MOTOR CITY BLEND CHORUS SCRIP PROGRAM
2023
The RaiseRight scrip program is a nonprofit fundraiser that sells over 580 brands of gift cards. RaiseRight assigns a rebate percentage to each brand. When someone purchases a gift card from them with Motor City Blend as their assigned charity, RaiseRight donates that rebate percentage to Motor City Blend Chorus.
The Motor City Blend Chorus uses the RaiseRight scrip donations as a way for participating members to offset chorus expenses such as dues, AEBs, etc. by designating all but 1% of the rebate for use by the purchasing member. The 1% that’s not designated is used to cover MCB fundraiser expenses. The current chorus administrators for this program keep record of the designated fund balance for each participating member.
Let’s look at a few examples of Scrip Rewards
You don’t have to spend more money than you are already spending to participate in scrip. “Everyone” buys gas: the rebates for Speedway gas is 4%. “Everyone” buys groceries: If you shop at Meijer, get a reloadable card for Meijers. Give gift cards for birthdays/Christmas, or use gift cards when you’re going out to eat anyway. There are a lot of restaurant gift cards, many of them come in the electronic form. Next time you are at Outback (13% rebate), Red Robin (12% rebate), or one of the many other restaurants available, or simply buying a pizza from Dominos (8% rebate, but often has bonus rebates – currently it’s 12%) you can log in to RaiseRight, get the gift card, and pay. It’s the same amount out of your pocket, but now there’s some money to help you with your chorus expenses. Fortunately, some chorus members have been able to use their scrip allocation to cover 100% of their annual chorus dues.
How to participate
Option 1) You can tell the chorus administrator, currently Amy Kreger, which cards you want to buy and give her a check made out to Motor City Blend to pay face value of the cards. She will place the order, make payment, and bring the cards to you after they arrive.
Option 2) You can register with RaiseRight on www.raiseright.com or the RaiseRight app. You will need the MCB enrollment code to register which is 43F2CF9C17418. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJG-zdZoVo is a YouTube video that walks you through registering if you need it. Note: the video uses the title “Shop with Scrip” which is the old name for this program.
Once registered, you can order cards online or on your phone through the app. When you check out, you click whether you will be paying the Coordinator (Amy), paying with a credit card (2.6% fee), or though Presto Pay which is electronic payment directly out of your bank account (.29 cent fee each time you pay this way). See below for how to set up Presto Pay.
If you don’t want the gift cards electronically, some plastic cards can be send to your home ($1 per card added for postage). When that’s not available, or if you prefer, cards can be sent to Amy.
A benefit of registering an account and paying with Presto Pay or with a credit card is that you can get many of the cards electronically immediately. You could stand in line at a store and make the scrip purchase through your Smart phone knowing how much Is needed without overbuying scrip. When making a purchase online from someplace, before submitting payment, you can check if RaiseRight has a gift card for that vendor. You could buy a gift card to make that online payment. RaiseRight also maintains a digital wallet where you can access your gift cards online or on your phone so, as long as you have your Smart phone or computer, you always have gift cards with you without carrying plastic cards. Just hold your phone up and the cashier scans the gift card, or types in the gift card number for payment
Setting up Presto pay: To set up PrestoPay and have money taken directly out of your bank account, you enter your bank information into RaiseRight. In 2 or 3 days there will be two deposits (ie 53 cents and 29 cents) into your bank account. Write down, or remember what those two amounts are. Log into RaiseRight. Click payment types, then Presto Pay. There will be a place to enter what those two amounts are. Then you will be set up to pay directly from your bank account.
Reloadable cards: There are some plastic cards that you can reload as needed rather than getting new cards. When you buy the card, you can see in the card details whether the card is reloadable. To use the reloadable feature you have to log into RaiseRight and register the card when you get it in your digital wallet. There is a time limit for registering a card, so don’t wait too long. Once registered, you can go to your wallet, click the card and enter the amount you want to add. Some cards have a maximum amount allowed on the card. Some cards make the funds available immediately while others have a day or two delay before the funds are available. Again, you have to check the card details to know. The reloadable option is not available to those who go through Amy rather than setting up an account.
How can I use my scrip account?
The donated money belongs to MCB, and the non-profit regulations limit what the scrip money may be used for. You can tell MCB that you want the scrip used to cover direct chorus expenses such as dues, AEB’s, Christmas party, installation dinner, etc. Since the scrip program is a fundraiser for the chorus, It cannot be used for other fundraiser purchases such as show tickets or purchasing spring flowers, poinsettias, etc. Doing that would just be transferring donated income from one fundraiser to another fundraiser. If you leave the chorus, your remaining scrip money can be transferred to another chorus member, donated to the chorus general fund or Angel fund, but cannot be taken out in cash.
How do I redeem my Scrip money?
On an index card list your name, date, amount and to what the scrip is to be applied.
Example: Susie Smith 07/05/2023 $35.00 July dues. Give that card to whomever is collecting for that expense. An emailed request provided to the chairperson may be substituted for that index card. The chairperson will turn that card/email over to the chorus treasurer. The treasurer will share the information with the chorus scrip administrators who will deduct it from your scrip account.
How do I find out how much money is in my account?
Contact Sarah Burg who maintains the individual account information or Treasurer Dorothy Davenport who is given Sarah’s monthly reports.
