School is just about out for the summer for most students here in the US. My daughter’s summer officially starts around 10:00 AM this morning when she’s done with her last final exam. My son has three exams next week and then he’s officially done too.
Throughout the school year many families across the country diligently collect Box Tops for Education to help raise much needed money for their schools. Once kids are out for the summer school is not something most people think about. At least not until August when people start back to school shopping. You CAN still collect the Box Tops for Education all summer long as well. Simply keep them in a Ziploc bag or other storage container and send them to school with your child (or children) when they return to school in the fall.
I keep a Ziploc bag tacked to the cork board in the kitchen to hold all our Box Tops. Once the baggie gets full I put them in a larger (freezer size) Ziploc bag and return the empty bag back to the cork board to continue collecting the Box Tops in.
Did you know that purchasing camping equipment, bathing suits and even books for summer time reading can also help our your school? They can if you make your purchases through the Box Tops for Education Marketplace.
Shopping through the Marketplace is easy and doesn’t require you to shop differently than you normally do online. Simply create an account on the Box Tops for Education website (if you don’t have one already). Then when you want to make a purchase visit the Box Tops for Education Marketplace and see if the online store you are interested in shopping at is one of their partners. If they are simply click on the website via the Marketplace. That way any purchases you make will be credited to your school with digital Box Tops for Education points.
Let me give you an example. I like to read the magazine Entertainment Weekly. I love entertainment and I write about it often on my blog. I like to keep up to date on new movie releases and what’s happening in Hollywood. My current magazine subscription ran out months ago and I haven’t got around to renewing it.
I visited the Box Tops for Education website (BoxTops4Eduction.com). One the top of the page you’ll see the word “Earn”. When you highlight the word with your mouse you’ll see a menu pop up. Simply click on the “Shop Marketplace” option.
Once you are on the Marketplace page you can search for a specific product, see a list of all the stores partnered with Box Tops for Education, or check out the current deals and discounts.
You’ll notice next to every website found on the Marketplace that they has little pink “Box Top” shapes with numbers in them (such as 2.5, 1, 3.5…). That represents how many digital Box Tops will be earned for your school. Each retailer has their own requirements. For example, as shown about, your school will earn 3.5 digital Box Tops for every $10 you spend at Woodwind & Brasswind, and 3.5 Box Tops for every $10 spent at Hotels.com.
If you spend $500 booking your hotel for your family’s vacation (as an example) at Hotels.com through the Marketplace, your school will get 175 Box Tops (unless I am calculating it wrong – Math was never my strong point :-)). Since schools get .10 cents for each Box Top collected (physically or online) that would translate to $17.50 for your school which can be used towards supplies and other needed items. That amount ($17.50) might not sound like much, but when you combine that with what other families buy through the Marketplace, and other purchases you make at the various retailers, that amount will add up very quickly.
The Marketplace features many retailers that most people shop at, as well as some shops you might not have heard of before (but they offer wonderful products). Here is an example of the retailers you can find on the Marketplace.
- 1-800 Flowers.com
- Aeropostale
- Ann Taylor
- Avon
- Babies R Us
- Toys R Us
- Best Buy
- Build a Bear
- Days Inn
- CVS
- Expedia.com
- Hotwire
- iTunes
- Kohl’s
- Old Navy
- PetSmart
- Sears
- Snapfish
- Target
- The Popcorn Factory
- Victoria Secrets
- Williams Sonoma
- Walmart
- Zales
These are just SOME of the stores you’ll find at the Marketplace.
Shopping through the Marketplace is just as easy as shopping like you regularly would online. The only difference is that what you spend is credited to your school as digital Box Tops.
I’ll use Toys R Us as an example. When I click on the Toys R Us “button” on the Marketplace I get taken to another page.
This page tells me how many Box Tops I’ll earn (1 Box Top for every $10 spent). It also tells me if there are any exceptions so I know that I won’t earn any Box Tops if I purchase gift cards, video game hardware, Tabeo or Skylanders merchandise.
Within a few seconds I am taking directly to the Toys R Us website. It’s the very same website I’d shop at if I went directly to it (ToysRUs.com) instead of through the Marketplace. The only difference is that going through the Marketplace earns Box Tops for my school. Going directly to the website won’t earn anything for my school.
With huge retailers as their partners, it makes perfect sense to do all of your online shopping through the Box Tops for Education Marketplace.
Just think about how much money you could raise for your school just by shopping year round through the Marketplace. Just your summer vacation shopping alone could raise A LOT of money for your school. Booking your hotel through Hotels.com and purchasing airline tickets from Expedia.com alone would raise a lot of money. Not to mention buying things like sunscreen (CVS), bathing suits (Walmart) and camping equipment (Sears).
You can even see how many Box Tops points you are raising for your school in your Box Tops for Education account.
Purchasing through the Marketplace does NOT cost you a dime. The purchases you make on the retailer websites are the SAME PRICES you would pay if you went directly through their site and not through the Marketplace.
Don’t forget to check the Marketplace for discounts and deals from participating retailers. Currently you can get 40% off everything at Justice (via the Marketplace using a special coupon found on the Marketplace page), save 15% at 1-800Baskets.com and FREE shipping at Clinque. Discounts can be found on the main page as well as on the right side of the page where all the retailers are listed.
If you would like to learn more about Box Tops for Education, or shop the Marketplace, visit www.BoxTops4Education.com. To make it easier for you bookmark the Marketplace page so you can easily go to it whenever you are consideration making an online purchase.
You can also check out Box Tops for Education on Facebook and Twitter.
Kimberly
*I did receive a gift card to do some shopping through the Marketplace however there is an issue with the gift card so it has not been used. I already make purchases through the Marketplace on my own. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Zan Caperton says
This is a great way to help our schools. They are so short on funding every little bit helps and this is an easy way to help.
Rust says
I love this program and used it faithfully when mine were in school. I still collect for neighbors.
ANN*H says
I really like this program. I have collecting box tops for years and when I worked at daycare we got alot of things for the kids from box tops. It doesnt take along time to cut the lbox top off and save them for someone . thanks
Kate F. says
Cool program. I hadn’t heard about this before.