(FORTUNE Magazine) – So you got your dividend check. Nice, but now what? Stick it in a CD and let it wither? No way. Some companies are betting that dividend-happy shareholders will come back for more of the same. To encourage that kind of reasoning, many offer ''dividend reinvestment plans,'' or DRIPs, which automatically plow dividends back into the company's stock. Usually these plans allow investors to purchase additional shares free of charge, sparing the expense of a broker's commission. Some companies, mostly utilities and banks such as Texas Utilities and J.P. Morgan, even sell the additional shares at a 3% to 5% discount to the market price. Among the biggest sponsors of such plans are large blue chips such as Philip Morris and McDonald's. Of Philip Morris's 121,000 registered shareholders, 36% participate in the DRIP. That's up from 30% a year ago. McDonald's, which actively courts individual investors through channels like the National Association of Investors, has among the highest participation rates of any company: a full 52% of shareholders DRIP through the Golden Arches. -- S.N.