Host: What methods can offices do to avoid bombarding employees with request for money?
Nancy Mitchell: Many offices have come up with some very creative ideas, so that every week there are not making the rounds with employees and collecting for this or that gift. There are some that have determined that at the beginning of the year or twice a year, let us say in January and June, they will collect either a set amount from each employee or whatever people can donate and they set that aside for a fund that will cover gifts. Those gifts can be for anniversaries of service to the company, they can be for retirements, they can be for condolence, they can be for baby, showers, weddings, whatever, flowers sent on an occasion of an illness. This really, really helps people in that, whoever controls the fund, when they immediately know something is coming up, they can send those flowers, they can choose that gift.
Other offices have used the money to once a month; celebrate the birthdays of everybody in that office. They will buy cake, they will buy bagels and coffee for a little morning get-together or something. Everybody comes in celebrates the four-five birthdays for that month and all bases are covered, the money that is in that account can also then be used for flowers for these other occasions when something needs to be sent out of the office.
So think creatively, think how you can make this work for people. It can be less work in the long run, it can be less embarrassing when people can not afford to give at a particular time during the year and it means that you can respond quickly to celebrate or to share your sympathy with someone when they have an unfortunate occurrence in their life.
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