Winn Dixie + Box Tops + Gas Savings = $$ Saved #MyBlogSpark #Giveaway

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Another reason I LOVE the back to school season is because of all the GREAT back to school Box Tops promos going on!! And right now when you buy 5 participating Box Tops items at Winn Dixie save 10 cents per gallon on gas AND get 20 Bonus Box Tops! WOWZERS! I don’t think there’s every been a time when my pantry hasn’t had Box Tops products in it. And 5 products is not a lot to buy considering they are only a few bucks each to save money both on gas & for your school! Here are just a FEW of the products that we love and keep on hand at our house.

You can find Winn Dixie, fuelperks! and Box Tops on Facebook. 

If you live near a Winn Dixie you’ll LOVE this giveaway! Just leave a comment below letting me know your favorite Box Tops product to be entered to win a $25 Winn Dixie gift card so that you can buy Box Tops products, support your local school, and save money on gas! Don’t have a local school to donate to? Feel free to contact me and I’d be more than happy to send you our school’s address! 

 

Disclosure:  The information and gift cards have been provided by Winn Dixie and General Mills through MyBlogSpark. Giveaway is open to US only and ends 8/27/2012 at 10pm est. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize before a new winner is chosen.

3 FREE BONUS e-Box Tops & “Earn More $ for My School” Program

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Get 3 FREE Bonus e-box tops! Sign into your Box Tops account, check under the “EARN” section for “Bonus Box Tops” and look for the quick survey to take! It is only 4 questions & I learned that there is a new “Earn More $ For My School” Program which is Walmart’s new BTFE program!

PLUS while you’re there make sure to play the Be a Hero games and sweepstakes for the chance to earn more box tops!

PLUS the school that INCREASES it’s clip earnings the most will get 250,000 extra Box Tops AND the coordinator will get a free trip to BTFE’s National Box Tops University 2013! More details here!

Ford Drives Box Tops Program – Ford has Partnered with General Mills!

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Today is October 3rd and that means I CAN SPILL THE BEANS!!!! I am SO excited and honored that Ford contacted me directly to help them spread the word about their new venture! They are the very first automobile company to partner with General Mills and support the Box Tops for Education program!
FORD has partnered with General Mills to join with the Box Tops Program in supporting schools!! Starting TODAY they are launching their “Ford Drives Box Tops” Program AND sweepstakes where they will be giving away a total of 250,000 Bonus Box Tops!!
So what does this mean? There are THREE ways that you can earn Box Tops through Ford for your school.
1. Watch a video on the Ford Drives Box Tops website. (Earn 5 Box Tops PER video – 5 videos total!)
2. Request a product brochure. (Earn 10 Box Tops!)
3. Purchase a new Ford vehicle. (Earn 250 Box Tops.)
That’s it! It’s VERY simple (well, ok, maybe not buying a new Ford vehicle…). If EVERY teacher in your school, and even some of your parents watched the videos and requested a product brochure – that is a LOT of Box Tops for your school!! Don’t have a school that you donate to? Please feel free to donate your Box Tops to my husband’s 2nd grade classroom!!
More Information about the Ford Drives Box Tops Sweepstakes:
By simply registering on the Ford Drives Box Tops site you will automatically be entered to win:
Grand Prize: 200,000 Bonus Box Tops
Five Winners will receive: 10,000 Bonus Box Tops each
Sweepstakes expires on December 1, 2011. Open to US residents 18+ only.
America’s schools have earned more than $400 million through Box Tops for
Education® since the General Mills program started in 1996; Ford has donated more
than $100 million to education in the same time frame.
 Through the first nine months of this year alone, Ford has donated $1.8 million to U.S. schools
through its Drive Drive One 4 UR School program, with student test-drives skyrocketing more
than 600 percent. During the first four years of the program combined, the program generated
$5.5 million.
*Right now this program is scheduled to end in the end of November, but keep an eye out for possibly more program partnerships with Ford and General Mills!

 

 

My First Day as a Box Tops Coordinator #BTFE

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As many of you know I had the fabulous opportunity over the summer to attend the Box Tops University courtesy of General Mills at their headquarters in Minnesota. That short weekend trip sparked a passion in me to find out who was heading up my husband’s Box Tops program at his school, and what exactly they were doing with it. After inquiring a bit I found the previous coordinator exhausted and ready for some help, so I stepped in!
Yesterday was my first day on campus as the Box Tops coordinator and I was SO excited. However my enthusiasm did not seem to spread to the students or parents very easily! It looks like the majority of my efforts will not actually go into coordinating the program, but will go into getting the students and parents involved. This seems to be a daunting task! Out of the 3+ hours I sat at my nicely displayed table full of Box Tops I had maybe 5, if I was lucky, stop by and expression their happiness that the school was finally participating in Box Tops. Um, the school has always participated in Box Tops….it seems that this is my first step in overcoming!
I’ve printed off newsletters for every kid in the school (with a list of Box Tops products included!) as well as newsletters for each of the teachers. Once a month I will collect the teachers box tops, and record EACH teachers earnings as that money will go directly back into that specific classroom! I have found so far that this is by far the quickest way to get teachers involved. An incentive. Teachers are so busy and stressed as it is, why in the world would they want to participate in something else that doesn’t benefit them? I can’t say that I blame them! I had some very excited teachers about the new change in our Box Tops program this year!!
SO now that I’ve survived my first “event” – what next? I’m not sure where to go from here. Any previous Box Tops coordinators have some ideas? I am planning on having some sort of contests/giveaways for the highest earning teachers and students. I’d love any input from anyone else who has ever participated in Box Tops- parents, teachers, OR coordinators!
Need a school to donate your Box Tops to?
Don’t forget to sign up for the Box Tops e-newsletter to read my FIRST article coming out in next week’s edition!!!

Special News About the Teachers Wife – #BoxTops @BTFE

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I have been asked by the Box Tops for Educationcrew at General Mills to participate in an amazing opportunity! They have asked me to write a special article for their Box Tops e-newsletter coming out in August!! I am SO excited! Their newsletter goes out to more than 4 MILLION schools, coordinators, parents, educators, and more! That is a mind-blowing amount of people!Are you signed up for their e-newsletter? If not I encourage you to do so! Not only will you get to check out my article next month, but you can stay up to date with the latest Box Tops news and ideas for raising more money for your school! You can sign up for their e-newsletter here!

I’m so nervous but incredibly honored that they asked me to participate!! AND if that weren’t exciting enough I just talked to the Box Tops coordinator at my husband’s school who was looking for some extra help and once we get all of the paperwork transferred over I will be our local school’s official Box Tops coordinator! I am SO excited to have the opportunity to help support the school and make a difference!
Don’t have time to volunteer at your local school? It’s SO easy to save your box tops found on participating products, cut them off, and hand them over to the school! The school will receive 10 cents for each box top collected. It may not sound like much but at the end of the year it can add up to thousands of dollars!
If you don’t already donate your Box Tops to a local school consider sending them to me and I will make sure they find a good home! You can click HERE to learn more! If your school participates in Box Tops I would LOVE to hear your ideas as I now have some very exciting events to plan at my husband’s school now!!

Donate Your Box Tops

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 For those of you who would love to donate your Box Tops to a school (if you do not already do so!) my husband’s school would love the extra help! Simply clip the Box Tops off of participating products, save them up, and send them to our school care of my husband! Once we have received them I’ll email you confirmation and in exchange you will have an additional 5 entries to any giveaway on my site that you would like to use them for! If you already donate your Box Tops to a school please do not send them to me just for extra giveaway entries as I do not want to take away from another school’s earnings! This is only for those who do not currently donate to a school. You can email me at survivingateacherssalary@gmail.com for the school address or with any further questions!

Ideas for Raising MORE Money Thru #BoxTops

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This is the wall of ideas from the 2011 Box Tops University at General Mills Headquarters. In fact, this is only ONE wall, I found at least four! School coordinators from all over the country  that attended the Box Tops University were asked for ways that their school was successful in raising more money through the Box Tops program. I couldn’t include all of the ideas that were listed on these boards, but I tried to get as many as I could written down or photographed! Take your time browsing through this post- it is full of amazing suggestions for your school to raise more money as well as ways that the schools spent their money. These ideas come from some of the highest earning school coordinators in the country! Caution- Some of these ideas are extreme- but necessary! :)
Ways Schools Raised Their Money
Battle of the Grades Competitions
Received Community Goods Donated to Raffle (Raffle Tix. bought by BoxTops)
Walk Around Every Friday with a Ballroom
50+ Box Tops per Student = Hike with Principal
Classroom Parties (Ice Cream, Recess, Movie, Popcorn, Water Play, etc.)
Containers Left in Local Community Stores
Pay for Snacks at Concession Stands with Box Tops, not Money
Requested Box Tops from Local Food Pantry products
Requested Box Tops from Local Funeral Homes (Kleenex boxes)
Scavenger Hunt (door to door) asking Neighbors
Looking in Recycle Bins for Empty Boxes with Box Tops
Told Teachers they Got to Keep every Penny their Classroom Earned for Supplies
Principal Sleeps on Roof if Certain Amount Raised
Principal Turned into Human Pizza or Ice Cream Sundae (toppings thrown on them!)
Pie in Principals Face
Buy Jeans Day tickets or other special prizes
Bulletin Boards Keep Track or Progress (see picture below)
Ways Schools Spent Their Money
$$ Paid for School Yearbooks
 I-pads for students
e-Readers for Classrooms
Costumes for School Plays
Games
Electric Hole Punch
Teacher Supplies and Gift Cards for Classrooms
Teachers
Pay Bus Fees for Field Trips
Rock Wall for the Gym (my fav!)
Out of State Field Trip
Playground Equipment
Special Needs Swings/Equipment
Library/Books

 

 Here is a picture of a principal getting his hair sprayed pink by the students!
Does your school have a successful way it raises money with Box Tops? Leave a comment here letting me know and I’ll add it to the list! Think this is a great list? Spread it around, stumble it, share it on Facebook, email this link, bookmark it, and Tweet it out! You can even print it out and bring it to your school!

Not signed up for Box Tops? You can sign up here!

What exactly is the Box Tops Program?

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I’ve been talking about attending the Box Tops University at General Mills Headquarters, and I’ve had all sorts of fun pictures from my weekend there- but some of you may be asking what in the world is the Box Tops Program? Very simply put it is a program started by General Mills in 1996 for schools (and homeschools) K-8 to help them raise money to help make ends meet. But it’s not just for the schools, they need the parents and students to participate in order to make it happen!
These “box tops” are actually found in various locations depending on the participating product. Each one is worth $.10 – which may not seem like much, but last year $59 MILLION was earned by schools across America! That is just last year- since 1996 over $400 MILLION was earned for schools through Box Tops for Education. That is astronomical! As of right now more than 100,000 K-8 schools are enrolled in the program, and it is growing every year! In fact, 31 MILLION households clip box tops!
There are more than 240 participating Box Tops for Education Brands including Betty Crocker, Juicy Juice, Avery, Pillsbury, Kleenex, Hanes, Brita, Cheerios, and more! You can find a complete list of current participating products here.
Want to find out if your school participates? Enter your zipcode on their site HERE and they will show you all of the participating schools in your area. Homeschoolers and any school (public or private) K-8 may participate! If your school is not listed you can ask the school principal or administrator to enroll in the program by calling 1-888-799-2444, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST, seven days a week. It’s FREE to enroll.
Once the school is enrolled a coordinator will be heading up the collections from the students in various ways. Some schools use incentives for the top earners, some schools throw parties, some principals even get involved and do crazy things like sleeping on the school roof or dying their hair pink! Every school is different in how they decide to earn box tops. You may think that $.10 per box top isn’t a lot but there are schools earning over $20,000 PER year!
For the School Coordinators

 

If you are your school’s coordinator for the Box Tops program then you will already know the website you need to go to when you’re ready to submit your school’s box tops. There are several things that I learned at the Box Top University which will help you!!
When you submit box tops they need to be in bundles of 50! You must remember this! It does NOT matter if they are separated into envelopes, baggies, tied with string, etc. As long as they are in bundles of 50. This does NOT* apply to bonus box tops. Bonus Box tops need to be combined together (no matter what they look like) in a separate bag or envelope. Refer to the picture above.
Also very important to note- it does NOT matter HOW the box tops have been cut! They can be a huge torn box top, cut neatly, partially torn, crooked, etc. You do NOT have to have the box tops in a uniform matter. As long as there is at least one corner with the expiration date showing it CAN be submitted!
Box tops are good for 4 years from the date they were issued. The exception is the bonus box tops- they are promotional in nature and have an early expiration date. So once you have your bundles of box tops together you’ll need to fill out their Collection Form under your school coordinator website and print it out. Print one copy to include INSIDE the package, and one copy to keep for your records. You must submit by Nov. 1 (payment sent Dec. 15) and March 1 (payment sent April 15).
Box Top Processing Fun Facts
During peak season up to 34 FULL TIME employees process box tops! That means the $59 million that was raised last year- every single box top was touched by human hands at the processing center!
 During peak season there are FIVE semi-trucks full of box tops delivered DAILY!
140,000 Boxes of box tops were submitted last year.
Box tops are incinerated and turned into wind energy!
The top 3 US Cities on Box Tops Facebook Page in 2011: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas
You can find Box Tops on Facebook and Twitter!
Need bilingual information? Box Tops is launching their new Spanish site soon. You can find their Spanish Facebook page here.

A Few Fun Pictures from #BoxTops University #NBTU

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It’s past midnight here right now but I wanted so badly to share a few pictures with you from my new friends at General Mills!! We had an awesome time today at Box Tops University here in Minneapolis, MN at General Mills Headquarters. 
Once I get back home I’ll be sharing a TON more about our trip and the amazing time that we had learning even more about the Box Tops program!
I can’t even begin to tell you about how awesome today was and all about the things I learned! Never heard of Box Tops? You can visit their site at www.boxtops4education.com and stay tuned here- I’ll explain the whole program plus some throughout the next few weeks! I’ll be sharing more about the program itself, successful coordinator stories on how to make the most money for your school, participating brands, and more!
MANY thanks to General Mills for providing my way to Box Tops University!

#BoxTops University Trip Update! #NBTU

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You guys, I’m having an awesome time up here in Minnesota! This evening was the precursor to our big day tomorrow at General Mill’s #BoxTops University and it couldn’t have been better! After we got all settled in our hotels General Mills took myself and 13 other bloggers out on a fabulous dinner cruise on Lake Minnetonka.
It was great not only because I had NO kids (YEAH!) but it was a great time to get to know other bloggers and a few of the great folks from General Mills! 
Doesn’t the appetizer look delicious? :)
SH! Don’t tell! I snuck into the captain’s cabin and snuck a few pictures in his chair!!
The weather was just beautiful! I really needed a break from the kiddos and the everyday rut of life and focus on learning how I can better help you guys at your schools, and my husband with his school! Box Tops is a phenomenal program for schools and tomorrow at the expo I really want to learn as much as possible to help maximize your efforts! I’ve already heard some neat stories and ideas to help you guys out that I’ll share later this weekend!
MANY thanks to General Mills for providing my traveling expenses for this trip! I have a jam packed day tomorrow so I’m signing off for the night here! If you have any questions or thoughts about Box Tops please leave me a note here as a comment and I will check them in the morning before I head out!!