"Free" and Easy Fundraising

[martha]

Steven, I don't know about other areas, but in Texas & I believe Louisiana, the two large grocery store chains (Randall's / Tom Thumb and Kroger) have "share" programs which are similar to a frequent buyer program. By registering, which is free, any 501c3 charity can become a participant. They are assigned a number. A shopper only has to go to the courtesy booth and fill out a short form to assign a portion of their grocery expenditures to the charity of their choice. It costs the shopper NOTHING, it costs the charity NOTHING and it does not affect the prices paid by the shopper. If the store offers other frequent shopper benefits, it also does not affect those -- you still get your frequent shopper discounts and the charity still gets their cut of your expenditures. We linked a charity I'm involved with to both programs. Kroger will give you something like 500 cards to pass out to your group for free. Above 500 they cost very very little for printing. This card is scanned when the shopper makes a purchase. I think Kroger's deal is a return to the charity of 1% of money spent up to $50,000 spent per quarter and 2% above that. If you get enough people involved, the money spent by them can add up to huge dollars. Randall's program is similar. Other grocery chains in other areas might have similar programs. If you have interest or questions, just drop me an e-mail.

martha

[Steven Edwards]

That sounds like a really good idea. Do you know if the businesses get a tax write-off for these donations? There is a grocery chain in the south-east called Piggly Wiggly that I have some long standing relationships with. I will talk to some people. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Thanks!

-Steven

[martha]

I would assume that since the grocery store is donating cash to a charity, they would be entitled to the tax write-off. However, I'm not a tax accountant (nor any other kind of acct for that matter) so I really can't say for sure. Obviously, you have to have a charity in mind that is an IRS qualified 501c3, but I'm sure many of the SCI research groups would fall into that category. The nice thing about linking to various stores in various areas of the country is the cumulative buying power of so many people is utilized.

If I can help, let me know.

martha

[rbyrd49100]

Martha..I will be glad to help with this in Houston...
Russ

Russ Byrd

[martha]

Russ,
First I tried to e-mail you today and it bounced. Don't know what the problem is. I just hit reply from yours, but noticed it was the same address as always. I'll try again later.

If we could find a research group that fits the 501c3 criteria and wants our help, I'd be thrilled for us to do something here. Any ideas on who the recipient should be? Russ? Steven? Anyone?

martha

[Steven Edwards]

Originally posted by martha:

If we could find a research group that fits the 501c3 criteria and wants our help, I'd be thrilled for us to do something here. Any ideas on who the recipient should be? Russ? Steven? Anyone?

martha

Preferrably someone who can distribute the money nationally. Does anyone know if there is a National SCI day?

-Steven

[rbyrd49100]

I have been having problems with email lately....working on switching to high speed DSL....I don't have any ideas about a recipient...lol..definitely not TIRR's Mission Connect though>

Russ Byrd

[rbyrd49100]

I have been having problems with email lately....working on switching to high speed DSL....I don't have any ideas about a recipient...lol..definitely not TIRR's Mission Connect though>

Russ Byrd