Why?
To become a part of the local community and connect with new guests. Families who attend these schools will get to know and trust your brand and use your restaurant as a “go-to” for food. This will increase sales and create loyal fans.
Estimated Time to Execute:
Recommended 30 minutes per week visiting or following up with at least one school, but will vary depending on amount of schools within a 3-5 mile radius.
What:
- There are several ways to connect with schools that are mutually beneficial to the restaurant and the school.
- These include:
- Fundraising within your restaurant where a certain percentage of sales on a specified day goes back to the organization (recommended 15-25%)
- Donations of food or gift cards for school events to get awareness to students and families
- Team dinners for sports team or other organizations (theater, marching band, choir, etc), likely partially donated or discounted. These can be within the restaurant or off-site
- Sponsorship or participating in school events (sometimes schools have restaurants come to pass out samples, be a vendor for an after prom party, etc).
- Specifying a certain “Appreciation Week” for that school where teachers and staff receive an offer in-restaurant
Tools Needed:
- Computer/Internet
- “How Can You Partner With Us” sheets
- Menus
- Catering Menus (if applicable)
- Food samples (if applicable)
Research Needed Prior to Execution:
- Go on Google Maps and put in the address of your restaurant. Click the “Search Nearby” function and type in “schools”. This will populate a list of schools nearby. Write down the list of schools with their address, phone number and website.
- For elementary schools, look for the link to the PTA or PTO on their website. Sometimes this is under a “Parents” tab or “PTA” tab.
- For middle schools or high schools, also look for the PTA or PTO link on their website. Additionally, look for the Athletics tab and any other clubs/organizations where you can find contact information.
Execution:
- It is preferable to visit a school in-person to speak with
the office administration.
- Be sure to visit the office before 2:30pm when staff is still there
- Bring with several “How You Can Partner With Us” sheets, multiple menus and food samples if applicable.
- Walk into the school office, introduce yourself and where you work (talk slowly), and let them know you are interested in partnering with their school this school year.
- Discuss a few of the options available and see if they work with other local restaurants in any way.
- Get contact information for the best person to follow up with (this may be the PTA instead of the school directly).
- Leave some menus/food samples and thank them for their time. If you offer catering, remind them you deliver for staff meetings, holiday parties or other events.
- Once back at the restaurant, reach out to the contact person to discuss options further.
- If you are unable to visit a school in person, refer to the example email below to send to emails found on their website.
Tips:
- Many schools
set up all fundraisers at the beginning of the year- don’t miss out being one
of the options!
- If there is no opportunity available right now, don’t be afraid to follow up again in a month.
- Some PTA’s have monthly meetings- offer to bring food to the next meeting to discuss partnership opportunities.
Example Email:
Hello,
My name is Kathryn Broderick and I’m the Marketing Manager for Moon Dog Pie House in Port Orange. We are looking for ways to further connect in our community and would love to work with the Loretto Elementary School PTA.
Since the school year is coming up, I thought it would be a good time to have a quick call and see how we can partner with you. We offer a few different options for partnership outlined below (I’ve also attached a letter with a bit more information). These options include:
- Fundraiser inside our restaurant where a percentage of sales for one evening goes back to your organization
- Participating in your events
- Food donations
- Gift card donations
- Or anything else!
Please contact me so we can start planning for the school year ahead. I think a fundraiser would be a great option to raise funds for you and introduce families to our restaurant. If it would be helpful, I’d love to come to the next PTA meeting with some pizzas to have your group try the food and talk further.
My email is Kathryn.broderick@cleanplaterestaurants.com and phone is 773-750-2887. I look forward to hearing from you!
-Kathryn Broderick