For the second year in a row, thousands of restaurants across America are participating in the annual Great American Dine Out to raise money to fight childhood hunger. It helps to have a huge sponsor like The Food Network for this national promotion, however, your small town or city does not need a celebrity chef to make this fundraiser idea work!
What you do need are restaurants, café’s or even ice cream and coffee shops. Dispatch your fundraiser committee to all potential participating establishments and ask them to work their salesmanship charm through a solid sales pitch. One way to encourage them to sign-up for your “Dine Out for (name of school or organization) Fundraiser,” is to market your event’s flexibility.
Each business can choose exactly how and how much they are willing to contribute from the proceeds for the specified period of time. By making the following suggestions, you can hook their business sense and their charitable support at the same time.
* Create a special menu item (with the fundraiser name) and donate a specific percentage from the proceeds.
* Allow them to donate a percentage of sales for the entire day or week determined.
* Rally employees and offer a prize for the one who brings in the most business.
* Suggest that they approach one of their big vendors or suppliers for donations.
* Encourage more customer donations by placing a big jar or container by the checkout.
Get your publicity committee busy by snagging at least one TV station to send a roving reporter for live coverage. If there is one thing restaurants love, it is free publicity! Between TV and print coverage, a good business owner will realize that an increase in customers could balance out their donation.
Some restaurants may be willing to educate their servers about the importance of your organization and why they chose to participate. When employees get excited about your cause, the message of your organization is passed on to their patrons. Never underestimate the power of enthusiasm!
A Dine Out Fundraiser is a win-win for the food establishments and your organization. The restaurants will attract new customers and old customers will return through special promotions. When businesses show that they care about their community, the ‘community’ will respond by supporting them.
All participating businesses will benefit by increased visibility in the marketplace and will brand their name to a worthy cause. If you can find a sponsor willing to cover the cost to print t-shirts for an additional fundraiser promotion, these can be sold at every location for added income. If enough can be printed, all servers and employees can wear one too!
Families are always looking for an excuse to eat out. Design your own local Dine Out Fundraiser and you may have a winner on your hands that will become, just like the national fundraiser, a popular and successful yearly event.
