start a group collection — share one link, everyone contributes from their phone, and there's no cash to chase. It's free for you to run.