August 23, 2009
SCRIP! Major Retailers Want To Give Our Band Boosters Money!

Dear Mason Band Booster Parent:

We’re pleased to share some exciting news about a new fundraising program for our organization. It’s called “scrip,” and it’s the fundraising program that works while you shop.

Scrip is simply a word that means “substitute money” – in other words, scrip is gift certificates from national and local retailers. They’re the same gift certificates that you buy at the store. Many popular retailers participate in the scrip program including JCPenney, The Gap, Shell, Pizza Hut, Red Lobster and many, many others.

You’re probably asking yourself how these stores help us raise money. It’s simple – scrip participating retailers agree to sell gift certificates to our organization at a discount. Member families like yours buy the certificates for full face value, they redeem them for full face value, and the Boosters keep the difference. And scrip is exciting, because everybody wins:

There is no set up fee. Anyone can use it to help the Band Boosters.
The retailer gets cash up front and repeat business…
You get a powerful fundraising alternative that involves no selling…
The Boosters get a regular source of funds.

The beauty of scrip is that you put your regular household shopping dollars to work. You earn money for the Boosters without spending a single additional penny. Just spend your regular shopping dollars with scrip at the stores that participate in the scrip program! And scrip can be used for just about any household purchase including food, clothing, entertainment, gasoline and even dining out.

After you register and start using scrip the Boosters will receive credit for your purchases. You will be able to order online from your home at your convenience. We will be using the PrestoPay program, which is an electronic fund transfer system. There is a small $0.39 convenience fee per order with PrestoPay. We will not be accepting checks at this time. Since this is a fundraising program, credit cards are not accepted by scrip as it would reduce the money raised. The cut-off date to place your order will be one week prior to the Booster meeting. This will allow time to process the order and receive the cards from scrip so they can be distributed at the Booster meeting. For additional information please see the flyer describing the PrestoPay process and our set up guide to get you started.

For the Scrip registration website and enrollment code, you can contact your gift card committee members Tami Wimmers & Doug Lucy at cards@lucyfamily.com

The Boosters scrip program promises to be a simple and effective fundraising program. Thanks for your support!

MHS Marching Band Calendar on Google

For those of you that use an electronic calendar on your computer or phone, I have published the current season's Marching Band calendar to a Google calendar. You can subscribe to this calendar and so that practices and performances appear on your Outlook, iCal, Google Calendar, or smartphone.

This is a copy of the calendar on the Mason Bands website (http://www.masonbands.com/Calendar/default.asp) so if there is a conflict of information, believe the web site before this copy. But since I help maintain both calendars, they stay in sync pretty well.

If you want to subscribe to this calendar, point to one of the following addresses:

iCal format: http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/2rppnm3urpdfpn3eftbo213or0@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
HTML format: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=2rppnm3urpdfpn3eftbo213or0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York

// Scott Allen

May 16. 2009
Fundraising Search Toolbar

Information about our latest fundraiser, the web browser toolbar can be found on this page.  Remember, anyone can use the toolbar so invite friends and family to use it.  The toolbar is a great way for them to support the band without buying anything or taking a lot of time.