Guide
How GiftNest works
For the people hosting a celebration, and for the guests contributing to it.
For hosts
From idea to a live event in four steps, in the order you will need them.
1. Create your event
- Sign up with your email and phone, then press New event.
- Choose the kind of celebration. GiftNest fills in a headline and tagline you can change, like “We are getting married” and “Your love, our beginning.”
- Add the date, the venue and a short note for your guests. Pick a colour theme and, if you like, a cover photo.
- Your link is made from your names, for example giftnest.ug/events/nakato-brian. You can change it before you share it.
2. Add your gifts
- Add each gift with a price, a picture and how many you want. Two cookware sets? Set the quantity to 2.
- Use a Cash Fund for experiences and savings: a honeymoon, a first home, school fees. Guests contribute any amount towards it.
- Mark your favourites as your pick: they show first and on the event page.
- Turn off Allow partial contributions for a gift that only makes sense whole: guests then cover the full price of one or more.
3. Publish and share
- Press Publish when the event is ready. Until then only you and your co-hosts can see it.
- Share the link on WhatsApp, print the QR card for the tables, or send an SMS to your whole guest list from the dashboard.
- Invite your partner, a parent or your planner as co-hosts. They help once they accept; the money stays with you.
4. Watch the contributions arrive
- Guests leave a message, choose a gift, contribute, and approve a Mobile Money prompt on their own phone. They never need an account.
- Each contribution appears on your dashboard the moment it is paid, with the guest's name, number and message, even if they chose to stay anonymous to other guests.
- Guests get a receipt on screen and by SMS. You can export every contribution to Excel for your thank-you cards.
- When the celebration is over, close the event. The page and the wishes stay up; no more contributions are taken.
For guests
Contributing towards a gift takes about a minute.
- 1
Open the link
From the invitation, WhatsApp or the QR card at the venue. No app and no account: it opens in your phone's browser.
- 2
Leave a message
Your name, your number and a few words for the hosts. Choose whether other guests see your name: the hosts always do, so they can thank you.
- 3
Choose a gift and an amount
Cover a gift in full or contribute part of it, from the smallest amount the hosts set. The progress bar shows how far each gift has come.
- 4
Approve on your phone
Enter the MTN or Airtel number to pay from. A Mobile Money prompt arrives; approve it with your own PIN. GiftNest never sees it.
- 5
Get your receipt
A receipt on screen and by SMS, with a GN- reference, the moment the payment goes through.
About payments
Contributions are paid by MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money through OlyCash. The guest approves the payment on their own phone with their own PIN; GiftNest never sees it. A prompt that is not approved within 15 minutes is cancelled and the guest can try again.