By Henry M. Holden            

“I first learned about the Acme receipt program through the store,” said Rita Clark. “We would get back one percent of the total receipt so I would typically wait to submit $5,000 in receipts to yield a $50 check. I recall it was around 2001, my son Michael, was singing in the choir. We started it for choir money. But then it did so well that our music director, Rick Edinger, and our pastor, Father John Andrew, wanted to spread the wealth.”

Clark advertised the program in the church Bulletin and set up a big plastic pretzel jar to collect the receipts. “Each Sunday parishioners would drop off their receipts and I would empty the jar when it was full. I set up an excel sheet to make counting easier instead of using a calculator and losing my place. There was a redemption form I completed and then bundled up the receipts and turned them in to the customer Service counter at our local Acme.” Within two weeks, Clark had a check.

“Father John Andrew would always accept the check and earmark it for something and would let everyone know through the Bulletin. People participated because they knew it was going to something tangible, such as altar server albs, choir books, etc. They could see it and we reported. If we collected $10,000 in receipts, we got a $100 check. That program made me feel so alive. Really a no brainer. Free money for a few hours of counting. Once Albertsons took over Acme, they continued the program for a while. Then it ended.”   

In 2009, Joan Reck, the Samaritan Ministry coordinator, was speaking with her sister who mentioned a fundraising program that potentially expanded their reach and income. It was called Shop With Scrip. 

“I brought the Scrip Program to the parish because we don’t get local or federal money and I knew it would help partially fund a variety of social service ministry initiatives.”

It was challenging to start it up because it deferred gratification. “You place your order and a week later you got your card,” said Tom Roche a Samaritan volunteer. “People were not used to that. The other challenge was folks had to pay by check or cash. Most people do not carry a checkbook anymore. It was not working well because we did not have the funds to stock many pre-prepaid cards,” said Roche. “Then an anonymous parishioner stepped forward and gifted us with $2,000. We immediately converted it to inventory.”

“That donation enabled the church to “sell” more shopping cards at the point of sales rather than waiting a week for the person to pick up the card. 

“About a year ago RaiseRight introduced a new program, RaiseRight Fund Raising. The program was a rebranding effort and offered increased opportunities online to order and pay and reload the card you already registered and print coupons from your phone.”

If you chose to register your card with the Raise Right program, you can create an online personal account and reload your personal account. Then you could place an order and have it debited to your checking account. 

“A few of the vendors allow you to instead of getting your card get a coupon. It is barcoded so one can print out a piece of paper that has the barcode and go to a vendor such as Home Depot. They will scan it and you are done.”

Because of the breadth of participating vendors, parishioners can shop where they prefer and already do. 

Let’s say you have breakfast at Panera. Panera will give 8-percent of what you paid back to the parish. If you go to Shoprite after breakfast, they will give 4-percent of what you spent. 

The website and app (RaiseRight.com) make it easy for anyone looking to place an order, manage e-cards or re-load existing cards directly themselves for many vendors.  Payment options include credit card, debit card or direct debit for those using the website and/or the app.  Direct to customer shipping is also available for many vendors.

Scrip is a way to generate funds used by the Samaritans ministry to help others while making regular weekly, monthly or annual purchases.

“Examples of Samaritans’ work include providing supplies for the lunches at Faith Kitchen, in Dover, and dinner at Homeless Solutions monthly,” said Tammy McConnell, the current Samaritans’ coordinator. “We also facilitate supplies for the four annual collections, Back to School Drive, the Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, the Christmas Giving Tree, and the Baby Shower, along with helping those in need in our area with occasional assistance toward utility bills, heating, or rent on occasion.”

With RaiseRight fundraising, you can pay for everyday purchases like groceries, gas, dining out, morning coffee, and more.

For every gift card purchased, Samaritans receive earnings up to 20%. The earnings come from the gift card brand you are purchasing—their way of supporting organizations and communities.

Use your physical gift cards in-store or online or access your eGift cards right from your online account. Stored in your e-Wallet, you can easily view, use, and organize to quickly find the ones you use most. The mobile app makes it easy to access and use your eGift cards anytime.

You can also track your gift card balance for reloadable gift cards and eGift cards right in your online Wallet.

Gift cards from RaiseRight have no activation fees, no commitment, no minimums, and they never expire. Complete a quick online enrollment form. For more information or to sign up: www.raiseright.com