Have you ever thought about working with a local restaurant to have a benefit night for your organization? A benefit night is a time when members of your organization volunteer to work at a restaurant for a night in exchange for a portion of the money the restaurant made for the night. You can do this with tons of different restaurants in the area, and you won’t have to put forth much effort at all to raise the money. I’ve been a part of several fundraisers like this, and I’ve seen nothing but good come from them. Here is a look at how benefit nights work and what you may be able to do in yours.

Potential Profits from Benefit Nights

The amount of money that you make from a benefit night will depend on what restaurant you work with and how much money they generate when you are there. If the restaurant makes $3,000 in a night and you are supposed to make 10% of the money, you could earn $300 for your organization in one night. Most benefit nights will offer profit shares between 10% and 50% of the profits earned for the night, but there are some that offer more. You just have to look around and see what you may be able to make.

Where to Go for Benefit Nights

Most of the benefit nights I have worked in were through McDonald’s and Burger King, but most fast food restaurants will have programs like this in place. You may want to think of a popular fast food restaurant in your area and ask them if they have a benefit night program you could participate in. you could also contact standard restaurants, but they are less likely to have programs like this in place. Think like a criminal investigator and scope out a restaurant that you can work with.

What You’ll Do in a Benefit Night

For the most part, you will only be responsible for greeting people at the door and cleaning up around the restaurant during a benefit night. You won’t have to worry about cooking or taking orders because there is a chance you would mess up doing that. You mainly have to show up and ensure that the customers are well taken care of. You may open the doors for people and bring them their food if they decide to eat in the restaurant. You just have to handle the busy work that would take away from the standard employees.

Making the Most at a Benefit Night

If you want to maximize the amount of money you can make in a benefit night, you need to encourage other people to come to the restaurant the day you have the event. That is one reason why restaurants have benefit nights in the first place, because they know that you are likely to market their business to hopefully make money for your organization. Post some information on your Facebook page and on your organization’s website if you have one. Just get the word out that you will be at a certain restaurant on a certain day. You’ll earn more money if more people place orders there.

Try to pick a restaurant that gets a lot of customers because that will also improve your chances of making a lot of money. There is no sense in having a benefit night if you’re only going to make $20 from it. Think about places you go to a lot and then see if any of those places will work with you. With the right plan, you should be able to plan a pretty successful fundraiser for your college organization.