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Group Cards & Gifts Made Easy: GroupTogether
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GroupTogether makes it effortless to create online group cards, collect money for gifts, and send up to 1,000 eGift Cards in minutes. With unlimited signatures, easy sharing, automated reminders, and a choice of 150+ brands, it turns birthdays, farewells, and workplace celebrations into a simple, memorable experience.
In this episode, we speak with Julie Tylman, Co-Founder of GroupTogether, about how she and her co-founder built the product after experiencing the pain of chasing people for signatures, money, and gifts. GroupTogether lets people create online group cards, collect contributions, add photos and GIFs, and send gift cards or gifts without requiring accounts or extra app downloads.
A big theme of the conversation is recognition at work. Julie explains that companies often understand recognition matters, but execute it in a way that feels impersonal. GroupTogether tries to fix that with thoughtful design, gentle reminders, anonymous contributions, and AI-assisted message writing that helps people express appreciation more naturally.
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the SourceForge podcast. I'm your host, Bo Hamilton. Now, I have a quick question to lead off today's episode. Have you ever been voluntold to organize the office birthday card? Uh, you you might know what I'm talking about. You're you're chasing people down for signatures, you're collecting uh oftentimes crumbled up cash at people's desks, you're sending that like third, fourth, fifth, maybe sixth like message of, hey, did you chip in yet? Hey, did you sign the card? It can get kind of awkward to say the least. Um, and there's actually research showing people spend around 150 hours a year organizing gifts, which is uh basically a month of unpaid invisible labor. So it can get pretty crazy. And today's guest uh looked at all that and went, there's gotta be a better way. Um that's right. I'm joined by Julie Tilman, co-founder of Group Together. Um, a little backstory here about Group Together. Julie started this thing back in 2015 with her co-founder, Ali Linz, after one too many weekends of kids' birthday parties. Um, so they they know the chaos. Um, it ended up becoming Australia's most popular group gifting platform. And then when everyone went remote during the pandemic, the the workplace side of the business just took off. Uh, we're talking uh over a million and a half people using it now, more than 13,000 companies. And the whole thing works with no apps, no accounts, none of that awkward money collecting stuff. Um, it it just works largely over um, you know, email and and kind of Slack messaging and word of mouth and that sort of thing. And um, here's why I wanted to have this conversation, because this stuff matters way more than people think. Something like 79% of people who quit their jobs uh say it's because they didn't feel appreciated. So it's not the pay, it's actually appreciation. Um, and so that's what I really want to get into today. I of course want to get into Julie's story, how the platform works, um, and how you you make recognition just actually feel personal when your team's scattered all around the globe. So um a lot to get into. With that said, Julie, welcome to the show. Glad you could join us.
SPEAKER_00Thanks, Bo. Thanks for having me. I'm really happy to be here.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Um, well, let's start with the the um inception question. Um, the company was founded back in 2015, so some 11 years ago now. Um, and since then, over a million people have used it for group cards and gifts. Uh, for anyone hearing about it for the first time, what's sort of the elevator pitch you you would uh give them? Help us paint a picture of uh what it is you guys do.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Um Group Together makes it super easy to create an online group card, collect money for a gift, or send one to a thousand e-gift cards in minutes. As you said in the introduction, my co-founder Ali Linz and I, we live this experience, this frustration in chasing people for money, having to put in money for other people, losing track of who had signed the card and people get upset, um, and sometimes buying things that people didn't want or already have. Um, so uh as you say, today over a million people have used us at work, home, and even in schools. Um, and we work from all the way from individuals organizing a thank you, a farewell, a family um anniversary to companies running employee recognition at scale, all in one platform.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. I love that. Yeah, it's it's totally one of those ideas where where the second you hear it, you're just like, Why why didn't this already exist or why didn't I already think of this? You know, um, because we've been passing around like paper cards since the the dawn of the office, the the dawn of time, it seems like like it just the um and at the same time, a lot of the times these these digital solutions, they don't feel super personal. So uh so you kind of bridge the gap there. You you not only, you know, make uh you modernize traditional sort of card um gift giving um and and made it personal at the same time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we um it was a really intentional design decision. Um, because we started out as parents and doing this for our kids, we didn't want it to seem like a money grab. Um, so we intentionally made beautiful invitations, inviting people to chip in for a birthday party or a, you know, a baby being born, something like that. Um, and that we also made the reminders very gentle to let people know that they hadn't chipped in or signed the card. We made it optional for people to um chip in and just sign the card. And we also made the gift giving process very nice. So it's not like just, you know, handing someone some cash on the side, um, but there is a really lovely unveiling of the group card where everyone's messages and photos are to unwrapping of the gift.
SPEAKER_01That's great. Okay. I want to get, I definitely want to get into the platform specifics. Um, but before we we dive into that, um, maybe you can continue to take me back to the beginning. Like, what was the the problem that made you just go like, you know, okay, someone's has to build this, someone has to make a better, you know, gift-giving uh platform.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I absolutely you alluded it to, uh, alluded to it in your introduction. But it was um Allie and I both have twins, both on the birthday circuit. Um, and that's a lot of parties to go to every year and a lot of gifts to buy. And invariably you'd show up at the party with the gift that you had finally bought, wrapped, brought, gave to your child to present. And the child receiving it, you know, being a little child, uh, would open it and say, I hate this, or I've already got this, or this is a stupid gift, right? Because they just say what they feel. And you think, oh my gosh, all that time has been wasted. So we thought there has to be a better way. So we were solving a problem that we had and we could see from the frustration of other parents that they were having as well. And so that's how Group Together was born. And uh, as I discussed before, it was very intentional what we included. Um, and we also made part of it that you could give a portion of um the money collected to charity if you wanted, because we wanted to make the whole experience a really gracious and wonderful experience rather than a transactional one.
SPEAKER_01I think that's very, very relatable for um, you know, for a lot of people who have just given a gift card or um wrote wrote a card, they can they can relate to this experience. And also just for for businesses too, in the business environment, I think um a lot of times there's always been, you know, there's always somebody who's kind of stuck organizing the card or the person who's signed it uh in the elevator like 30 seconds before it gets handed over. Um and so I think just like from the from that sort of uh standpoint, I think you're gonna resonate with with a lot of people who are like, there's there's gotta be a better way, right? So you you you obviously built this around sort of the the birthdays and maybe the um the anniversaries, maybe the farewells. Um I want to zoom out a second um because I don't think companies realize just how much of these these small moments actually matter and add up. So there's a pretty wild uh stat that I came across when researching your company in this industry. It's 79% of employees who quit their jobs cite lack of appreciation as the primary reason for leaving. And then uh Gallup found over uh, or only 22% of people uh of employees say they they get the right amount of recognition for the work they do. So there's clearly a gap there. Um and I'm I'm curious, I want to ask you like, why do you think companies underestimate the small stuff, like the birthdays, the farewells, the little moments of of recognition?
SPEAKER_00I push back on that a little bit because I think that companies realize that recognition is important. It's just how they execute that that sometimes is lacking. Um, I think a lot of companies decide that, oh, we've got, you know, we've got merchandise. And so you've done a good job. Here's a here's a cap. And so rather than it feeling like um truly a heartfelt recognition of their hard work, it feels very transactional and something that benefits the company rather than benefiting the employee. Um, and so I think grouped together as a platform, we're very intentional about that. And especially with the messages that people write, we've introduced um, and and a lot of times people have a hard time writing a message, even someone that they work with for years. So we introduced uh what we call the magic message writer, which is using AI to take your own words and craft them in a way that's that could be a little bit more um heartfelt, or we um can make it a little bit longer. Because a lot of the a lot of the messages sometimes for say a retirement are, you know, it was great knowing you, hope you have a good life, sort of thing. And so we can we use um AI to actually help you craft um a more memorable message.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah. So you can use it to kind of spice up the messages. It's not just like a one a one-liner um or a few words. Um that's that's uh I want to let's dig into that a little bit more. So I know uh like the product itself, it's not it's not just like a digital card, right? You've you've got sort of um the option to add a uh unlimited number of signatures. Um I mean, I'm sure there's a limit at some point, but like a any number of signatures, you can add photos, you can add gifts, um, you can attach gift cards, there's money collection, there's sort of all of the pieces you would want. Um, walk me through how that how that works. You know, how does everything come together?
SPEAKER_00So, yes, it's all in one platform and it's all evolved over time in what people have asked us for. So we're always listening to our customers and trying to implement the new features that they want. So um at first, it's just a matter of asking people to chip in money if they want. And when they chip in, they're asked to write a message on the card. They can either upload a photo or a GIF. Um, and then we turn that card into as many pages as needed. And it's also um very malleable. So you can change it around to be one column, one message on a page, or uh two columns, three columns, however fits your needs best. Um, and you can choose what goes on the cover. And we have used AI there as well. We have something where you can take a photo of the person and say, you know, make them into a superhero flying across the sky, and it will do that for you and create a very um beautiful card for the recipient. In addition, we take the money that's collected. And in the US, we allow people to buy either an AnyCard, which is basically a credit with group together, so that if you know the person but don't know what they want really well, this allows them to choose their gift or gifts that they want across over 200 retailers. So we make that um, and then we roll that whole experience um of giving the card and the gift together into a digital unwrapping experience.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01So the any card, I imagine, is probably the most popular choice, right? Because you can cash it in for just about anything. Yeah. And then the unwrapping portion, can you explain that? Like how important is that um experience? Because I I think typically when you just press a link, open up a gift card, I mean, it just doesn't feel very real, doesn't hit the same, but having this unwrapping uh experience, let's call it, um, it it just probably feels more heartfelt.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we it's something that we call a magic moment, right? And so I would think most people, if they've gotten a gift and that anticipation of opening the gift, that's a real special moment. Um, and so we wanted to recreate that in a digital format. And we've spent a lot of time and we've reiterated again and again to try and get it right. But the idea is that for the card, we it's you have your the recipient's name embossed on the card, envelope opens, the card comes out, and you can page through it. And then the gift unwraps. And so um the gift card comes out, and then you can use that within our gift store to shop for up to uh 200 different retailers.
SPEAKER_01Very cool. Okay, so you're yeah, you're basically um replicating as much of the the physical like process of unwrapping a real physical card, um, but you're doing that digitally. Sounds like that's and you're you're I'm sure there's like like you mentioned with some of the features and um AI abilities and whatnot, you you're rolling out new sort of uh tweaks and improvements just as you as you get feedback um and and as things progress. Um so it's a constantly evolving platform, it sounds like. And with the AI portion too, I imagine there's like a a little bit of balance and a dance between like, you know, using AI to craft a message, but also kind of retaining the authenticity of the person writing the message and and giving the the mess, writing the message or giving the kudos, giving the the the thanks or what what have you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. We w when we first built it, it it was doing exactly that. It was putting words in your mouth and they didn't feel very natural when they came out. And so we changed it so that you give us a little bit of information, which is, you know, what's the person's name, what's your relationship to them, what's the tone of the message. But then we ask you to write, what do you want to say? And then we use that to create um a better message or a different message, one that's a little bit more eloquent. Um, and even if you want to go and do something, because what we found is that sometimes people have a really specific relationship with the person and they, you know, speak in Dr. Seuss rhyme. So you can do it in the voice of Dr. Seuss or in the voice of Yoda if you all have a Star Trek or a Star Wars sort of, you know, obsession. So um, those sorts of things we've added into our magic message writing.
SPEAKER_01And I'm sure you're you're constantly tweaking things and and rolling out new features. And I imagine the AI agentic portion is either currently um being incorporated in the platform or coming down the pipeline. Because I imagine there's a lot of like opportunities to sort of take actions on the user's behalf in terms of like reminding certain users to sign the card or um to like nudge them a certain direction.
SPEAKER_00Yes, definitely. We we have we've always had that. Um, but I think you're absolutely right. Like on the a the agentic side is that while you're actually setting up a card or while you're actually signing a card, um, we've been having discussions on how we can use AI to help you along that path and sort of remind you, especially um at the end of the school year when there's lots of thank you teacher collections. You know, it's just like, hey, you've just signed this one. You still have two other teacher cards to sign. Do you want to get that done now? So those sorts of things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, it what strikes me is just how much sort of invisible work is removed with with your platform. So it's not just the card, right? It's it's the chasing. It's it's the reminders, the the tracking, the messages of like, hey, did you even did you sign this yet? Um you've basically automated sort of the most most annoying like role, uh, at least for coworkers and for office, um offices and businesses.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that frustration is real. Um, you know, chasing people for money is a very awkward, it puts it puts everyone in an awkward position. You, as the person asking for the money, you don't want to be doing it, you don't want to be reminding them and they don't want to be hearing it, right? It's like, oh, I forgot. I can't believe I forgot type of thing. And then the ultimate frustration is that when they when the organizer finally gives up and then they have to chip in their own money for it. So um, and then there's also the situations where when you were passing around the card that we were talking about earlier in the office, that you've left someone off because they happen to have, you know, been in the bathroom when you walk by their desk and you forgot to walk back. So having it all in one place and on the platform and us knowing who's supposed to sign it, we can send those reminders. Or if you haven't added everyone in, we nudge you and say, hey, did you has everybody signed? Have a look and see if you need to remind anyone else.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So how do you uh typically send those reminders? Is it mostly over email? Like how do you take sort of that weirdness out of uh reminding people to chip in or whatnot uh without also requiring people to download another app or create another account?
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's all done with a link. So there's no for for anyone who's signing a card or anyone who's contributing, there's no need to set up an account. Um we will have, if we have the email address, we will send you an email, which yeah, I think the language is, you know, here's just a gentle reminder if you want to. And we also have the ability for you to turn off those reminders. Um, if you think that you have signed or you just you're not interested in signing. So you we have the ability to do that as well.
SPEAKER_01And then uh the contributions themselves are those are anonymous, right? Because I imagine that's sort of like the real tension where uh like nobody wants to look cheap. Nobody necessarily, I mean, some people maybe want to be like the the biggest uh spender in terms of like what the amount that they they they donate or what have you, but um uh not everyone can maybe donate 50 bucks.
SPEAKER_00So taking the visibility out of it, I imagine, is um is a big part of it and and deletes that whole yeah, that was again very intentional from the very beginning, is that we didn't want people to feel pressured um to give a certain amount. Um and we also, you know, especially in time of COVID, you just you just don't know where anybody is, right? You don't know what they can afford and what they can't afford or how well they know the person. And so we didn't want anyone to feel shamed into giving more or into spending. And so that's why no one knows, um, except for the organizer, um, no one knows what anyone else has given.
SPEAKER_01Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. With with COVID, COVID's really uh shaken the world up and um definitely has uh jumped us forward uh like a decade in terms of how we all conduct business. Most teams are remote nowadays, it seems, um, or at least uh, you know, a good chunk of them are, certainly more than before COVID. Um, and it sounds like we've we've you've you've solved the awkwardness uh for the team, the awkwardness problem uh with gift giving. Um but in terms of like distributed teams, like how do you keep, how do you keep recognition feeling really personable when when teams are just spread across different cities and and countries?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that I think that's a huge issue. Um, and one that we addressed in COVID, I think, uh very well, is that um, you know, you want everyone to feel like they're included. And so in in this way, uh our platform is agnostic as to where you are in terms of adding your message to the card, your photo to the card, or taking up uh a payment in, you know, towards a gift. Um so we take it from around the world, it all gets added in um because we feel that, you know, your entire team, wherever you are, you need to be able to recognize people or to be the one who's recognized.
SPEAKER_01I didn't even think about this until now, but if you're dealing with uh all these different currencies too, I imagine like the platform works to kind of convert currencies naturally so you can you can facilitate gift giving um and gift card giving for different across different countries.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Like we currently we take payments from anywhere in the world. Um but right now for the gifts, anyway, we have in Australia um the the funds have to be spent in Australia, in the US, the funds have to be spent with US retailers. However, probably within the next three months, um we'll be introducing a product that allows you, um, even though you're collecting in US dollars, that you can buy um or your recipient can buy a gift card in I think uh a hundred different countries.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow. Okay. So we'll definitely look forward to that. So that's three, you know, a few months from now or so. Um that'll really open the doors with with what's what's possible and just again make things a lot more more seamless and easy to use, which is what the platform is all about. Um that's uh that's great. Now, how how are companies using group together for things like employee recognition? Um, you know, like uh like work anniversaries, the thank yous, the like, you know, just the reminders of like attributions of like, hey, you crushed this project. Like how can you elaborate on on that some more?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. This is again something that came from customers who were using us for the group collection. So um the group giving to one person, uh coming to us and saying, well, hey, can we sort of do it in the other way around, which is we're we're a company and we want to give to a team. And so we built a product that you can use for employee recognition and rewards, where you can upload a spreadsheet or add them singly for um writing a message which is, you know, employee of the month, you crushed it this month. Um, or you can load in everyone's birthdays if you celebrate birthdays or work anniversaries, and you can schedule the gifts and a note from the company to go out um over the month or over the year. You can add your company logo, um, the message, and that'll and you can schedule it all at different times, and that will go out um on the day that you schedule. So um, and it's the same um unwrapping process. So it still feels very special.
SPEAKER_01Okay, very cool. I'll have to uh I'll have to play with that. Maybe we can have you back for a demo and you can like walk us through uh do a visual. Representation. That'd be great. Yeah. But no, that's really exciting. I think that just, I mean, I think more people need to be recognized for what they're doing, just personally speaking, but also in a workplace environment. I think it goes a long way. And I think what you're doing is is really um really helpful and beneficial for society. I think people need genuinely, I hope a lot of like execs and leaders are listening to this and and thinking about how they can incorporate um, you know, uh these digital gift cards um in their business. But um I want to sort of sort of go big picture um with this with this last question. You've had over a million people send cards through this platform. So I'm sure you've had a number of different stories you could you could share uh of like the differences you've you've made um in people's lives. But is there a celebration or a message that really stuck with you, something that really kind of showed the emotional impact of what you've built?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we um interesting that you mentioned that. We we were looking at the statistics for it um in advance of this podcast. And we realized that um last year over 17,000 people uh sent thank you notes on our platform. So um you can tell like how much it means to people. And sometimes they get redirected and we get to read them. Um, and one of the ones um from the early days, though, uh that still sticks with me and still gets me all uh clemed is um a woman, a teacher who her class had grouped together to give her a gift and a card from the kids. And she wrote to the parents, and for some reason we got a copy of it, that it was the first time in her life that she had been able to afford hosting her family for Christmas dinner. And she just, you know, she was just so excited and happy and thankful to the parents that she was able to do that. And it's really nice to be sort of part of the platform that enabled that um and enabled her to do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you think of the ripple effects you're you're causing and and creating. I think that's just so neat to think about. I'm always I'm always thinking about that with um, I don't know, just just the little things I do, like kind of the butterfly effect of certain decisions and and interactions you have. I think that's really fulfilling. And I imagine it just continues to um like going to work each day is is is never a chore. I imagine when you think about it like that and think of all the different stories that you're able to create and memories.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it's just um uh just an anecdote. Um, our marketing manager here, one day she came in and she sat down and a thank you note came through and she just said, Oh, I love working here. I love hearing. And it's like, you know, you realize it's sometimes you're doing your job day to day and you and you don't get that sort of feeling, but it's just like, you know what? We are making a difference, right? And that that people really appreciate um and and you know, can come across and and feel appreciated and wanted, you know, which going back to that Gallup poll um shows people really need that. They really need that feeling of connection. And it doesn't come from company merchandise, right? It comes from hearing what your co-workers or you know, fellow parents or fellow, you know, team members are are saying about you and thinking about you.
SPEAKER_01100%. Yeah, I completely agree. And um, yeah, it's it's I'm glad that you're, you know, there's people like yourself out there tackling this problem because um, you know, things are, you know, the the world is a crazy place and we you're constantly inundated with all this, you know, bad news and doom and gloom. And um hearing about, you know, the good things we're that we're doing at work, let's say, like can can really make a big difference and um can create this big, really positive ripple effect. Um, I want to uh kind of flip the last question I I posed to you. Um I'm curious, like um I think it's really neat that you you've built this whole product around helping people show up for each other. And I have a feeling that this uh that that ethos kind of runs deeper than just the platform. It's like really obviously at the heart of your company. But can you share um a memorable story about a time that your company went above and beyond for a customer?
SPEAKER_00Um absolutely. Um and I would say the most memorable story there is um when when we did it for all of our customers, and it happened around COVID. So as we discussed earlier in the podcast, we originally started out in sort of that parent school, thank you, teacher, thank you, coach area. And that was our market. And then COVID hit, and you know, schools weren't in session, teams weren't allowed to play together, um, people weren't able to go into work, um, and everyone was feeling very disconnected. And so our business was drying up before our eyes. Um, and at the same time, we could see, because we can see the type of um messages that are going on to cards and the invitations getting sent, um, that there were a lot of farewells happening at work. And at the time, our collection and our card were joined together. And so you couldn't, you couldn't use the card without chipping in. And we realized that people couldn't afford to chip in anymore. Like again, you don't know what what where people are, but you kind of knew with COVID, everybody was hurting. So we decided to separate out the group card from the collection. And we also made it free so that um we bore the costs of of everything for almost four years. Um, but and it it wasn't a business decision, but but it was the right decision for our customer base. Um, and that we wanted to help facilitate that feeling of, hey, we see you. And so that colleagues could say that to other colleagues that were leaving. Um, and so that was um that was that the uh that was site-wide, and so that was for all our customers. But it was um probably a bad business decision at the time, but it introduced us to a whole new world of corporate um occasions um and reasons for giving the card and for collecting money. So that's what shaped our company today. Um, but it was a really hard decision at the time.
SPEAKER_01I yeah, I can imagine it's like you really COVID has uh really tested a lot of us with um, you know, what we're able to do and and it's really forced us to adapt. And it sounds like you guys adapt, but also you adapt in the sense in a way that's just better for people. And like you're saying, not so much for uh maybe not the best business decision, but ultimately I think it was a great business decision because it just shows that you are prioritized caring about people. You're you you have your um the right priorities in place. And I think ultimately that authenticity and um having the right morals and whatnot, like that really resonates with with prospective customers and people who want to use your site and partner with you. Um and the money kind of comes out second. I mean, obviously you're a business, you have to, you know, profit and you have to, you know, keep revenue flowing and whatnot. But like with what you guys are doing, um I think ultimately you have to have your heart in the right place and build the product about caring for people. And it sounds like that's what you're doing. So Julie, thank you so much for sharing that. I think that's a really good note to end on. Um, and I want to uh give you the opportunity to capitalize on the listeners who are really resonating with what you've you've talked about and shared with us. Um, where's the best place to check out Group Together and get in contact with you and your team?
SPEAKER_00So if you just go to www.grouptogether.com, um, you can get a hold of us. There's a little chat in the corner if you need to speak to someone. We have um real live customer service representatives, both in Australia and the US. And so you'll be able to speak to a person, um, not necessarily a bot. And um, yeah, and that's the best place to use us as well if you're interested in um, you know, uh sending out a birthday note or just a card for just because.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Well, we'll have the uh the link in the show notes. Um, Julie Teilman, thank you so much for everything. This has really been fantastic, and um, I'm eager to start using your platform. Thank you all for listening to the SourceForge podcast. I'm your host, Bo Hamilton. Make sure to subscribe to stay up to date with all of our upcoming B2B and B2C uh software related podcasts. I will talk to you in the next one.