Combining the love of food and the goal to support a campus organization has been made easier.
Many organizations on campus find different ways to raise money, whether it’s selling chocolate, donuts or even doing simple dollar sheets.
And now a new trend has emerged: partnering with food chains to raise money for one’s organization. Different organizations on campus have partnered with restaurants like Blaze Pizza, Chipotle and BJ’s Restaurant for fundraisers.
“We felt like a lot of people would come out and support their favorite restaurant as well as support our organization,” said Bethany Claytor, fundraising chair for SISTUHS Inc.
SISTUHS recently did a “Do good with burritos” event in partnership with Chipotle. This event allowed 33 percent of all proceeds that night to contribute to their organization.
Participating in these fundraisers has proven to be very successful for different organizations like AKPsi, Big Sister Little Sister Mentoring Program, SISTUHS and Girls 2 Girls Mentoring Program. Bringing out the student body to socialize, raise money and eat. But some students felt the idea was very unoriginal.
“It’s a fundraiser everybody does,” said Jana Crawford.
Crawford and a few others said that while the idea is good and it brings in revenue, the idea has gotten old because there have been no new locations. They felt new places like Sugar Rush Milkshake Bar or even Moe’s Southwest Grill should be added to the options of places to go.
Blaze Pizza says on its website, “Blaze Pizza is such a perfect place to have a fundraiser that even if you weren’t thinking of having a fundraiser … It’s a great place for your group to connect, and the pizzas pretty much just sell themselves.”
Restaurants offer the fundraising tab to collaborate and spread support within the college community. Your organization can simply fill out the application with your prospective date and time, and await approval from the desired franchise. Nearly every process is the same once your organization’s application has been approved. The store creates a customized flyer for promotion purposes.
“It makes an easier way to raise money because people like to spend their money at food corporations and they know exactly where the money is going,” Claytor said.
The bigger the organization, the easier it is to reach the desired fundraising goal with campus presence.
A list of restaurants that participate in fundraisers for the Tallahassee area include Chipotle, BJ’s Restaurant, Jason’s Deli, Blaze Pizza, Chili’s, Chick-fil-a, and Jersey Mike’s.