Restaurant fundraisers (also known as dine-to-donate fundraisers) are a fantastic option for any community organization looking to earn some dough. Whether your community loves pizza, burgers, tacos, or pasta, there are plenty of enticing restaurant fundraising ideas to choose from.
In this helpful guide, you'll learn how to make the most of restaurant night and dine-and-donate fundraisers. Plus, learn how to incorporate gift card fundraising into your next restaurant fundraiser to earn even more.
What is a restaurant fundraiser and how does it work?
A restaurant fundraiser or dine-to-donate fundraiser helps organizations make money with minimal effort.
Restaurant fundraising is simple—here's how it works:
Pick a restaurant
Contact local or chain restaurants where you’d like to have your fundraiser. Many places already have fundraising models explained on their website, so you can find out exactly how they do it.
Choose a date
Pick a night that works best for both the restaurant and your community members. Restaurants will typically only allow you to choose weekdays (when they’re generally less busy).
Promote the event
Advertise your dine-to-donate fundraiser to your community members. Most restaurants will need guests to show a flyer to count their purchase toward your fundraiser, so remind everyone to bring one or have them available at the restaurant.
Restaurant fundraising is mutually beneficial to you and the business. The restaurant gets more customers to come (and, hopefully, return) to its establishment while you collect some of the profits for your cause.
How much can you earn with restaurant fundraising?
Your group can earn anywhere from 5% to 35% of sales for your cause, depending on the restaurant's fundraising guidelines; this may include food sales only or the total amount of sales.
Fortunately, there aren’t many costs associated with dine-to-donate fundraisers besides the optional marketing or flyer printing expenses. The biggest factor to consider is the profit margin you’ll collect from the restaurant.
You may decide to host your restaurant fundraiser as a single event, but some restaurants allow your fundraiser to run regularly, like quarterly or monthly. If you choose this route, you can earn money for your cause continuously.
In our 2024 survey of experienced fundraising managers, 15% identified restaurant nights as a highly effective fundraising strategy. They all rated these events as 'very successful' and 'very easy' to run—earning between $250 to $1,000 in a single night with minimal expenses.
Example of Chipotle restaurant fundraising flyer
Pros and cons of restaurant fundraising
If it’s your first time putting together a dine-to-donate fundraiser, you'll want to weigh the pros and cons of this strategy.
Pros:
- Low effort
- Inexpensive
- Enjoyable
It's also easy to diversify your restaurant fundraising program, as you don’t necessarily have to fundraise at the same restaurant twice. Offering your community members different cuisines could keep their engagement up.
However, there are some cons, such as:
- Varying profit margins—Depending on the restaurant’s fundraiser policies, you may not end the night with much money.
- Scheduling conflicts—Since dine-to-donate fundraisers usually take place on weeknights, you may be limiting participation from community members who have work or other commitments.
- Personal taste differences—Simply put, you can’t please everyone. Some people may choose not to come to your fundraiser because they dislike the food or that particular restaurant.
Overall, our verdict is yes—restaurant fundraisers are worth it. They require minimal effort and can still yield a solid return for your organization.
To minimize the disadvantages of restaurant fundraising, combine it with something even more effective: RaiseRight.
Boost your restaurant fundraiser earnings with RaiseRight
RaiseRight is a gift card fundraising program that works seamlessly with dine-to-donate fundraisers.
Simply purchase gift cards at face value, and a percentage of every purchase will go back to your organization—without costing you extra.
With restaurant earnings averaging 10%—among the highest on RaiseRight—you can boost your fundraising impact even more.
Choose from 200+ restaurants on the RaiseRight platform (and 70+ fast food brands), many of which already have fundraising programs. That means you can host a dine-to-donate fundraiser, have participants pay using gift cards from RaiseRight, and combine your earnings for even greater results. It's a win-win!
Here are some popular restaurants that offer fundraisers and gift card earnings through RaiseRight:
- Applebee's
- BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- California Pizza Kitchen
- Cheesecake Factory
- Chili's
- Chipotle Mexican Grill
- Chuck E. Cheese
- Islands
- Panera Bread
- Panda Express
- Pizza Ranch
- Qdoba
- Red Robin
- Rubio's Coastal Grill
- Shake Shack
- Texas Roadhouse
If your restaurant doesn’t have gift cards available on RaiseRight, no worries—you can still earn by using a universal prepaid card to pay for your dinner!
Even better, RaiseRight offers more than just restaurants—there are hundreds more brands across all categories, from gas to groceries, clothing, entertainment, travel, and more. No matter your shopping habits or lifestyle, you'll find the brands you know and love on RaiseRight. That means anyone can easily support your organization by fundraising with RaiseRight!
Start earning with RaiseRight
Ready to enhance your next dine-to-donate fundraiser with RaiseRight? Here are some next steps to get the ball rolling:
- See why RaiseRight is ideal for your school, sports team, band, or other nonprofit organization.
- Learn more about how RaiseRight works.
- Download The RaiseRight Fundraising Playbook and share it with others in your organization.
- Start a free program by completing a short, online enrollment form.
