Fundraising — Dining out Nights at Local Restaurants

Holding a fundraiser at a restaurant in your community is a great way to earn money for your school or nonprofit organization. This type of fundraiser appeals to families because they get to eat out and socialize while helping raise money for your cause. The restaurants appreciate the extra business and the potential for repeat customers. And your organization can earn several hundred dollars in one evening.

There are a couple of ways to hold a restaurant, or dining out, fundraiser. Most of the major restaurant and food franchises such as McDonald�s, Applebee�s, and Ben and Jerry�s already have programs and policies in place for their restaurant fundraisers.

Organizations should contact the restaurant about two months before you want to hold the fundraiser to make sure the restaurant has the date available. The restaurant management usually has promotional flyers and other material you can use to help publicize your fundraiser.

Some restaurants ask that members from your organization help out during the night of the fundraiser. This can be anything from helping to seat, serve, or clean up. Some restaurants prefer to handle everything themselves. In any case, volunteers from your organization should be present during the fundraiser just to make sure that things run according to your agreement with the restaurant. Most restaurants require that the diners present a flyer from your organization in order for you to receive the credit for the diner.

Dining out fundraisers are usually held on week nights because those are the slower nights for restaurants. The restaurant usually donates a percentage of the pre-tax sales generated by your organization. Twenty percent of sales is a common amount that is donated. So, the more customers your organization provides the restaurant the more money you will raise.

I recommend trying a restaurant fundraiser. They really can be a lot of fun when you get everyone to participate. If it is successful for your organization you may want to have one a couple of times a year at different restaurants in your community.

Article by Amy Passmore of DIY Fundraising. Visit www.diyfundraising.com for do-it-yourself fundraising ideas for nonprofit organizations, clubs, schools and groups.