Leaving do collections: how to run one at work

In short: Keep workplace leaving collections voluntary and low-pressure, suggest a small amount rather than setting a target, and use a shared link so nobody has to carry cash round the office or front the money. Aim for a per-person contribution that works across every salary in the team, and make opting out genuinely easy. This guide covers how to run one fairly.

Someone is leaving, and it falls to you to organise the card and the collection. It is a small kindness that means a lot to the person going, and it comes with a familiar set of low-level headaches: the envelope doing the rounds, the people who are conveniently at lunch every time it appears, and the awkwardness of knowing who put in what.

The office version of a group collection has its own etiquette, shaped by the fact that colleagues sit on very different salaries and nobody wants their contribution to be a talking point. This guide covers how to handle it well.

Keep it genuinely voluntary

The most important principle in a workplace collection: nobody should feel obliged.

Offices contain people on wildly different pay, people who barely knew the leaver, and people who are quietly stretched. A leaving collection that feels compulsory puts all of them in an uncomfortable position. Make it clear from the start that contributing is entirely optional and that any amount is welcome, and mean it.

This matters more at work than almost anywhere else, because the social dynamics are ongoing. You still have to sit next to everyone afterwards, and so does the person who could not contribute.

Suggest a small amount, not a target

Give people a steer, but keep it modest and keep it a suggestion.

A small suggested amount, a few pounds, answers the question everyone has, which is what is normal, without setting a figure that anyone struggles to meet. Avoid a target, since a total the collection is trying to reach turns it into a fundraiser and makes smaller contributions feel inadequate. The point is a card and a decent gift, not a record-breaking sum.

Pitch the suggestion at a level that works across the whole team, including the most junior and lowest-paid. If the most senior people want to give more, they quietly can, but the suggested amount should never be set by what the top earners would spend.

Keep contributions private

At work especially, who gave what should be nobody’s business.

The traditional envelope has an obvious flaw: it goes round the office, people can often see or infer what others put in, and the person who gave a pound feels it. Cash collections also make it awkward for anyone who genuinely cannot spare anything that week, because their non-contribution is visible when the envelope reaches them.

A shared collection link solves this completely. People contribute privately from their own phone, nobody can see individual amounts, and there is no envelope to dodge. The person who contributes nothing does so invisibly, which is exactly as it should be.

What to spend it on

Match the gift to the person and the amount raised.

For a well-liked colleague after years of service, a collection can fund a proper gift, a nice experience, a good voucher, something they will actually use. For a shorter stint or a smaller collection, a card and a thoughtful voucher is plenty. A leaving gift does not need to be lavish to be appreciated, and a card signed by everyone, with genuine messages rather than just names, often means more than the gift itself.

A gift card is the flexible choice, since you can pool the money and then choose something appropriate once you see the total, whether that is a retailer, an experience, or something the leaver has mentioned wanting. It also lets the leaver choose, which removes the guesswork.

Don’t be the office banker

The mechanics are where a leaving collection becomes a chore, and it is avoidable.

Running a collection through your own bank account means your details go round the team, contributions trickle in with no clear record, you chase the people who forgot, and you end up reconciling everything against a mental list of who has paid. Cash is worse, a tin or envelope you are responsible for, counting coins, and carrying the float around.

A shared link removes all of it. Colleagues contribute directly, you see the total without any admin, and no one shares bank details. Planiit handles this: you set up the collection, share the link by email or your work chat, and contributions are processed by Stripe rather than landing with you. You get a running total, and at the end you turn it into a gift card. For the school version of the same problem, our class rep collection guide covers the same principles.

Timing and logistics

Give the collection enough time, but not so much that it drags.

A week or so is usually right for a leaving collection, long enough for people to contribute and to sign the card, short enough that it does not lose momentum. Share the link and pass the card round early, send one gentle reminder partway through, and then close it in time to buy the gift before the person’s last day.

If it is a large team or people are spread across locations or working remotely, a digital collection and a digital card are far easier than trying to get a physical envelope and card to everyone, and they include the people who are not in the office that week.

A note on remote and hybrid teams

Collections have got harder as offices have spread out, and the old methods do not work when half the team is remote.

An envelope cannot reach a colleague working from home, and a cash collection excludes anyone not in that day. A shared link sidesteps this entirely, reaching everyone wherever they are, and a digital card that people sign online means the leaver gets messages from the whole team rather than just whoever was in the office. For hybrid and remote teams, the digital approach is not just easier, it is the only way to include everyone.

Common questions

How much should you give for a work leaving collection? Whatever suits you, guided by a small suggested amount of a few pounds. Contributions should be voluntary, and the suggestion should work across every salary in the team rather than being set by the highest earners.

Is it rude not to contribute to a leaving collection? No. Workplace collections should be genuinely optional, since colleagues sit on very different pay and some barely knew the leaver. A good collection keeps contributions private so opting out is invisible.

What should you buy with a leaving collection? Match it to the person and the amount raised, from a card and a voucher for a smaller collection to a proper gift or experience for a long-serving colleague. A gift card lets the leaver choose and removes the guesswork.

How do you collect money for a leaving gift without cash? Use a shared collection link that colleagues contribute to from their phones. It keeps amounts private, avoids an envelope doing the rounds, and reaches remote workers that a cash collection would miss.

How long should a leaving collection run? About a week is usually right, long enough for people to contribute and sign the card but short enough to keep momentum. Close it in time to buy the gift before the person’s last day.

How do you run a collection for a remote or hybrid team? A shared link and a digital card are the practical answer, since an envelope cannot reach people working from home. Everyone contributes and signs online, so the whole team is included wherever they are.

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Set up a free leaving collection, share it with the team, and turn the total into a gift card at planiit.io.