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City Beat
Willow Glen schools will participate in eScrip
School officials say fundraising is easy and convenient
By Kate Carter
When it comes to school fundraising, it's not just bake sales and magazine drives anymore.
Willow Glen schools are participating in Scrip programs that allow people to support their schools when they do their grocery shopping, go out to eat or even buy airline tickets. Interested individuals don't have to wait until neighborhood children show up on their doorsteps, either; donating is as easy as getting online.
San Mateo-based Electronic Scrip Inc. runs the eScrip program, which allows people to register their grocery loyalty, credit and debit cards on a website and use them at a host of venders that will donate between 2 and 8 percent to participating schools and youth organizations.
"It's all automatic," said Shari Rodenberger, coordinator of Schallenberger Elementary School's Scrip programs. "It's so easy, people don't even have to think about it. Families, friends, neighbors can support the school."
Rodenberger said the school also participates in the traditional Scrip program. School supporters go to the school to purchase gift certificates redeemable at stores like Safeway and PW Market. A percentage of the gift certificate sales are kept by the school, she said.
The eScrip program is more convenient and involves more retailers--like Chevron gas stations, Cooking Etc., Round Table Pizza and American Airlines--than regular Scrip, Rodenberger said.
EScrip was launched in 1999, said executive vice president Joanne Remillard, and has since expanded the number of merchant participants. The company functions as a "marketing loyalty program," she said, by establishing contracts with businesses and driving business to them through encouraging school supporters to shop there.
"I call it a three-way win," she said. "It's a win for the purchaser, for the schools and for the merchants."
It's also a win for the company, Remillard said, that recognized the importance of expanding on the already successful paper Scrip idea.
"We're happy with how this business is going," she said. "We saw there was a wonderful program and a way to make it an easier, more comprehensive program. Some sort of electronic version makes sense."
The company is revamping its website to make it easier for people to track their contributions, change their card information and learn the amount schools receive.
About 150 people use eScrip to donate to Schallenberger, Rodenberger said. Almost all schoolteachers are registered, she said.
"All of the money goes back to the teachers," Rodenberger said. "They really rely on it. You always hear how teachers have to pay out of their pocket."
Last year, the school raised nearly $15,000 from its Scrip programs, she said. Teachers of kindergarten through third grade received $200 each, and teachers of fourth and fifth grade each received $300 to enhance their classrooms and curriculums. The school still has $7,000 left and available to the teachers this year, Rodenberger said. A portion of the money could also be used to replace some of the school's playground equipment that had to be removed recently, she said.
To encourage its families to participate this year, Schallenberger's Home and School Club is covering the $10 registration cost for each person who registers with eScrip, she said.
Willow Glen and Booksin elementary schools also participate in Scrip programs, as do River Glen School, Willow Glen Middle School and Willow Glen High School. The new Ernesto Galarza Elementary School is in the process of beginning to participate. Gardner Academy participates on a sporadic basis. The parents' associations at most of the schools coordinate the Scrip programs. For more information, call the school or visit the eScrip website at www.escrip.com.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
