Benefits of a Scrip Shop
A scrip shop is basically a table where someone sells gift cards- nothing too fancy. The biggest benefit of a scrip shop is being able to sell gift cards right after a service. This makes fundraising convenient for everyone in your congregation as they can simply purchase their scrip on Sunday to use throughout the entire week instead of cash, debit, or credit cards.When you set up a scrip shop, anyone can swing by and purchase a grocery card that raises money for your church. And after a couple of weeks of selling scrip, it will become so second nature to your congregation to purchase gift cards every week that it won’t even feel like fundraising.
The best part is, you don’t need a slew of volunteers to have a successful scrip shop. Generally, a small rotating team of volunteers can tackle everything from ordering cards to selling the scrip.
Starting Your Church’s Scrip Shop
The first step to a great scrip shop is to get your church leadership on board. Once they see how gift card fundraising can raise money for the church, ask them for the opportunity to promote the scrip program. This could entail posting flyers around the church, putting a notice in the church bulletin, and making announcements during services.
One of the best ways to promote your program is to encourage your leadership to take part in purchasing scrip. If your congregation sees its leaders making scrip fundraising a priority and buying gift cards, they will too.
If you can, show all of the retailers available with a gift card fundraising vendor like RaiseRight during your announcements to help get your congregation on board. This could also be a great opportunity to see what scrip gift cards your congregation would be most likely to purchase so you can have them in stock.
Stocking Your Scrip Inventory
To earn the most for your church, stock your scrip shop with cards your congregation uses every day. Start with gas and grocery cards, then branch out to popular restaurants, pharmacies, and clothing stores too.
Don’t let the word “inventory” intimidate you— it’s easy to keep your stock organized. Just use one of these ideas:
- Place your cards in baseball card holders snapped into a three-ring binder.
- Keep your cards organized by category in a small accordion file.
- Group cards by category and place them in individual tupperware containers.
It might take a few orders to get in the swing of things, but you’ll find there is a pretty quick turnaround time when you order your cards with RaiseRight— so you can keep your inventory stocked for every Sunday. RaiseRight also offers tools to help you manage your inventory and make raising money for your church even easier.
Sundays are a day of rest, but if you’re fundraising for your church with scrip, selling gift cards after services is simple enough that it won’t even feel like work!
Next Steps:
- Learn more about how you can fundraise for your church with RaiseRight.
- Learn more about how gift card fundraising/scrip works.
- Connect with us on Facebook.