Top 5 FAQ
The website RaiseRight.com and the RaiseRight mobile device app belong to the Great Lakes Scrip Center (GLSC) in Kentwood, Michigan. They are the online portals through which participants in the Gene Grawe Fund can make gift card purchases for 700+ national and online merchants. The GLSC was created in 1994 as a way to shift school fundraising from an after-school student responsibility to a parental responsibility. It’s been an amazing success in its nearly 30 years. They’ve help over 50,000 non-profits raise over $900 million just by encouraging their members to change their shopping and bill payment habits.
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.
The Gene Grawe Fund, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created in 2005 for the purpose of assisting families, Catholic or otherwise, with the financial costs of pursuing a Catholic elementary and secondary education. It does this by sponsoring a scrip sales program. “Scrip” refers to the gift cards from participating retailers who have agreed to rebate a small percentage of the gift card sales back to the Gene Grawe Fund for later distribution as tuition assistance for students participating in the Fund.
