Lolligift solves a pressing problem in most offices. You know how when Maurice in accounting or Lydia on the dev team breaks a hip or has a birthday? And how Sarah in HR goes around collecting cash for a present for them? And how you know you have a ten-spot, the same ten-spot you were planning on using for lunch at the Pizza Hut all-you-can eat buffet and now you have to use the ATM which isn’t your bank and costs $2 to use? And how you’re all like “Maybe tomorrow” and Sarah is all like “OK. I’ll put you down for tomorrow but I have to go to get the Bed, Bath and Beyond gift certificate tonight so don’t forget.” And you’re all like “Wait, here’s ten.” And Sarah thinks you’re a freak?
Well, Lolligift solves all that. By sending your co-workers a single link (I will totally laugh if anyone donates to Nik’s fund) they can begin sending cash. You then collect the funds via Paypal (less $5 and Paypal’s cut) or request a free mailed check or Visa Check Card. You can overnight the check for $19.95.
The site is run by former Microsoft employees who, I’m sure, had to put a lot of cash into Bill Gates’ annual birthday Lamborghini pool and therefore have extended experience in the “giving at the office” field. Presumably they’re making their money on holding the deposited cash in a bank account and on the $5 fees.
Founders Adam Sheppard and William Lai is part of the 8ninths incubator in Seattle. It’s privately held and funded.
As you see it’s simple to create a pool for almost anything. You enter the recipient, the gift, and then event time. The site then emails the participants.
Like evite, EventBrite and socializer and all of those party invite systems you’ll use this site rarely but once you realize it’s there, you’ll probably keep using it. However it does make it much harder to skip out on office gift pools.