need help with school scrip program

[SunnieRN]

I never understood the "scrip" program. First, what does "SCRIP" stand for? Also, what benefit do I get by purchasing a $25 gift card for $25??? It's not like I'm getting some bargain so there's really no incentive for me to buy.

I dislike all school fundraisers, though. It's all overpriced junk. Whoever runs it should find a way to get quality items at a decent price, not some dollar store garbage selling for $15 or some 99 cent tote bags selling for $18.

You buy the scrip for face value and shop as. You would normally shop. The school gets to buy the scrip at a lower price, so the school makes money.

Better than overpriced wrapping paper or cookie dough IMHO. I can still shop with coupons, buy sale items, etc.

 

[NYCDiane]

You buy the scrip for face value and shop as. You would normally shop. The school gets to buy the scrip at a lower price, so the school makes money.

Better than overpriced wrapping paper or cookie dough IMHO. I can still shop with coupons, buy sale items, etc.

Okay, but what does "SCRIP" stand for????? And how much can the school possibly make off the gift cards????

I agree about the overpriced "fundraisers" --- I never liked them and think it's a sin that schools do that to the parents.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

They don't make much per card. It depends on the store and is a % of the total amount of the gift card. To really make money you do need to sell volume. We have a lot of choices on hand. Shop N Save, Schnucks (groceries) gas, Kohls, fast food. They are available on Friday am and pm at school and all weekend masses. Getting people in the habit of stopping to get the gift card each week is really key to making money. Lots of people at Sunday Mass will ask what we have and then decide where they are going for lunch. Most of the parents at school use them weekly for gas and groceries. Kohls is really great. You can charge your stuff and get the discount and then pay your bill with gift cards. We are also required to buy so much a year but are so blessed to have many in our parish who buy each week to help out the school.

I always use some to pay off our Disney trip.

 

[3goofyboys]

I never understood the "scrip" program. First, what does "SCRIP" stand for? Also, what benefit do I get by purchasing a $25 gift card for $25??? It's not like I'm getting some bargain so there's really no incentive for me to buy.

I dislike all school fundraisers, though. It's all overpriced junk. Whoever runs it should find a way to get quality items at a decent price, not some dollar store garbage selling for $15 or some 99 cent tote bags selling for $18.

YOU don't really get a benefit. But, the school does. And it's a pretty painless way to put extra funds in the school coffers.

Okay, but what does "SCRIP" stand for????? And how much can the school possibly make off the gift cards????

I agree about the overpriced "fundraisers" --- I never liked them and think it's a sin that schools do that to the parents.

I have no idea what "scrip" stands for (and I run our school's scrip program, I've always been curious). The dollar amount varies depending on what company you're buying from. Walmart for example gives 2%. Other merchants give 10 or 15%. Generally the percentage is between 5% and 9%. We have one local business that donates 33%, can't beat that!


OP: our preschool runs a succesful scrip program. We stock nearly all our scrip, only taking orders twice a year- once before Black Friday and once before Christmas. Scrip is available for sale before and after school every day. Have you thought about reloadable gift cards? Our biggest success is with scrip from our local Kroger stores. They provide reloadable cards with a number associated with each card. The number ties back to our school, so every time a parent reloads the card, our school gets credit (and actually, the number is tied to a specific family, so credit goes in to their account). It's easy for the parents because they don't have to remember to purchase scrip from the school (except for the initial purchase), they just have to remember to have the cashier load the card before ringing their groceries. Plus, they can use a credit card to load the card and get points that way. Every family is loving it. My family alone has earned the school $450 in proceeds with very little effort.

 

[allison443]

Okay, but what does "SCRIP" stand for????? And how much can the school possibly make off the gift cards????

I agree about the overpriced "fundraisers" --- I never liked them and think it's a sin that schools do that to the parents.

"Scrip" doesn't stand for anything...it's not an acronym, it is a word meaning a "subsitute for currency that is not legal tender." In this case it refers to gift cards.

Before we did scrip, the school did the overpriced fundraisers. With scrip, parents are not spending anything above what they would normally spend. The school buys a $100 shoprite gift card for $95 and sells it to me for face value of $100. The school makes $5. (That is just an example, the percentage of profit varies among different retailers.)

 

[allison443]

I never understood the "scrip" program. First, what does "SCRIP" stand for? Also, what benefit do I get by purchasing a $25 gift card for $25??? It's not like I'm getting some bargain so there's really no incentive for me to buy.

I dislike all school fundraisers, though. It's all overpriced junk. Whoever runs it should find a way to get quality items at a decent price, not some dollar store garbage selling for $15 or some 99 cent tote bags selling for $18.

The incentive for you to buy is that the school is making money. You are not having to spend any more than you normally would, and the school makes money. The school gets a discount on the gift cards and they sell it to you at face value.

If you dislike buying overpriced junk, (I do too!) wouldn't you prefer to buy gift cards for places you normally shop, buy gas, etc. and have the school get their profit from the vendors/retailers?

 

[allison443]

OMG - if every family in our school had to pay that much extra our school would be empty!

We weren't paying $3500 extra, we were buying $3500 of scrip to purchase groceries/gas/restaurant meals/clothing. Well, $3500 over 12 months worked out to a little less than $300/month. I easily spend that on groceries, gas, etc. Add in any large purchases at home depot, gift cards I buy at the holidays, etc. and it wasn't hard to reach the amount. We could also have other friends/neighbors/family members purchase and the amount would be credited towards our $3500.

 

[Mixie]

It's the word 'mandatory' that would drive them away. Our scrip program doesn't seem to click with people - hardly anyone uses it.

 

[java]

I was thinking about this. I wonder if you could sell the cards AT the grocery store. In other words, be selling them to people as they walk in to the store with a sign that says Help our schools?

 

[allison443]

It's the word 'mandatory' that would drive them away. Our scrip program doesn't seem to click with people - hardly anyone uses it.

Oh I can understand that. As I said the school wasn't a public school, so the parents agreed to it when they signed up...there was a bit of an outcry when the "mandatory" part was implemented, but once people got into the habit it turned out well...

 

[Mixie]

We're private, too. It's like pulling teeth to get half the parents to do anything for the school - volunteer, fundraise, etc. They don't realize how much tuition would go up if the school didn't have volunteers and fundraisers.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Ours isn't completely "mandatory" as in we have the option to:
1. buy so much scrip,
2. let them cash the check we write at the start of the year or
3. pay a lot more in tuition!

I really actually like that we are given the opportunity to use scrip to help keep tuition cost down. We are a small school and the scrip program really does make a difference. But making it mandatory was necessary for people to change how they buy gas and groceries. When it was just an option people didn't really worry about changing their shopping behavior. When they had to write that extra check in Aug knowing they could get it back in June they had enough incentive to change how they shop.