Yes, but 2/3 of that was from mom-n-dad and grandma. The mom’s friends haul was maybe $200. If you took away the parental and grandparental gifts I think it was in the above $500, less than $100 range. That’s including aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.
We sent HS and college announcements to grandparents only, mainly because getting an announcement was meaningful for them. GPs sent a modest check for HS graduation.
We didn’t have parties (we live in the DC area, so I know they are big deals in some circles). My guys didn’t want big Bar Mitzvah parties either.
We didn’t give cash for graduations, though I did pay to have college diplomas framed.
We sent announcements for both kid’s HS graduations. D had a party (and ended up getting quite a bit of money), S was not interested in a party though he attended several for his friends. In my experience (not just my family) girls were more willing to want parties. I treated friends kids the same as far as money whether they had a card/sent announcements or not.
This was in DC/ NoVA suburbs. HS graduation was a much bigger deal there than college graduation.
We did not do graduation parties for either of our girls and none of their friends here in Southern California did parties. Both of my Ds did a photo graduation card that had their graduation date on it and what college they were going to attend. These were sent to family only. They did end up getting some money, but that was not the intention of the cards.
DC area - we give $100 for high school graduation to nieces/nephews and to kids we are also friends with the family. A few years ago I was going to send a kid $100 and my DC, who had also graduated that year thought it was too much (so I sent $50).
My SIL called to see how much they had given my older child a couple of years before (so they could give the same to the one graduating at that time). I told her I thought it was about $4,000 - LOL. (She, of course, knew I was kidding!)
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2007 HS graduation. We made photo postcards announcing graduation/grad party and D1’s future plans. Did not buy the official school announcements. Party was a combo of family and daughter’s friends.
2010 HS graduation. Same as above. Less family attended more of son’s friends.
2015 HS graduation. D2 wanted no announcement/invite/party of any kind. Just not her. Her sister took some iPhone pics which we printed out some for close family. It was sort of interesting to me that because she didn’t have a party she received basically no gifts. In other words, people give gifts when prompted by a party invite. No gift with no party even though family/neighbors/whoever knew she was graduating. I try to think about that myself now. If someone is graduating I’m close to honor the occasion of the celebration (graduation)with acknowledgement (a card or a card/gift) NOT just if there is a party.
(BTW, 2015 graduate said “in lieu of a party I’d love to take a trip.” So graduate, her sister, her grandma and myself bought tickets and had a lovely 10 days in France, a trip always to remember! This mom LOVED not having to plan a party and instead take a trip!! 
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I’d say it depends. For relatives and close friends, if we give cash it’s usually about $50-$100 or we’d give a $50-$100 gift card. For people that we are less close to, we just send a card or a gift card for about $40.
Back when we were just starting out and had less money we usually spent about $20 on gifts.
We did not send out grad announcements with the intention of getting gifts. They were mostly sent to family, close family friends, and my kid’s friends who went to different schools. Some people sent gifts, some didn’t. Didn’t matter, these are people who care about our kids and they want to celebrate the milestone. The people who sent gifts probably would have done so even if they hadn’t gotten an announcement.
For high school graduation, we just went out to dinner with immediate family right after the ceremony. For our D’s college graduation (S is still in college), we did an open house party a few days later. We mostly invited family, close friends, and some of D’s friends.
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Like another poster, I have been giving around $2,000/year in graduation gifts. The individual gifts range from $50 to $100, for the most part. We were invited to about 15 parties this year, plus sent to friends and relatives who don’t live locally. Now that my kids have both graduated, I expect the amount will start to decrease.
Neither of my kids had parties, but we did send announcements to family and close family friends.
Most kids where we live have HUGE parties at restaurants and banquet halls. My 2022’s closest friends were discussing what they received at their parties and it was $5K to $10K.
It’s not a money making endeavor, really, though. I have done calculations every year, knowing what banquet prices and other costs are and I am guessing the children are gifted maybe 25% — tops — more than the cost of the party.
That’s how it works here, no party, no check, with the exception of very close family. I think my kids got checks from the grandparents and a couple of aunts, they had friends make bank with big parties.
Wow! I remember D went to a couple of fancy graduation parties. Think catered affairs with table service, band, bar, etc…
These parties are better than getting many scholarships…
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Maybe they should have a tip jar for going to college at these parties.
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I guess it’s good we don’t have that many “good friends.”
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We don’t have many good friends, but the parties here are usually 200 to 350 people. It’s crazy. So we received about 15 invitations in the mail, then my daughter went to more parties of classmates who didn’t invite our family but invited her through text or however else kids communicate.
We didn’t go to many parties, mostly just very close family and a few friends.
This is pretty amazing. Had no idea there was so much difference in celebrating HS graduation! Agree with whoever said it’s basically a scholarship fund in some places! Impressive!
hmm i think giving them About $50-$100 should be Ok.
I’ve only been to a couple WEDDINGS in my life that were that big.
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Pulling this one up since it’s timely. Got an invitation to a high school graduation party a few days prior to the party, so obviously it’s more of an announcement than an invitation. We didn’t go.
Haven’t seen the kid or the parents for 15 years (old neighbors, not close). My husband says send $50, but I’m thinking they’ll think we’re very cheap (yes, we can afford more), so I’m just considering not sending anything instead. We really don’t know them, but you feel compelled to send something when they send an announcement.
I don’t know. What do you do when you get an announcement for someone you really don’t know and haven’t seen in years?
I can’t say that I have faced this situation of a very long time without contact and then an ‘out of the blue’ invitation from someone we weren’t ever close to. I suppose if I had a wish to touch base, I’d send a graduation card and thank them for the update. Maybe put a token gift amount in it ($23 for the class of 23?). The amount would have everything to do with the relationship, lack thereof, or wish to re-connect and nothing to do with a wish not to appear cheap. IME, generosity in proportion to the relationship avoids awkwardness. I also think if you prefer not to respond, it’s okay with this amount of time passing and no wistful nostalgia on your end.
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