A few things you might be wondering.
The practical stuff, all in one place.
Getting started
Givva is a way for a group of people to come together around one gift.
The organizer sets up the occasion and can add a gift idea to give everyone some context. Friends, family or coworkers can contribute, leave messages and add photos or videos—all in one place.
The recipient ultimately receives the money, so they’re not locked into buying the exact gift that was suggested.
Someone starts the group gift and shares one invitation with the group. Everyone can contribute what feels right and add something personal for the recipient.
When it’s time to receive the gift, the recipient completes a quick identity-verification step through Stripe and can then see the gift, the people who contributed, and the messages and memories everyone left for them.
Anyone.
You might be a parent planning a birthday, a room parent organizing a teacher gift, a coworker handling a team gift, or simply the person who said, “I’ll take care of it.”
No.
You can add a gift idea if you have one, but you don’t need to have everything figured out before inviting people.
Think of the gift idea as something for the group to rally around. The recipient ultimately receives the money and can decide how they want to use it.
Contributing
No. You can contribute without creating an account.
We do encourage creating one if you’d like an easy way to keep track of your contributions over time.
No.
Someone can leave a message without contributing money. Their message will still be there for the recipient, but they won’t be listed as a contributor to the gift.
No.
Individual contribution amounts are private. Other contributors may see things like the total amount collected and the number of people who contributed, but not what any one person gave.
Yes.
Sometimes you want to be part of the moment without adding to the gift. You can still leave the recipient a message.
Yes.
You can add a photo or video along with your message so the recipient gets something a little more personal than a name on a card.
Receiving your gift
Before opening their gift, the recipient is asked to complete identity verification through Stripe.
After that, they return to their gift page and can see the gift, how many people contributed, and the messages, photos and videos everyone shared.
They do not see how much each person contributed.
The recipient receives the money.
The gift idea gives the group something meaningful to contribute toward, but the recipient isn’t locked into purchasing that exact item.
That also means there’s no awkward situation if plans change, the item sells out, or they decide they’d rather put the money toward something else.
Givva works with Stripe to securely manage payments and gift transfers.
The recipient first completes a short Stripe Connect onboarding process, including required identity verification. Once that’s done, they can request that their gift be transferred directly to their bank account.
Transfers can take a few days to reach the recipient’s bank account while the banking system completes its normal settlement process.
Payments & fees
The organizer and recipient don’t pay any fees.
Contributors pay Stripe’s payment-processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30, plus a 5% Givva platform fee, on top of their contribution.
That means the amount someone intends for the gift stays intact rather than having fees taken out of it.
Payments and gift transfers are handled through Stripe.
Givva uses Stripe for payment processing, recipient onboarding and transfers to the recipient’s bank account.
Payments are processed through Stripe rather than handled directly by Givva.
Ready to start a group gift?