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Gertie Bucks |
“Gertie Bucks” gift cards are a fundraising program at St. Getrude School. “Gertie Bucks” means “substitute money.” When our supporters purchase “Gertie Bucks” gift cards, they’re purchasing negotiable gift certificates that are used just like cash.
“Gertie Bucks” gift cards are issued by the local retailers where many of our parish/school families already shop. These merchants want to support non-profit organizations, and in return ask you to support them by shopping with “Gertie Bucks” gift cards at their stores.
Our supporters can use “Gertie Bucks” gift cards to make everyday purchases like food, clothing, and other essentials, and with every purchase they earn revenue for St. Gertrude School.
St. Gertrude PTO purchases “Gertie Bucks” gift cards through the Great Lakes Scrip center, which acts on behalf of churches, schools and other non-profit organizations to purchase large amounts of gift cards from grocery stores, department stores, and other retailers. Because “Gertie Bucks” gift cards are purchased cash up front, the participating retailers offer a substantial discount. St. Gertrude PTO buys the “Gertie Bucks” gift cards from Great Lakes Scrip Center at a discount and re-sells the gift cards to our supporters for full face value . The bulk of the discount – from 2 to 15 percent – is retained by St. Gertrude PTO as revenue.
The reason for the effectiveness of “Gertie Bucks” gift cards is simple: families generate revenue through purchases they would make anyway. Groceries, clothing, toys, gifts, even gasoline, can be purchased with “Gertie Bucks” gift cards. An organization of 150 families easily spends between 1 and 2 million dollars per year on food, clothing and other essentials. If these families use “Gertie Bucks” gift cards for these purchases, they can raise as much as $40,00 to $80,000 per year for St. Gertrude School without spending an additional penny.
St. Gertude PTO keeps the following “Gertie Bucks” gift cards on hand at the school office:
$10 Barnes & Noble
$25 Barnes & Noble (these are accepted at A&M-Kingsville’s bookstore!)
$10 Blockbuster
$25 Chili’s
$25 H-E-B
$100 H-E-B
$25 Lowes
$100 Lowes
$20 Payless
$10 Subway
$50 Subway
$25 Wal-Mart
$100 Wal-Mart
Cards for hundreds of other retailers can be ordered from St. Gertrude PTO and typically arrive in a week’s time. For a full list of retailers, click here: Retailers