Diocesan schools excel in scrip programs

By Janice L. Semmel | Sept. 17, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Fundraising and tuition rebates at some local Catholic schools became as easy as shopping, with help from schools’ scrip programs.

Shopping for food and other items is something families do regularly, and by purchasing scrip cards — think gift cards — from Catholic schools, everyone wins. With big-name retailers like Fry’s and Bashas’ on board, parents simply purchase the cards before they go shopping, allowing schools to make a profit from card sales.

“I feel guilty if I go to the store without a scrip card,” said Julie Herstam, a Ss. Simon and Jude Catholic School scrip program supporter.

That’s how Catholic school scrip programs want their parents and parishioners to feel. Schools purchase gift cards at a discount from vendors and sell them at full value to make a profit. This program eliminates the need for students to sell and parents to buy unwanted fundraising items.

Ss. Simon and Jude started its scrip program in November 2008, according to Nancy Klein, scrip coordinator.

“We received a lot of help to set up and secure our program from Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Thomas the Apostle,” Klein said.

“We have a little over half of our families that participate,” she added. “We are able to raise money for the school without any out-of-pocket cost to the families.”

In their first eight months, the school made a total profit of $31,000 and paid $6,000 to students through the Tuition Reduction Incentive Program, known as T.R.I.P., after selling $486,000 of scrip, said Mary Jo Wahlers, development director. Eileen Bonilla, scrip volunteer and supporter, contributed $800 to that profit and saved $309 in tuition through T.R.I.P.

Ss. Simon and Jude sells Fry’s and Bashas’ rechargeable cards — which can be replenished at the store — and retail, restaurant and entertainment cards. Parents purchase gift certificates for classroom wish list cards or gifts for teachers, who redeem them for gift cards of their choice.

San Francisco de Asís Catholic School established its Community Cash scrip program in 2005. The program went from voluntary to mandatory, said Diane Wickberg, scrip coordinator, because everyone shops. Last year the school made enough to pay a teacher’s salary.

Wickberg orders scrip on a Monday and sends completed orders in an envelope with students on Thursday. Her order form contains eight pages of gift cards. One father buys $5,000 worth of scrip a week for his business, and his daughter receives free tuition through the program.

St. Thomas the Apostle boasts the largest scrip program in the Phoenix Diocese with total 2008-2009 sales of $1.45 million and a profit of $142,083.60, according to Teresa Malkoon, scrip coordinator. The extra cash earned goes to pay for teacher education programs and student financial aid.

The program, which started in 1995, made $19,000 when Malkoon took over 11 years ago.

“I knocked on doors and called vendors to increase their participation, and today retailers contact us to get their gift cards in the program,” Malkoon said. “We also rank within the top 50 schools nationwide participating in the eScrip program.”

The school has about 430 families and 600 students, Out of those 430 families about 250 of them are buyers, she said, and typical tuition rebate for families who regularly purchase scrip is $400 to $600.

The Phoenix Diocese as a whole has some of the most profitable scrip programs in the nation, according to Malkoon’s larger scrip company sources, with St. Thomas the Apostle and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tempe serving as models for programs nationally. Malkoon takes pride in training parish schools across the nation, and she talks to two to five schools per week. Once a year, she holds a symposium to mentor and grow other parish programs.

After selling scrip from a cart in front of the school, Malkoon said, “we now have a secure office at the school.”

“You need to be sure that it’s run like a business,” Malkoon said. “When you take the business owner mentality, you make sure that your checks and balances are in place, you have an established way of ordering and entering your funds and depositing funds. Then everything works like a charm.”