General Guidelines Part 2: Everything You Need to Ensure Your Restaurant's Success

Below we've put together a list of best practices to ensure you get the most out of your experience using GroupRaise.

BONUS: At the bottom of this page we have included a downloadable PDF of the GroupRaise Playbook--your guide to executing key functions on your account from your first event request to mailing the donation check. 

Before the Event

• Accept Requests: Once you receive an email notification that you have a new request, you have 7 days to respond before it expires, so check your dashboard regularly and accept them as they come in. (Note: add [e-mail] to your email contacts list so you don't miss out on important updates/notifications)
• Coordinate with the Organizer: Reach out to the organizer as soon as they make a request! We've found that simply reaching out to the organizer in advance translates on average to a 20% overall increase in event sales.
• The RSVP Minimum: We require groups to have 20 RSVPS on their Public Meal Page at least 3 days before the event or it will be automatically cancelled. You have the ability to waive this requirement on a per-event basis.
• Prep Your Staff: GroupRaise informs organizers that they will receive a percentage of sales made within the timeframe of the event by people who announce themselves as supporters when paying. Beyond this, you decide how you would like to host. The most important thing is to make sure your staff is informed about:
  • Your Fundraising Schedule: Is there an event today/tomorrow? When?
  • How to Identify Supporters: How will you decide which sales qualify towards the event?
  • Sales Tracking Procedure: How will your staff track sales?

Day of the Event

• Identify Supporters: GroupRaise by default recommends that organizers and supporters identify themselves by stating that they are with the specified cause when paying their bill. If you would like them to identify themselves another way (i.e. show that they have RSVPed or bring in a flyer), we recommend specifying this in your Restaurant Policies.
• Track Sales: We leave it up to you to decide how you would like to track sales, but we've put together a few ideas on common/best practices: Tips for Tracking Sales

After the Event

• Submit Sales: This is a super simple process that takes less than 1 minute! We recommend doing this within 3 days of the event date. Here's how: Submitting Sales (Note: If for any reason an event did not occur, it's still important to submit sales!)
• Mail the Donation Check: GroupRaise lets all organizers know to expect their check to arrive within 4-6 weeks of the event date. Get ahead of this by verifying the mailing address provided by the group and sending the check out as soon as possible, or connecting with the group to organize a check pick-up at the restaurant.

 If you haven't already, check out our General Guidelines Part 1: Benefits of Partnering Your Restaurant with GroupRaise.