The Genius Blog

Holiday Group Gifts the GENIUS Way!

If you ever find yourself the one in charge of collecting money for a group gift, you know what a hassle it can be!  Whether you’re organizing a Christmas gift for the kindergarten teacher or putting together an end-of-season gift for the coach – manually collecting the money is a huge headache. Not only will you spend a ton of time tracking everyone down, remembering who gave you cash or check, and trying to get people the right change… but inevitably you’ll get stuck picking up the remaining balance when some folks never pay! Bah Humbug! It’s enough to make your heart be three sizes too small! 

Never fear, Cindy Lou Who! This year, you can avoid the group gift nightmares and collect money through SignUpGenius. With SignUpGenius Payments, organizing a group gift is as easy as signing up volunteers! Here’s how it works: 

1. Fill out the SignUpGenius Payments activation form to connect your SignUpGenius account to a PayPal account where you can accept money.
    
2. Build a sign up at SignUpGenius just like you normally do… except now you will be able to designate your sign up slots as payment items. You can decide whether you want your group members to pay a set amount or whether you want them to choose how much they want to give.
    
3. Your group members sign up at SignUpGenius just like they always have and will have an additional step where they pay via credit card or PayPal account.
    
4. The money you collect is immediately available in your PayPal account and you can go buy that special person the fruitcake of his or her dreams.

Worried about the cost? SignUpGenius charges just 2.1% of the payment amount plus twenty cents per transaction. When combined with PayPal’s credit card fees, you’ll pay a total of 5% plus fifty cents per transaction. The good news is that studies have shown that the convenience of online payments usually brings a boost in money collected that far outweighs the fees involved – so you can save time while collecting more than you would if you do it manually!  

This year give SignUpGenius a try for your group gift and we'll handle the organizing while you kick back with a cup of organic eggnog!
 

Get Started!

Fall Photo Contest Winners!

The SignUpGenius Fall Photo Contest gave our users the opportunity to submit a photo that represents what they love about the fall season. Little did we know, the variety of photos would be great and the level of talent would be even greater! Thanks to everyone who shared fall photos with us and also to those of you who came back to vote for your favorites!  

We are thrilled to announce our three People’s Choice Winners who had the highest number of votes and our three Judge’s Choice Winners whose photos were scored highest by our judging panel.

The People's Choice Winners will each receive $200 Visa Gift Cards and the Judge's Choice Winners will each receive $100 Visa Gift Cards. Congratulations to ALL of our amazing winners! 

New Holiday Themes!

Hard to believe that it's already time to start planning the holiday get-togethers! Whether you're organizing the church Thanksgiving feast, the family Hanukkah celebration, or the work Christmas party - SignUpGenius has got you covered with great new holiday themes for your sign ups. Check out the new ones below, or VIEW OUR ENTIRE SELECTION OF THEMES.

Click on the thumbnails for a preview.

Candy Canes & Ribbon - See NEW THEMES Category	Secret Santa - See NEW THEMES Category	Hanukkah 5 - See Food Category	Snowman 2 - See NEW THEMES Category
Ornaments 2 - See NEW THEMES Category	Cocoa - See NEW THEMES Category	Wise Men 2 - See NEW THEMES Category	Happy Thanksgiving - See Fall & Fall Holidays Category
Christmas Cookie - See Food Category	Ornaments 4 - See NEW THEMES Category	Ornaments 3 - See NEW THEMES Category	Wrapping Paper - See NEW THEMES Category
Turkey - See Fall & Fall Holidays Category	Stocking - See NEW THEMES Category	New Years 3 - See NEW THEMES Category	Party Favor - See General Category

Busy? We thought so.

It’s no secret to us that you’ve been busy planning an abundance of fall events. The SignUpGenius site has hit record-breaking traffic numbers all month, and we truly appreciate you being a part of this hectic season with us. Know that SignUpGenius staffers are continuing to work steadily behind the scenes to bring you the best tools and support around. We also have some fun fall contests and deals we are excited to share! 

Thank you to those of you who entered our Fall into EASY #PinToWin Contest! 

We are thrilled to announce our WINNER:
Brittany Gilley of Lawrenceville, GA
Brittany will receive s $250 Visa Gift Card 

Here are a couple more opportunities for us to say “THANK YOU” this fall: 

SignUpGenius October Special
We’ve got a ghastly good deal that will make your head spin. Get one month of SignUpGenius Pro for 50% off* now through October 31st! Read more here.  

SignUpGenius Fall Photo Contest
What’s not to love about cool, crisp autumn temperatures, earthy tones of falling leaves, and joining up with the ones you love for spooktacular celebrations? Snap some photos of your favorite fall events and share your best one in the SignUpGenius Fall 2013 Photo Contest for a chance to win! Read more here. 

No Tricks….Just a Sweet October Treat

Tomb it may concern….SignUpGenius is offering a deal so ghastly good you may wonder what has possessed us. Get one month of SignUpGenius Pro for 50% off* now through October 31st! Have no fear…we haven’t lost our heads. We’re so sure you’ll go batty for our concoction of pro features, we just can’t wait for you to try it.

So slither on over and check out SignUpGenius Pro. But don’t say we didn’t warn you. If the thought of no ads on your sign ups makes you shiver, and the idea of hiding past or future dates seems like mere witchful thinking, you may not be able to handle your ghoulish delight. What about multiples administrators and more custom images? Oh yes, we’ve carved those into the deal, too. Bahahahaha!

*New SignUpGenius Pro users only.

Announcing the Winners of the SignUpGenius Back-to-School Giveaway Sponsored by Learning Express Toys

SignUpGenius would like to extend a huge thank you to all of our users for making the SignUpGenius Back-to-School Giveaway sponsored by Learning Express Toys a tremendous success. With 6352 entries, you made it clear to us that rewarding teachers for their hard work gets high marks in your book!  Thank you for joining us and Learning Express Toys as we award the winning parent group, the Lane Elementary PTA in Alexandria, Virginia, with $1500 for the teachers at their school. 

Lane Elementary PTA President Sharon Sussin’s reacted to learning about the prize by saying, “We are so thrilled to receive this wonderful prize from our friends at SignUpGenius.  We plan to use the winnings to help provide supplies to our teachers so they can continue to give our kids the best learning experience."   

Principal Eleanor Contreras also commented, “We are so thankful to SignUpGenius and Learning Express Toys for their generous financial gift to the Lane Elementary School staff.  It is wonderful to have business partners support our professional endeavors.  The money will allow us to purchase items that will enhance instruction.  Thank you!” 

In addition to the grand prize for the PTA, Lane Elementary parent Kellie Kluger will also receive a $100 Visa gift card for nominating the school’s parent group. “We have a great PTA that strives to provide our teachers and students with the best learning tools and opportunities possible.  They will be so thrilled!” Kluger said. 

Here at SignUpGenius we know that the Lane Elementary PTA is only one example of the thousands of school communities who are working diligently to provide better educational opportunities for students. We will continue to work hard on our end to provide the organizations who use SignUpGenius with better and better tools and resources to make your worthy causes a little bit easier to accomplish each day. If you are interested in learning more about our current giveaway, please click HERE or join us on Facebook to keep up with news about future contests.