SCRIP

This is another way to help offset the rising cost of tuition. When a scrip card is bought, the earnings can be designated for a specific student/family enrolled at St. Paul Lutheran School. If the purchase is left undesignated, the earnings will go to the pre-existing “Tuition offset fund” which benefits all of our congregation’s students at St. Paul Lutheran School. Luther High runs a scrip program as well. You can also buy cards from them and start accumulating money for the cost of tuition there.

The Basics of a Scrip Program

Your members buy retail gift cards through your scrip program at face value.
They choose from nearly 400 national retail stores where they already shop.
Your organization buys the gift cards at 1-13% less than face value (varies by retailer).
The difference between face value and what your organization pays = your organization’s earnings.

Here’s an Example

Mrs. Smith needs some gardening supplies, so she buys a $100 The Home Depot® gift card for $100 through her son’s school scrip program. She just earned $4 for the school because The Home Depot gift cards are available from Great Lakes Scrip Center at 4% less than face value. When Mrs. Smith checks out at The Home Depot, she pays with her gift card instead of using a credit or debit card! She will do the same thing when she needs cleaning supplies at Target®, and earn $2.50 just by using a $100 Target GiftCard to pay for her purchases.

Top Five Scrip Program Benefits

1. No selling random, unwanted, overpriced “stuff” to family and friends.
2. Earnings add up fast! It's easy for a single family to generate $600 to $1000 or more per year.
3. Everyday family purchases become every day earnings for your organization.
4. Families are motivated and engaged with the program.
5. All or part of the earnings a member generates can go towards their individual fees or expenses.

Top Five Family Benefits

1. Plan ahead to buy groceries, gas and other household expenses with gift cards from scrip.
2. Shop in-store or online with participating retailers.
3. Use gift cards to pay at checkout, just like they would use a credit/debit card, but without the fraud risk.
4. Scrip program earnings are much greater than credit card rewards.
5. No unnecessary spending, families spend their planned household budget at stores they already frequent.

Please look for opportunities to make purchases with scrip cards that can benefit our students/families at St. Paul and Luther High at no additional cost to you.

How Do I Purchase Scrip?

Cards are available in the church office. There are over 700 retailers that offer scrip rebates. The lineup of cards we aim to have on hand will adjust as we determine what cards are most popular. For example, if it takes a year to sell 5 Target cards, we would likely stop keeping them on hand. Likewise, if 20 people came and said they would buy Hardee's cards on a regular basis, we would likely try having them regularly available. Any of the cards can be ordered on your own or ordered and paid for ahead of time through our program.

We order our stock once weekly. If you are planning to make large orders please contact the church office to have it included in our bulk order.

To see a list of all the retailers that offer scrip please check the “retailer list” at the bottom of their website: www.shopwithscrip.com

On the list you will see that there are many retailers that offer “ScripNow ecards.” Those are electronic cards that you can purchase and access on the go through a smartphone. It takes a little bit of time to set it up, but once you do, it makes using scrip all the more convenient.

To purchase cards or to ask questions, please contact the church office at 372-2347 or Ruth Wagner at 343-4997.