I spend a lot of time talking about ways that you can save money. And I hope that you have found ways to be generous even when you’re on a tight budget.
But there’s one way you can help others that I haven’t written much about, and that is by saving box tops for the Box Tops for Education program.
The Box Tops for Education program has several ways to help you earn cash for your local school:
- Clip Box Tops from hundreds of participating products found in your local grocery store and send them to your school. Your school earns 10¢ for each Box Top redeemed.
- Shop online at at your favorite stores like JCPenney and Lands’ End through the Box Tops for Education Marketplace. Your school earns a percentage of each qualifying purchase at no additional cost to you.
- Buy books through the Box Tops Reading Room and your school earns up to 6% of each qualifying purchase.
- Purchase items for your child’s classroom at the My Class Essentials registry.
- Bonus opportunities – Enter sweepstakes and participate in other promotions to earn cash for your school.
I was recently invited to attend the National Box Tops for Education University in Minneapolis with 4 other bloggers and more than 400 Box Top For Education School Coordinators from 27 different states.
I was blown away by their enthusiasm and their success stories.
Ten cents from a Box Top may not seem like much, but last year, Box Tops for Education raised $300 million dollars for schools.
$300 million.
The money was put to good use in many different ways: purchasing new technology, funding class field trips, buying books for school libraries, or even helping cover kids’ unpaid school lunch tabs and more. The money raised has really helped school districts in communities hit hard by the recession.
The best part is that anyone who buys Box Tops for Education products can help support their school. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a school-age kid or how much money you make. Everyone has the opportunity to raise money for their school by collecting Box Tops for Education.
I’ve already listed the ways you can save above, but here are a few other ways to get more Box Tops for your school:
- Ask friends and family to save box tops for you. Grandparents can be an excelle nt source for Box Tops!
- Encourage local businesses to collect Box Tops and to use office products like Avery (which offers Box Tops on its packaging.)
- Hold competitions among the school kids to see which classes can collect the most Box Tops. Prizes could be special treats or privileges for the kids.
- Show parents, faculty and staff how to save money on products with Box Tops using coupons. The Box Tops for Education website is a great source for coupons. You can also visit Grow Local Learning to learn about bonus Box Tops opportunities at your favorite grocery store.
It only takes a second to clip a Box Top. You wouldn’t throw away a dime, would you? So why throw away a Box Top?
Do you collect Box Tops for Education? What tips do you have for helping your school earn more?
Disclosure: I was invited by General Mills to participate in the National Box Tops for Education University in June. I received a free lunch, a great education in Box Tops for Education, and a trunk full of Box Tops products. Please know that I’ve been collecting Box Tops for many years and think this is a great program. Being invited to attend this event will allow me to help more of you help your schools.
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My boys are no longer in elementary school, but I can’t seem to stop collecting Box Tops for Education. I use to give them to a friend’s daughter but she graduated this year. I suppose I’ll just keep collecting them and eventually take them to an elementary school.
Grandparents help us. I do wish that our school would have incentives for classroom competitions, as I know many box tops are thrown out. That would get more kids excited and on the lookout for them, like my son does!
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