Scrip Fundraising

So what is Scrip Fundraising you ask?

It's a fantastic fundraising method where your organization buys gift certificates from popular businesses at a discount price, to then sell on at full price to your supporters, keeping the profits.

Merchants love supporting this fundraising program as it guarantees customers and therefore they are happy to give the discounts to your group.

And supporters love it as well as they are able to leverage money they are spending anyway to raise funds for your cause!

It really is a brilliant fundraising idea that is perfect for Schools, Churches, Bands, Sports Clubs, Cheerleader Groups and small Nonprofits, etc.

So what is the Profitability of a Scrip Fundraiser?

Scrip Fundraising has been utilized to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for many groups. Some successful groups raise over a few hundred thousand a year.

Most groups though will raise between a few thousand to $10,000+ a year.

Generally your group will get a 3-15% discount on the Scrip.

This doesn't seem much, but when you realize that many of these retailers have thousands and thousands of dollars spent through them by your supporters, a mere 3% can add up to something massive quite quickly!

So is this Fundraising Idea suited for Your Group?

To answer this, ask yourself the following question...

Do your members and supporters spend regular or large amounts of money on purchasing products through a certain retailer (or a few)?

For example, do your School's parents have to buy school clothing for their kids each year and would they be happy to buy through a certain retailer if they knew it would raise funds for your School?

Or do many of your supporters buy groceries through a local supermarket?

If your answer is yes, then Scrip Fundraising is definitely an idea you should be implementing into your campaign!

To succeed with this fundraising idea I'd suggest you read these Scrip Fundraiser Success Tips.

Below you will find some other alternatives to Scrip Fundraising as well as some precautionary steps and recommendations when it comes to choosing a Scrip Centre to use!

Other Scrip Options:

There are a couple of other fundraising options that you could use instead of Scrip Fundraising.

The first one is a fundraiser that I highly recommend...

Discount Fundraising Cards. Very similar to a Scrip program, instead though you will sell cards that have discounts to popular retailers and businesses, helping your supporters save money whilst raising funds for you.

It's a WIN-WIN-WIN fundraiser!

For USA or Canadian groups you can get popular and successful Discounts Fundraiser Cards through Fundraising.com, or Easy Fundraising Ideas.

Another Option Is...

The program that "My School", in South Africa, provides. South African groups can register with My School and instead of buying Scrip Vouchers, your supporters register for a card that they use whenever they shop at certain retailers.

When registering they indicate which Nonprofit they wish to support and then those retailers pay a certain percentage of all purchases made through the card to your group!

Pretty simple and very effective fundraising!

So see if you can find a program in your country that uses the same idea.

Scrip Suppliers / Brokers:

So who can you set your Scrip Fundraiser up with?

Like we discussed on the success tips page you can either "Do It Yourself" or you can use a Scrip Broker.

But like I warn on the success tips page, you have to be careful about what Broker you use as many Schools have lost money by using the wrong Scrip Centre that has gone under.

So here are a few questions to use when evaluating what provider you should choose...

1. How long has the company been in business?
2. Does it have a track record?
3. How many groups use the company?
4. Do those groups give positive testimonials for the company / broker? (Read as many testimonials as you can / at least 5 to 10.)
5. What is there customer service record like?
6. What is their scoring with the local or national business bureu?
7. How many retailers are available through them? And what are the discount rates?
8. What fees do they have? Shipping, service, etc.?
9. What are their minimum purchase requirements?
10. What are their return policies?

Run those questions through a few companies to help choose which will be the most reliable.

A Scrip center in the USA that is very well known and has been used successfully by many groups is the Great Lakes Scrip Center. You should definitely check them out!

Good luck with your Scrip Fundraising!!!

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