Community Fundraising

Connecting with the local community is a great way to bring in business to your restaurant, especially during slow periods. In the past we have teamed up with a local high school musical group, put on a dinner theater show, hosted both silent and live auctions fundraisers in our function (banquet) room and held benefit dinners for scholarship fundraising.

Springtime is a slow time for us, in Western Maine, where tourists make up our busy seasons. Summer people haven’t begun opening up their camps yet and the ski mountains are shut down. This past spring, after watching the annual school district spring concert, I had the idea of inviting the local fiddling group to host a show at the restaurant. I knew that this group, made up of ten or so high school students, put on a lot of performances at local grange halls and American Legions, as a way to raise money for field trips. So I figured, why not do a show at our place?

The fiddlers were in charge of selling tickets, and we our donated the use of our function room. It worked out well, because nearly everyone who purchased a ticket also bought a dinner, or at least an appetizer and a drink. We held the dinner theater on a Saturday evening in April (prime slow season) and got a nice little boost to sales. The fiddlers and their coach were very excited about doing the show there, and the people who came to watch enjoyed a fine dinner along with first rate entertainment.

On the business side of this event, I didn’t have to worry about advertising or selling tickets, I didn’t have to pay for the entertainment and I had a guaranteed audience of parents and teachers. Even if only a few people showed up (which was not really a concern-I knew that we would sell out, because these kids are good!) I wasn’t investing a whole lot of money into the event, so I wouldn’t lose any money.

If you have a slow season (if you don’t, consider yourself lucky) consider pairing up with a local non-profit group for some dinner and fundraising. You may not make as much as a private catered affair, but there is a good chance you will bring in extra business in a normally slow time of year. Plus, you will be helping out the community, which is good for everyone.