It's too early to get a handle on just how much cyberscrip can add to the take because disbursements are made quarterly and Schoolpop's program and others like it have just begun the school year. But hopes run high. The site is adding new features so parents stick around and e-tailers pay for ads. So far, parents seem to like the cyberscrip idea. With paper scrip, there are logistical irritations.
Parents have to make sure they have the right scrip for the right shopping trip.
Even so, the cyber version won't replace all scrip by any means, as most families still do the bulk of their shopping in person for things like groceries, drugstore items, and clothes. But cyberscrip stands to gradually add new school revenues as more shopping goes online. Schoolpop hopes that as site traffic grows, it will also be able to reap advertising dollars from e-tailers, as well as continue to drive online sales. And down the road, if the cyberscrip model works for schools, Colligan says, Schoolpop may extend the concept to other nonprofits, including churches and possibly universities. Founder and CEO David I. Greene is putting the hard sell on schools by offering a few percentage points more rebate than Schoolpop on some e-offerings.