TRIP (Tuition Reduction Incentive Program)

Reduce your personal tuition bill!

TRIP Order Forms:

TRIP F.A.Q.

For over 25 years, families at Lynden Christian Schools have banked over $150,000 annually in personal tuition offsets by earning rebates from their shopping and spending choices.

Under the direction of the Friends of Lynden Christian board, two ways are offered to capture rebates for personal tuition credits.

Physical gift cards and gift certificates (T.R.I.P. = Tuition Reduction Incentive Program)
Electronic e-cards and online purchases (RaiseRight®)

How does it work?

A participant pays Lynden Christian the face value of the gift card or certificate. However, since LC has contracted bulk discounts with merchants, LC will pay less for that purchase. LC chooses to return this negotiated savings back to the participant (or the participant’s designee) in the form of a tuition credit.

Who can participate in this program?

The program is available to everyone! That’s right – parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors can participate. In fact, to boost their rebate level, many families sell cards to friends, neighbors and co-workers. This is especially easy with the T.R.I.P. program. Gift cards are an easy solution for corporate bonuses, incentives and holiday giving. Churches purchase scrip for diaconate and benevolent giving and then use their earned rebates to offset LCS tuition costs for struggling families.

We don’t have children at LC. Why would we participate?

Actually, many couples start banking rebates before they even begin their families or make up their minds about Christian education. Although rebates earn no interest and have no cash value, participants may save rebates indefinitely. Some savers are hopeful grandparents creating a “rainy day fund” to help with future grandchildren’s tuition. Participants may always gift their rebates to other enrolled families. Some choose to bless others through a rebate donation to the Tuition Assistance program. Others designate a church as the recipient.

How is the rebate paid out?

Families with tuition bills will see a credit on their statements twice yearly – November and May.

How are recipients designated?

On the lower left-hand corner of the order form, a purchaser may specify who will benefit from the rebate generated from their purchase; this can be their own household, another household, a church, or the Tuition Assistance fund.

I understand LC sells generic gift certificates accepted at over 70 places in Lynden. How do I get and spend these certificates?

Yes, generous local merchants have been the back-bone of the rebate program since 1998. Lynden’s Chamber of Commerce produces “Community Cash” in $10 and $100 denomination certificates, listed on the order form as LYNDEN DOLLARS. These are not only a versatile option but they keep us shopping local! Note that no change is given back, so you should expect to spend over $10.00 or over $100.00 whenever using the vouchers. See the link at the top of the page for a list of the merchants accepting the Community Cash and any restrictions that may apply. Participants who have large purchases or want to match specific invoice amounts in a custom check through LC T.R.I.P. need to access pages 2 and 3 of the order form.

HOW DO I BUY PHYSICAL GIFT CARDS?

PRE-ORDER

Order forms are available online (TRIP Order Form ) or at the LCS Central Office. All orders must be paid with cash/check/Venmo and can be dropped off at the Central Office; emailed to lcsTRIP@lyncs.org with matching Venmo payment; or mailed to LCS T.R.I.P, 417 Lyncs Drive, Lynden WA 98264.

Orders for physical cards/certificates which are submitted by close of day on Wednesdays will be processed and available for pick-up by 10:00 am the next day, Thursday, or anytime thereafter during business hours. Orders for custom merchant checks will be ready the following week on Thursday morning.

INSTANT PURCHASE

Stop by the Central Office (side door) every Thursday morning from 8:00-8:59 am to buy gift cards or learn more. The program operates year-round.

What is RaiseRight®?

Scrip is a universal term for exchanging cash into some other form of tender; scrip is a substitute payment that is presented to a merchant at the time of sale. RaiseRight® is a web-based supplier of electronic gift cards (and reloads for certain plastic cards purchased at school) that can be ordered instantly online. Once purchased, these eCards can be used in stores in the form of a paper certificate printed at home; sent by email to others to print & spend; the serial number can be inserted for payment in online shopping carts; or the digital bar code can be accessed from your smartphone to be used at the point of sale. To explore the huge variety of merchants available through this program, visit: www.raiseright.com

What is the advantage of RaiseRight®?

eCards and digital gift certificates can be purchased instantly — a real help to someone who did not expect to suddenly be buying a big-ticket item or dining out. You can be in the restaurant booth, in line at the theatre, on vacation, and make a purchase and harness rebates any time of day or night. eGifts can be scheduled for email delivery on a specific date up to a year in advance for weddings, graduations, holiday giving, etc. This is a great advantage to families managing budgets. A popular use is using RaiseRight to buy gift card codes to load in your Amazon/AmazonPrime account.

HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR RaiseRight®?

An orientation class is required as part of the registration process. Write to lcsTRIP@lyncs.org (include your mobile number) to find out opportunities to attend the next class. To participate, you will need to link your checking account to the web-based provider. Credit card payments are possible, but the processing fee (currently 2.6%) really reduces the overall savings.

I have another question. Who may I contact?

The T.R.I.P. volunteers: lcsTRIP@lyncs.org