How to sign up for restaurant fundraisers with GroupRaise

As many of you will probably know, organizing a fundraiser can require a lot of time and effort. Hosting a restaurant fundraiser with GroupRaise is the exact opposite, signing up to submit your fundraiser request only takes a minute! To organize a meal and submit a request you just have to follow these steps:

1. Search for restaurants in your area. You can search by city (Houston) or zip code
2. Select a restaurant and a date
3. Estimate your expected number of RSVPS (supporters)*
4. Press submit

*The RSVP estimate has two purposes: First, to give you an idea of how much your group will raise. Second, to let the restaurant know approximately how many people to prepare for. This number does not need to be 100% accurate, so you can use your best judgement to decide what to put.

You can check out this short 1 minute video to see how quick it is.

You’re able to complete the steps 1-4 before or after signing up with GroupRaise. The phrase sign-up can sound a little off putting but the process is simply creating your account! Your account consists of a user profile, which you will use to sign in, and a group profile that provides a brief description of your group. If you’re raising for more than one cause, you can even create a different group under the same profile.

The request process is so straightforward you might be thinking “what next?”

1-7 days: Once you have submitted your fundraiser request the restaurant has 7 days to respond and schedule your event.

If you do not receive confirmation from your chosen restaurant you will receive an automatic email to inform you that your request was not responded to. If this happens to your group, please let us know! It is then best to submit a request to another restaurant while the team at GroupRaise follows up with the unresponsive restaurant.

7+ days: When your event is scheduled you will get access to a meal page where your supporters can RSVP to your event using a link. The RSVP link is a great tool to help you promote your event, as it is a way for you to keep track of who’s coming, and let those who might be interested see which of their friends are going too.

The RSVP system is also very useful, because on the day of the event a reminder email is sent to everyone on the list, which has shown to significantly increase fundraiser attendance! These emails are easy to opt out of, so your supporters shouldn’t feel they’re locked into anything either.

An important note: Your group is required to have a minimum of 20 supporters RSVP for your fundraiser to be confirmed. Most groups don’t have an issue with this minimum but if you’re concerned about achieving the minimum RSVPS, you can check out this article with some tried and true tips to increase fundraiser attendance. 

Week before event: Your group will receive an email from GroupRaise asking you to bring a copy of your tax ID to your event. Groups are not required to have a 501(c)(3) tax ID in order to host a fundraiser, however, a small percentage of restaurants only host fundraisers for tax-exempt organizations. Your can contact your chosen restaurant directly to find out if they require a tax ID or not. Most don’t but if they do, you can check out this post for more information. 

FUNDRAISER DAY: The day you’ve been waiting for is finally here! On the day of your event your group and supporters go to the restaurant to have a delicious meal. You can eat together, or your supporters can go individually during the fundraiser time. All your supporters need to do is let the restaurant know they are participating in the fundraiser!

Post fundraiser: This blog post has your post-fundraiser experience covered, view it here.

For any unanswered questions, check out the GroupRaise FAQ.

Now that you know what to expect, what are you waiting for? Head to GroupRaise.com to organize your group’s restaurant fundraiser!