Shoparoo Utilizes Smart Phones to Raise Money for Local Schools

Every year around this time you start to see kids selling discount cards, coupon books, random food items, or even household goods all to raise money for their school or athletics. Even if a random kid doesn't come knocking on your door trying to sell you something, a co-worker will probably hit you up to help out little Johnny with his football camp money. It's all kind of awkward since most the time you don't need the stuff they are selling, but you want to help out so you spare a few bucks and purchase whatever it is they are selling and go about your day.

With smart phones being used by nearly half of all Americans there has got to be a way to use that technology to help out your fundraising needs, right? There is. Introducing Shoparoo.

Shoparoo is a new and easy way to raise money for any school in your area just by shopping at grocery, convenience, drug, dollar, pet or supercenter stores. It's similar to other widely adopted box top and label collection programs, but with much less work involved. There's no collecting, tracking, mailing, or shipping. You can earn valuable funds to provide resources for your selected school simply by taking a photo of your receipt. It's that simple.

As I am typing this up, I went ahead and downloaded the app on my iPad. It is also available for Android devices using Google Play. Totally free, of course.

After entering your email address you are then asked to select the school that you would like to make the donation to. Scrolling through the list I recognized that a good number of schools are available already to start raising funds for, but most are the High Schools and Middles Schools in the area. All accredited K-12 schools, colleges & universities in the United States are eligible to participate. If you do not see your school listed within the Shoparoo app, contact Shoparoo@shoparoo.com and get it added.

After you select your school, start shopping, and you can start earning money. After you make a purchase, just snap a picture of your receipt using the Shoparoo app. Depending on how much you spend will determine how many 'Roo Points' you earn and how many dollars your school will receive. The more you spend, the more points you earn and the more money raised for your school. Plus, when you purchase items from brands like Ragu, Dove, Suave, and Vaseline, you earn bonus points and even more money for your school. With no limitation on the amount of money you can raise, a strong parent participation could mean hundreds if not thousands of dollars in just one school year.

You are already grocery shopping anyway, why not start helping your child's education or help support your former school?