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Restaurant Fundraising Made Easy

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The Do's and Don'ts of Restaurant Fundraising

One of the best fundraisers today for a schools PTA or PTO, scouting organizations, and sports clubs is the Restaurant fundraiser. Restaurant fundraisers provide the opportunity to raise money and bring an organization's members closer together through a social event. These fundraisers generally make less than $1000 and have lower than expected participation. The restaurant doing the fundraiser normally offers the event on a weekday night at a designated time for approximately 4 hours to increase traffic at their restaurant.

An in-restaurant fundraiser generally fall into two distinct types, those that collect fundraising coupons and those that do not. For the first type, coupons are handed out to the organization to distribute to as many people as possible, those coupons are turned into the restaurant on the designated night for credit back to the organization. The second type still requires the organization to hand out flyers for the event, however, the difference being that every order on the designated night is counted as part of the fundraiser.

Below are restaurants that help not for profits raise money by creating these great fundraisers.

How much did your last Restaurant fundraiser make?

Stop back after your fundraiser and let us know how it went. What kind of money did you make while fundraising at your favorite restaurant?

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How to setup a Restaurant Fundraiser for your Not for Profit

and get the best results possible.

type=textYou've decided your next fundraiser is going to be a Restaurant fundraiser.

1. Start planning your fundraiser at least 30 days in advance.

2. Work with your group to pick a couples of dates for the fundraisers. Restaurants will want to do them during the week, so make sure you have somes dates with Monday thru Thursday.

3. Find a local restaurant to help you. I've made a list below. The restaurant should be local and convenient to get to. We've tried to do restaurants that are 1 mile away, but with evening traffic takes 20 minutes to travel, and no one goes.

4. You have a day and you have a restaurant. Now it is time to promote. Some restaurants will give you flyers and stickers to hand out, some have you do your own. If you need to turn something in, make sure you get it out to the public. For Elementary schools, see if the fundraising restaurant will throw in a class party for the class with the biggest turn out. Email. Facebook. You get the picture, get it out to everyone in the neighborhood to stop by.

5. Get volunteers to help you the day of the fundraiser. Have people greeting your group as they come in the door. Some restaurants will let you work behind the counter. Wendy's has allowed us to use their Wendy's outfit, it's always a hoot to see a principal dressed up at one of these events. Bring your mascot costume as well.

6. Have Fun! When everyone hears the great time people had at the fundraiser, more will show up at the next one.

Lists of Restaurants that Fundraise

Helping non-profits make money

As always, check with your local restaurant, as some restaurants participate in the program and some don't. Note, that the links below link to a specific program if available on the website, otherwise, it links to the general website so you can find a location near you.
Arby's Restaurants - Our Community
The Bailey Company - A Franchise Owner of Arby's Restaurants in Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho.
bd's Mongolian Grill
Great way to fundraise for churches, PTA, and other non-profit organizations.
Boston Market: In-Store Fundraising Dinner
Boston Market provides a 15% donation on sales. They provide you with a flyer and event tickets.
Buffalo Wild Wings
BWW is another great place to do a fundraiser.
California Pizza Kitchen
CPK advertises 20% back through their fundraisers. CPK also has a great scout program, where scouts can make their own pizzas.
Cheeburger Cheeburger
Cheeburger Cheeburger helps you every step of the way, from creating flyers to making the night fun.
Chevys Fresh Mex
I don't have a Chevys in my neighborhood, but for those that do, it looks like they give back 25% to non-profits
Chick-Fil-A Restaurants
Chick-fil-a offers four different types of fundraisers:

1. The 2012 Chick-fil-A Cow Calendar Program
2. Customizable Mini Plush Cows
3. Spirit Night
4. Chick-fil-A® Cheesecakes

Call your local restaurant today
Chipotle
Chipotle supports organizations through sponsorships, in-restaurant fundraisers, donations, and our scrip program with their primary areas of focus on education, youth sports, and community improvement projects.
Chuck E. Cheese - School Fundraisers
Chuck E. Cheese School Fundraisers and receive 15% on sales. This is a great fundraiser for early grade school students.
CiCi's Pizza Buffet - Almost too good to be true!
Cici's Pizza Buffet offers unlimited Pizza, Salad, Drinks, and Desert. And they help you fundraise at their restaurants. What could be better?
Culvers
Culvers are usually locally owned and the owners are pretty friendly. These are usually kid friendly.
Friendly's - Fundraising
Friendly's typically do their in-restaurant fundraisers on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
Fuddruckers
Another restaurant where I have seen advertisements for Fundraisers.
Go Roma
Go Roma Community Partners, their fundraising program, makes it simple for organizations to raise money by planning an event and eating at Go Roma restaurants.
Jamba Juice
Jamba Juice is the leader in healthy blended beverages, smoothies, juices, and good-for-you snacks. And now you can raise money for your organization.
Jersey Mike's Subs
Jersey Mike's recently opened a shop in our neighborhood and did a great job partnering with all the local schools.
Max & Erma's
Max & Erma's advertise 20% return on their website and give some great tips for a successful fundraiser.
McDonalds
Some local McDonalds have local nights. Check with yours as this is always a kids favorite.
Oberweis Ice Cream Stores
Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy stores have a fun alternative to use ice cream to help you reach your fundraising. Check it out today.
Panda Express
Let Panda Express help you raise money for your school, organization, club or team. Tell friends and family to dine-in or take-out at Panda Express and 20% of the event sales will be donated to your organization.
Pizzeria Uno Chicago Grill: Dough Raisers
Dough Raisers and earn up to 20% of sales.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
An in-restaurant fundraiser is available for Schools.
Rubio's School and Church Fundraisers
If you need to plan a church fundraiser or a fundraiser for schools, sports groups, philantropic causes or other non-profit initiatives, Rubio's offers a delicious fundraising program.
Sonic Drive-In
Sonic provides information on their website about community fundraisers.
Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes
Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes advertise its Fun-Raisers. Give it a try if you have one in your neighborhood. 15% is returned to the organization.
Wendys
Each local Wendys is different. We always get a great crowd when going to our local Wendys on a school night.
Yogurtini Fundraisers
Yogurtini is dedicated to helping the community. They have a delicious and fun way to raise money for your non-profit group. Located in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska

More Fundraising Ideas

There are many ways to fundraise, from selling chocolate, car washes, bake sales, to selling popcorn with cub scouts and selling girl scout cookies. The best fundraisers are the ones that you can get everyone involved and and have a community aspect to the whole experience.
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What restaurants help you fundraise?

If you've fundraised at a restaurant not on the list above, let me know, and I'll add it to the list. As this list grows, I've decided to only put restaurants on the list that have a clear Fundraising policy. A lot of restaurants will help with a community fundraiser if you ask, however, without a clear policy for the fundraiser it will be up to each restaurant manager if they will or not.

  • restaurantdesigns May 18, 2012 @ 6:25 am | delete
    Nice lens!
  • Andrea May 9, 2012 @ 6:45 pm | delete
    Yogurtini Self-Serve (Frozen Yogurt) has a good fundraising program.

    http://www.yogurtini.com/fundraising/
  • OneFootPutt May 9, 2012 @ 10:34 pm | delete
    Thanks for the great addition to this fundraising list of restaurants.
  • Brenda May 4, 2012 @ 12:45 pm | delete
    Tony Roma's
  • Frischy Apr 10, 2012 @ 9:40 am | delete
    My daughter's softball team did pancake breakfasts at Applebee's. I am not sure how much they made. I hope it was a good profit.
  • CosmeticMom Mar 17, 2012 @ 2:43 pm | delete
    We have a coupon book from my Son's school with loads of restaurants in it. Your lens offers another great fundraiser idea!
  • SquidooRocks55 Mar 12, 2012 @ 7:58 pm | delete
    Great Tips! Looks like you need to know what you're doing. Thanks for the info.
  • Jacqui Mar 8, 2012 @ 8:29 am | delete
    Texas Roadhouse does fundraisers!
  • mihgasper Mar 7, 2012 @ 5:33 pm | delete
    I've never fundraised at restaurant but it looks like a doable idea. I even know couple of restaurant owners who could give me a hand... thanks for the idea!
  • Cathy Wright Feb 15, 2012 @ 7:59 pm | delete
    Kona Ice raised more than $1,500 for our school last semester. The kids love it and we don't have to do anything other than work with the admin. to set up Kona Ice days (we did 2 last Sem) . The best part about their program is they come to you. We do Papa Johns, Culvers and Chic Filet programs as well. They do ok but between the three of them last semester we earned just under $800. There good programs but you need to advertise the heck out of them to get a good turnout. Every penny counts and we couldn't be happier to add Kona Ice to our line up of programs. FYI - you may have to book them in the morning before lunch - they're obviously very busy. We received our check the day of the event!!
  • Sharon Feb 11, 2012 @ 3:07 am | delete
    Souplantation offers fundraisers. I like that it is a healthy choice for athletic team fundraisers.
    www.souplantation.com/funraisers
  • Michelle Feb 1, 2012 @ 12:42 am | delete
    Started up a fundraiser with a local family owned restaurant and bakery. http://www.2finecaterers.com and http://www.backporchrestaurant.com There has been great reviews and excitement to work with small local and a family run restaurants. The fundraiser will be for the local schools and local dance studios. We can all work together to help our own communities!
  • Jessica Dec 7, 2011 @ 10:42 am | delete
    Thanks for the tip below, We checked out http://www.groupraise.com for our Alzheimer's walk team fundraiser and raised $287.09 in a snap. The site was fast and easy to set up our event. you just sign up find a restaurant and request a fundraiser1
  • Daryl Layne Nov 24, 2011 @ 11:25 am | delete
    We have had two fundraisers at TGI Friday's in Glendale Arizona. They were very helpful and prompt and are not corporate owned. We used a corporate store twice before and did not ever receive the funds that were promised. We will do it again but only with locally owned or franchised restaurants. They do have a plan.
  • Luke Oct 24, 2011 @ 1:07 am | delete
    Great post on fundraising! There are a couple other great resources to fundraise. Some online resources are a site named chipin.com. This site lets you fundraise for any cause you would like to have a profile for, it charges 7% percent on all donations i think. For more specific cause like mission trips, adoptions, or medical stuff, you can use a new site named YouCaring.com which is completely free.
  • Gigi Apr 22, 2012 @ 4:48 pm | delete
    Thanks!
  • JenOfChicago Oct 10, 2011 @ 10:32 pm | delete
    Great list of resources! We have used Bakers Square twice for Relay For Life fundraisers, but had a frustrating experience both times - took forever to hunt down the check and get it paid to the charity, rude folks in the corporate offices, etc. We have had great experiences with locally owned restaurants though - I'd suggest starting there!
  • Diana Foraker Oct 5, 2011 @ 2:13 pm | delete
    bd's Mongolian Grill also host fundraisers!!! Check out the bd's in Lexington, KY on facebook. I held one there for a mission trip and raised $700.00
  • OneFootPutt Oct 5, 2011 @ 2:42 pm | delete
    Thanks for the great suggestion of bd's Mongolian Grill!
  • james Jun 30, 2011 @ 9:42 am | delete
    you might want to check out www.groupraise.com . We found it helpful, it a site see different restaurants fundraising offers, and setup your fundraiser on online. we raised $179 just while talking and eating. It was pretty simple.
  • smithlights May 11, 2011 @ 3:29 am | delete
    We did pretty well at Panda Express. Hoping to do that one again, but I'm excited to look into some of these others. $500 in one day was both quite a bit for us and much more than expected, therefore very good!
  • Mary Benninghovne May 2, 2011 @ 10:59 am | delete
    Chevy's also does fundraising
  • PeteSchultz Mar 15, 2011 @ 12:15 pm | delete
    Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake gets fine wine donated to serve with a unique several course meal featuring entree's, soups, salads and breads that you may not otherwise encounter. A limited number of tickets are sold, and the charity gets all the proceeds over the cost of the food.
  • Karyn Mar 3, 2011 @ 2:42 pm | delete
    Quaker Steak and Lube in Mentor, OH is fabulous!
  • Kate Jan 20, 2011 @ 3:44 pm | delete
    Chilli's does dinner fundraiisers and so does Applebee's
  • Load More
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OneFootPutt

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