Scrip is any substitute for currency (money) that is not legal tender.
Scrip was originally created as a way for companies to pay their employees in remote coal towns or occupied countries in war time where regular money was unavailable. Modern forms of scrip include gift cards, subway tokens, arcade tokens, tickets, and "points" on some websites.
In the late 1980s, the term scrip evolved to include a fundraising method popular with non-profit organizations like schools, churches, bands and athletic groups. With scrip fundraising, gift cards are sold to non-profit organizations at a discount. The non-profit organizations sell the gift cards to supporters at face value. The supporters redeem the gift cards at face value, and the discount or rebate is retained by the non-profit organization as revenue. FundScrip is a 21st century version of scrip fundraising.
By leveraging the efficiencies of online transactions and modern shipping capabilities, FundScrip has created an easy-to-use Canadian fundraising platform whereby fundraising groups of any kind can enroll and encourage their supporters to buy gift cards for the things they are already buying, from the retailers where they are already shopping, earning much needed contributions for their group's goal.
It’s win-win-win fundraising: consumers support important goals & causes without the need to pay out-of-pocket or change their buying habits; fundraising groups receive cheques every month like an annuity; and retailers benefit by acquiring and retaining new customers in an inexpensive way by leveraging their investment in gift card technology.
