Private Schools: Fundraising with Scrip

By Michele Blandino

One of the biggest problems facing private schools, particularly parochial schools, is the inability to make financial ends meet. As a result, fundraising is an almost constant process and it’s not uncommon for schools to have numerous fundraisers throughout the course of the year.

In recent years, some schools have turned to scrip programs to help raise extra cash. Scrip programs, also known as voucher programs, are a relatively new phenomena in the fundraising circuit. While these programs are most often seen in schools, they are starting to make their presence felt in non-profit organizations as well. Here’s a quick look at how the program works.

In a nutshell, retailers, grocery stores, restaurants, even on-line merchants, sell their store’s gift certificates or gift cards at a discount to your group. In turn, your group sells the gift cards/certificates to organization members (or the general public) at face value. Your group keeps the difference (the amount differs among merchants but is usually anywhere from 2%–25% of the face value).

So, what’s in it for the retailers? There are actually a few benefits. Most importantly, it provides another channel through which they are able to make sales. And, as a result of their participation in such programs, retailers are considered to be advocates of community involvement.

One of the biggest challenges of operating a successful voucher/scrip program is convincing your clientele that there is no added cost for participating. Most people incorrectly assume that their purchase of a $50 gift card will cost more than $50.

Once you successfully educate your clientele, the next hurdle is showing them how to work the program into their shopping routine. For example, if a family typically spends $100 per week in groceries, and their grocery store participates in the voucher/scrip program at a 5% discount, your group can make $250 per year on that family’s grocery purchases. Multiply that by the number of families in your organization and add to it the multitude of other qualifying purchases made during the course of the year, and it’s not difficult to see that your group can profit mightily from voucher/scrip programs.

There is an enormous amount of legwork needed to initiate and maintain a successful voucher/scrip Program. National Scrip Center and Scrip Advantage are two of the many companies out there that specialize in this type of fundraiser.