Tipping Bounce House Attendants?

Hi N.,

This isn't about being "silly," but rather, it is an issue of financial integrity and providing documentation for every dollar, which is required if your organization is a non-profit. (ETA: This is a completely different situation than the first response below where it was a personal event hosted by parents. In that case, a person is free to tip however he/she chooses. Your situation isn't about proper tipping etiquette. It's about following established rules for how non-profits handle financial transactions. It's a very important distinction).

If this is for a PTA or other similar non-profit, for example, you can't just "give" them a cash tip. Nothing is ever paid in cash. [For PTA, this mandate is found in the "Money Matters" guide]. Every expenditure must have an invoice, bill of sale, check request, or reimbursement request, etc. and must be paid by check. If you are having your financial records properly audited each fiscal year, as is the requirement for every non-profit, this would be something that would be flagged by the auditor.

Our PTA does not tip. We get our own volunteers and high-school and middle-school kids who need service hours to staff our events.

When we do use outside service vendors (which happens several times a year), we discuss this policy when we are entering into contracts with them, and we tell them we do not pay cash tips. We make it clear up front. We have strong relationships that we've developed with our vendors over the years, and they know that we are a non-profit that services children. So, we agree on a fair price so that both sides are happy. Year after year, our vendors always want to come back and do our events.

Some businesses (like the lighting company we use for our Harvest Festival, for example) do include a set-up and delivery fee built into the contract that covers the extra time their staff have to spend, and that's fine, because it's on the original invoice. It's documented. It's a legitimate expenditure.

I would suggest you talk with your board, particularly your president and treasurer and also become familiar with the financial rules that govern your organization. Some of the biggest problems non-profits get into are the ones that involve finances and people not knowing or understanding those rules.

Good luck with your event!

J. F.

My son briefly worked for a bounce house/inflatables rental place. I remember hearing some of his observations.

The attendants often work very long hours before and after the party, checking all the inflatables, packing them, loading them, driving to an event, staffing the event, then taking everything down, cleaning the inflatables, packing them properly, loading and driving back to the shop and preparing for the next event. Often a 2 hour event meant a 12 hour work day.

Some events he worked at were fund-raisers for say, a child with cancer or something like that, or for a good cause. He didn't really expect tips at those places. And it was at those events that he experienced the most generosity - not money usually, but sharing of food, cold water to drink,, etc. He always appreciated the event's organizers recognizing that he was often hot and thirsty and couldn't leave what he was doing. He appreciated it when someone brought him a sandwich and a bottle of cold water and expressed their verbal appreciation.

Private parties were a different matter. He worked a variety of private birthdays at mansions, or family reunions at resorts, etc. It dismayed him when he saw the opulence and wasn't offered even a small tip. But that didn't happen often. Usually the people were friendly and welcoming and seemed to understand how important safety was to their event, and that guys like my son were responsible for their event going well, and he was often amazed at how polite people were and how they tipped nicely if they could. Usually it wasn't a lot, just $20 or $40, and that was if guys like my son had been friendly to the party participants, and had appeared in control, were polite and clean, and were paying attention to their responsibilities. A sloppy guy who's just bored and not greeting the kids or who's acting rude doesn't get a tip.

Hope that helps!

If cash tipping is a problem for your organization, you might offer to given them "food tickets" or offer them a free lunch at your event.

I have found that the rental places will generally put some kind of guideline on the quote, such as "Gratuities to the attendants are appreciated" or something like that. The last few parties I've planned for my kids at places like that have indicated that on top of the $400 to have the party at the place, apparently these places don't believe in actually paying their employees a living wage, and so parents are expected to pay the attendants on top of paying the exorbitant fees to the venue. Ugh. Generally they do seem to expect a generous tip at the end of the day, whether they went above and beyond (or even did a barely adequate job) or not. I would call the company and ask what they expect. That way there are no surprises.

I agree with Susan B. when it's a non-profit event.
Lunch, drinks, etc.

I've never thought about tipping a bounce house attendant.
I would think if anyone tipped them, it would be the parents whose kids are using it - not you/your organization - but parents generally have enough to look after with the kids running around and losing socks/shoes.
Don't worry about it.

I haven't ever considered giving a person who is making minimum wage or better a tip. I think that you're already paying them to work and your money is enough. Why give them more?

No for this kind of event. Yes if it is a private birthday party type event.