Schools can then use these extra funds to shore up a budget shortfall, prop up a sagging fence, buy some band uniforms, or wire up a computer lab. In all, it could mean millions of dollars in new money for schools. With traditional scrip, brokers arrange for gift certificates from retailers and sell them to schools at a discount.
Parents simply pay face value for the scrip.
The retailer gets guaranteed sales, and the school gets a few percentage points of return for every dollar spent. Scrip sales are now routinely raising tens of thousands of dollars for many schools, and the hope is that the Net will help boost the take. Hundreds of online retailers have copied Amazon's model, offering rebates to any site that refers business to them. Investors like the idea. Many have already come to rely on scrip sales to patch up budget holes.