Abraham Lincoln found himself at the head of a government that was divided amongst itself on how to proceed, given that the southern half of the country was teetering on the edge of secession.
I've noticed that employees don't contribute much when the envelope makes its rounds. I'd say their contributions average $3 per person, tops. I don't want to appear cheap to our boss presenting him with a departmental retirement gift of less than $200 (there is 60 people in the department). I want to ask the staff to increase their contribution to $30 per person, so we can give my boss an $1800 gift.
You also must decide how much to spend. Again, there's no set recommendation. In a survey of more than 1,000 people by retailmenot,respondents on average said gifts worth about $111 were appropriate for high-school graduates, $243 for someone earning a bachelor's degree and $256 for the recipient of a graduate degree.