Gene Grawe Fund FAQ
We know the 2% and 50% thing can be a bit confusing, especially for new supporters of the Gene Grawe Fund. But it’s done to give you the opportunity to earn more rewards based on a particular purchase situation. We actually already have a tip on our website that explains it all. Just click, tap, or touch here to read it.
Many people incorrectly believe that if they buy a $100 gift card that has a 10% rebate, that $10 will go to their child’s tuition. If that were the case, the GGF would be a savings account instead of a charity. In reality, that $10 simply goes into the GGF general fund with 2% of the $100 face value earmarked for the designated student. To qualify as a 501(c)(3) charity some of the proceeds must be spread out amongst all the participating students. The complicated tuition awards formula we’re required to use is explained in detail in our main FAQ ... Read more
The GGF buys gift cards from local merchants and from the Great Lakes Scrip Center at a negotiated price that is a little less than the face value of the gift cards themselves. The Fund then resells those gift cards to the public at their full face value. The difference, or profit if we were a business, what we call the rebate, is what funds the tuition assistance for the students who have registered to participate in the Fund.
We know the 2% and 50% thing can be a bit confusing at first, especially for new supporters of the Gene Grawe Fund. But it’s done to give you the opportunity to earn more rewards based on a particular purchase situation. We actually already have a tip on our website that explains it all. Just click, tap, or touch here to read it.
Scrip Year is the term widely used in the scriping (gift card) world to designate the time period during which a school related charity earns its rebates from gift card sales. The Gene Grawe Fund pays its portion of your child’s tuition to the child’s school at the beginning of each school year. However, the Gene Grawe Fund is not a bank and cannot grant credit. So the tuition funds must be earned before they can be paid to the school. Those funds are earned during that school year’s preceding Scrip Year. Our Scrip Year starts on April 1st of ... Read more
Directly, no. The Gene Grawe Fund is affiliated only with Quincy’s four Catholic elementary schools and QND High School. However, maximum participation in the Gene Grawe Fund during a child’s elementary and high school years will significantly offset those tuition costs. Then, the money you save could be invested and later used to help defray college expenses at QU.
The Gene Grawe Fund office follows the Quincy public schools. If the Quincy public schools are closed, we will be closed. For closings that occur on non-school days like Saturday, holidays, teacher conference days, and during school breaks, you can check the frontpage of our website and the weather closing lists at WGEM.com and KHQA.com. We will also send out a quick email announcement to everyone on our newsletter email list. To make sure you’re on that list go to the Home page of our website and add your name and email address. If your email address is already on ... Read more
We usually recommend shredding them. Some cards will only return their remaining balance when the card number is entered online. However, some cards will link to an online transaction history that can show dates, times, amounts, locations, and businesses where the transactions occurred. We’ve never seen any that returned personal identity information or what merchandise was purchased. So I guess the best answer is to use your own judgement based on your spending habits.
This another good reason not to let a cashier toss your zero balance Visa card. If you use your GGF FiveBackGift Visa at one of the 50 or so merchant partners of FiveBackGift​.​com you earn a 5% reward that is credited back to your Visa as a Promotional Load. Read more about this in our Tips article.
Several years ago, one of our members stumbled across a very unique wallet with a huge card capacity. Click here to read an article about it on our website.
Support for the Gene Grawe Fund is normally achieved through the purchase of its gift cards. However, the Gene Grawe Fund, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that can accept monetary gifts from any source such as religious, youth, and community organizations; bequests from estates; funeral memorials; and donations from individuals. Today, most charity websites offer an online giving capability, like a Donate button, to accommodate those who wish to use a debit/credit card to make a personal donation or a memorial donation for an upcoming funeral. The Donate button is only for processing donations and cannot be used to purchase ... Read more
We recommend keeping your zero balance gift cards until you’ve checked them a few weeks after last use. Merchants make refunds and returns back to the payment method used. Restaurants place holds and make multiple charges as meal costs, bar drinks, and tips are processed in the first few days after dining out. Sometimes, it doesn’t always add up today to what the waitress saw yesterday. If a few dollars end up on the card and it’s now in the local landfill, then it’s your money down the drain. When multiple cards are used to pay for a transaction, that ... Read more
