Contact: Jim Donahue, 302-367-6929
NEW YORK, April 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- Some Christian schools are tapping in to the power of affinity marketing to boost revenue in a difficult economy.
Nonprofits and others have offered credit cards for years. But until recently, most Christian schools were considered "too small" to attract support from card issuers. Now one company is working with hundreds of nonprofits, including three Catholic schools to offer free Visa Platinum credit cards that generate revenue, build school loyalty and help spread a Christian message.
New York-based CardPartner (www.cardpartner.com) links groups with a large, well-respected bank and provides online tools to market cards to parents, alumni and other supporters. In the past month, CardPartner has helped Bishop George Ahr High School in Edison, NJ, Marylawn of the Oranges Academy in South Orange NJ and St. Michael's School in Ridge, MD launch affinity credit card programs. Schools earn $50 when a card activates, plus an ongoing share of revenue for the life of the program.
Karen Barnes, Development Director at Bishop George Ahr High School in Edison, NJ said "The Bishop Ahr High School Visa card not only helps us raise funds for many activities, it's also great for school spirit. The more people use the card, the more we get the word out about our great school."
CardPartner senior director Doug Davis says Christian schools and others can complete the entire program and card design process at www.cardpartner.com, the company's secure, easy-to-use website. He says the website also provides social networking and other web-based tools that schools use to promote their card programs, plus forums to share tips and tactics with other schools and nonprofits.
"We've seen several affinity credit card programs take off quickly. The success of each program is equal to the enthusiasm a school puts into promoting the card," Davis notes.
Davis says Christian schools and others never lose control of their membership lists when working with CardPartner. "That's a big switch from traditional affinity credit card programs, where most groups have to give up control of their mailing lists."
In addition to Christian schools, CardPartner also collaborates with www.gospelville.org to offer that group's card, and more than 200 other nonprofits around the country including well-known organizations like the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Soles 4 Souls, Reach Out and Read, Gilda's Club New York City, Guide Dogs For The Blind and others.
About CardPartner
CardPartner, Inc. (www.cardpartner.com) is an online company that specializes in helping U.S.-based nonprofits and membership organizations create free, customized Visa credit card programs. CardPartner is a unit of the privately held Serverside Group, a technology provider to many of the world's leading banks. CardPartner affinity credit cards are issued by UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: UMBF), one of the largest independent banks in the United States and SmartMoney magazine's pick as "...the highest scoring traditional bank among our favorites."
