When our school members purchase SCRIP, they’re purchasing gift certificates that are used just like cash. SCRIP is issued by national and local retailers where many of our school families already shop. These merchants want to support non-profit schools, and in return ask us to support them by shopping with SCRIP at their stores. Our school members can use SCRIP to purchase everyday items such as food, clothing, and other essentials. Every purchase earns revenue for our organization.
The Great Lakes SCRIP center acts on behalf of churches, schools and other non-profit organizations to purchase large amounts of scrip from grocery stores, department stores, and other retailers. Because SCRIP is purchased with cash up front, the participating retailers offer a substantial discount. Our organization buys SCRIP from Great Lakes Scrip Center at a discount, and re-sell the gift certificates for full face value. The bulk of the discount – from two to twenty percent – is retained by St. Mary’s School as revenue.
SCRIP is “shopping cart fundraising”.
The reason for the effectiveness of SCRIP is simple: families generate revenue through purchases they would make anyway. Groceries, clothing, toys, gifts, even gasoline can be purchased with SCRIP. An organization of 150 families easily spends between one and two million dollars per year on food, clothing and other essentials. If these families use SCRIP for these purchases, they can raise as much as $40,000 to $80,000 per year for our organization — without spending an additional penny.
Families who purchase SCRIP certificates actively support the retailers who participate in this program. The reason is simple… they know that buying from a SCRIP participating retailer provides a steady source of revenue for their church, school, or non-profit organization.
The website for SCRIP is www.raiseright.com