Free Download: Restaurant Fundraiser Planning Kit

How Do Restaurant Fundraisers Work?

A restaurant night is a joint effort between a school parent group and a restaurant. You agree on a date or a series of dates, and community members are invited to eat at that location during a set time period. The restaurant donates a percentage of the profits generated by the school’s supporters, usually between 10% and 20%, but it varies by restaurant.

School parent groups can—and often do!—plan multiple restaurant fundraisers each year, and these events are particularly helpful to fill out your overall fundraising revenue. The most successful PTOs and PTAs promote the restaurant nights ahead of time so that families can add them to their calendars and make sure to attend. And parent group leaders have found that getting creative with restaurant fundraising—using a theme, giving out small door prizes, etc.—helps make these events even more successful.

Picking the Right Restaurant

Many restaurants have fundraising programs. Before you decide on a spot for your restaurant fundraiser, consider your options and what makes each one unique. For example, at least one restaurant chain allows parents groups to use local celebrities as waiters, who then donate their tip money to the parent group.

Sometimes a local restaurant manager will be willing to negotiating a deal with your group. If the usual donation is a percentage from supporters who show a flyer, maybe the manager will be open to giving your gruop a percentage of all sales (no flyer needed). Make a plan in advance for how you’d ask for a better deal.

Think about what your group needs to do for a meal purchase to qualify. Does the diner simply need to mention your PTO by name, or show a flyer? Do takeout meals count? The fewer hoops your group (and your supporters) need to jump through, the more money you’ll be able to raise.