By Van Beall

The Gift Card program celebrated its 17th Christmas bringing total gift card sales to over $5.35 million! The program continues to do what it was designed to do – provide people with an opportunity to create extra money for ministries from the money you will already spend on other things. The total amount generated – for free! – exceeds $230,000. Where does this money go? To one of 12 ministries that you, the purchaser, designate. Those ministries are Angels for a Cure, the Building Campaign, the Cold Weather Shelter, the Early Learning Center, Habitat for Humanity, Journey to Bethlehem, the Mission Ministry Support Fund, the Music Ministries, the Paul Behrens Scholarship Fund (scholarships for Mission Trips), Sleep in Heavenly Peace, UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), and Wish Upon a Star.

The most popular cards remain groceries, with Giant ($1.65 million) and Safeway ($460,000) leading the way, while another eight merchants have seen sales of $100,000 or more such as Amazon ($157,000), American Express ($351,000), Exxon ($198,000), Home Depot ($200,000), Shell ($220,000), Target ($149,000), VISA ($166,000) and Walmart ($240,000). Wherever you are shopping or eating (dozens of restaurants are in the program), it is likely there is a gift card for that merchant. And this fundraising never costs more than you were going to spend anyway!

Merchant rebates average around 5% but can go as high as 20%. All the proceeds you generate from shopping with gift cards are tax deductible and appear on your end-of-year giving statement. If you have questions about the program, please contact the Fundraising Team. And keep shopping with gift cards – it is worth the effort!