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Forum
-> Household Management
-> Finances
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amother
OP
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 Wed, May 22 2019, 7:17 pm
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So my kids' school has something called scrips which, as I understand, is you purchase gift cards for local shops and this somehow results to a small donation to the school? I don't understand it at all, and I'm hoping someone can explain it clearly to me. How does this work? Was it worth it to do the scripts thing or is it better to just make a direct donation to the school?
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amother
Puce
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Wed, May 22 2019, 7:20 pm
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My kids school has this program. I just give them the check and forget about it. Too complicated for me.
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amother
OP
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Wed, May 22 2019, 7:30 pm
| amother [ Puce ] wrote: | | My kids school has this program. I just give them the check and forget about it. Too complicated for me. |
That's what I did this year. But thinking ahead to next year, I'm wondering if maybe I should try the scrip thing? But only if I can figure it out, lol
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teachkids
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Wed, May 22 2019, 7:48 pm
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The school is able to buy the gift cards at a discount/ some of the money gets donated back to the school. So you give the school $500. They give you that $500 in gift cards, and somehow they end up with $10 profit
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cm
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Wed, May 22 2019, 7:58 pm
In general, scrip works like this:
The school purchases scrip (gift cards) from a business that is very popular. In my area, it's typically a supermarket. The scrip is sold to the school at a discount. Families purchase the scrip from the school at face value, so the school makes a profit. Families then spend the scrip at the store for things they would have bought anyway at the usual price.
Pros: fundraising with no extra cost to families.
Cons: depending on how the program is run, the school may have to purchase the scrip in bulk up front, and the scrip may be lost/stolen resulting in a substantial loss. The donation may or may not be enough to justify the administrative effort.
If you want to write a check to the school without purchasing scrip, I'm sure they would accept!
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miami85
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Wed, May 22 2019, 10:14 pm
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In my kids' school if you don't contribute a certain amount of money toward the scrip program then you have to give a certain donation per month. Its generally worth it, but they would cash our checks at irregular times so I was often scared that they would bounce--b/c they were for big amounts. But in theory it's "money you are spending anyway" and it helps the school at the same time.
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amother
Forestgreen
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Thu, May 23 2019, 9:37 am
| miami85 wrote: | | In my kids' school if you don't contribute a certain amount of money toward the scrip program then you have to give a certain donation per month. Its generally worth it, but they would cash our checks at irregular times so I was often scared that they would bounce--b/c they were for big amounts. But in theory it's "money you are spending anyway" and it helps the school at the same time. |
That's really simplifying it. My son's cheder did this years ago, and I resented it. They did choose a few popular stores, but they were all stores that I didn't frequent. They were either farther away than my current choice, more expensive than the stores I currently shop in, or caused inconveniences in different ways. And if I didn't use the program, I was being 'punished' by being forced to donate money to them (money that I didn't have).
They did away with it after a few years, I guess I wasn't the only unhappy one.
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amother
OP
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Thu, May 23 2019, 9:59 am
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Thanks all. Yes, we have to give the amount as a donation either way. It actually is a good choice of stores, so I think it will be worth it for me then to purchase the gift cards. Groceries alone would make it worth it. Thanks for explaining how it works!
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amother
Floralwhite
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Thu, May 23 2019, 10:15 am
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My kid's school has one. We can buy gift cards to so many different stores- even places like bed bath and beyond and Starbucks. But the amount they require us to "earn" is crazy. The system works pretty well in that I do shop at many of the stores anyways. But that minimum earned for the school is impossible for us to make on our own. Seriously- we get like 3% "profit" to the school per gift card and then they want that 3% to be at least $300 for them. So they expect me to to buying thousands and thousands of dollars worth of gift cards. And no gift cards to the frum stores- only some participate and you have to write a check and they deposit it at weird times so it makes bookkeeping difficult....
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zaq
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Thu, May 23 2019, 12:28 pm
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Just remember that a donation check is tax-deductible to you. Scrip is not. If you itemize, this makes a difference.
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