How to Raise Money for Your School Without any Work or Personal Donations

With all of the budget cutbacks for schools around the nation, an increased burden has been placed on parents within the community to provide basics for the classroom. Our school has had success with an easy and free fundraising tool. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Well it's not, I promise! Our school community earns money with minimal effort and no monetary obligation through eScrip.

The eScrip program is a fundraising tool in which participating merchants donate a percentage of your purchase amounts back to your school or organization. Purchases can be made with grocery cards, credit/ATM cards, and retail/drugstore cards. All that you need to do is register your school with the eScrip program and encourage parents to sign-up. It doesn't cost you anything—just the time to register!

Teachers are asking parents for school supplies and more time in the classroom. Our district in particular went on an enormous campaign last year to raise money so that we could keep our art, physical education, and music teachers. We were lucky that we live in a community that can afford to donate enough to keep these positions, but many communities cannot. This year our PTA is on a "Free Money for the School" campaign. We have made a big push at our school to have all parents register for eScrip, and so far it has made us money.

The holidays are a perfect time to encourage grandparents and other family members to register and use eScrip's Online Shopping Mall and AutoEarn program.

The eScrip Online Mall is just that, a place to shop online while earning money for your school. Many popular merchants participate in the program. If you are shopping for something specific from an online store, go to the Online Mall to see if that store participates in eScrip. Search for your merchant and then click through from eScrip to the vendor. Depending on the vendor, your school can earn between 2% and 40% of the entire purchase.

The AutoEarn Program is a toolbar interface that lets you know whether a site you are visiting is part of the eScrip program. Click on the toolbar's "E" icon and then the "click here" button to earn from any transactions on that site. (If you don't press the "click here" button, you will not earn for your school.) Below is a screenshot of the AutoEarn toolbar for Groupon.

• Pottery Barn
• Crate and Barrel
• Nordstrom
• Amazon
• Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic
• Sears
• Home Depot
• Sephora
• Apple Store
• Barnes and Noble
• Petco
• Shutterfly
• eHarmony

The sign-up process can be confusing, but don't give up. eScrip is an opportunity to make money for your school with minimal effort!