With the acquisition of $1B Great Lakes Scrip Center®, Bold Orange deepens the connections between communities, loyal supporters and the brands they love.
We founded Bold Orange on the belief that authentic human connections can drive business and societal progress. That word “societal” is key. Just as important as evolving how companies relate with their customers, we’re committed to creating meaningful relationships between people, communities and business to achieve what they can’t do alone.
That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our acquisition of mission-based Great Lakes Scrip Center (GLSC), a 23-year-old fundraising pioneer that’s helped more than 48,000 schools and community organizations raise $680 million for things like tuition reimbursement and athletic equipment – while driving $9 billion in revenue to partner brands. This acquisition is a giant step forward for Bold Orange, and a tremendous opportunity for our partners as well.
Here’s how it works. Known as “scrip” or gift card fundraising, GLSC works with local community organizations to sell branded gift cards to their supporters, which they use to shop at their favorite stores, online and off. A percentage of every purchase is returned to that organization to fund their needs, from tuition to field trips to band instruments to sports to church operations.
Scrip represents an evolution in fundraising toward everyday relevance and convenience. With a huge network of over 750 national brands – Starbucks, Best Buy, Target, Safeway, BP, Amazon and Delta Air Lines among many others – GLSC allows supporters to raise money in the course of their normal shopping routines… a far cry from door knocking to sell products people don’t want. By shopping through scrip, people don’t have to spend any extra dollars to contribute to the things they love.
What’s good for individuals and organizations is also a boon for brand partners. Our acquisition of GLSC allows Bold Orange to partner with companies on a deeper level, helping them not only create a local community platform and drive sales through gift cards but also transform their own business through modern loyalty and CRM experiences.
That’s the magic. Building on Great Lakes Scrip Center’s foundation of success, Bold Orange is evolving scrip fundraising with a blend of human insight and technology, so it authentically connects to people’s lives. It’s a natural extension of our goal to help companies relate in more personal and relevant ways. By making brands part of an experience built around things people care about, they become everyday allies in community development.
People, communities and business making meaningful progress together. That’s a future we’re excited to build and a fulfillment of our purpose as a company.