Dine Out to Support Food Service Workers
This September, Giving Kitchen’s Dining With Gratitude campaign will unite operators, suppliers, and vendors nationwide to support food service workers in crisis and help fund the need.
Through a fundraising promotion, operators educate their teams about Giving Kitchen’s resources while increasing awareness among guests in their communities.
By supporting Giving Kitchen, you show that your organization values its people, setting you apart from the competition. Suppliers, vendors and service companies have the flexibility to make a direct donation or conduct a cause marketing promotion to raise funds.
Why Participate?
Turnkey Resources: We make it easy and provide fundraising ideas, guides, employee training materials, content, a media kit and more.
Educate your team about a valuable resource: Demonstrate that your team matters and that Giving Kitchen is a valuable resource.
Visibility: Participating restaurants are listed on the Dining With Gratitude map for guests to find and sponsors are highlighted on the web page.
Flexibility: Choose how and when to activate your campaign—start early, extend past September, run a year-round fundraising promotion, or schedule it when it works best for your business.
Build a Community of Compassion and Care for food service workers: Help create a safety net for food service workers across the nation when life doesn’t go as planned.
Early Sign-Up Incentives: Deadline April 11 for NRN Ad inclusion
Multi-Unit Operators: Sign up, commit to raise $10,000 or more and complete an agreement by April 11, to include your operation in the May edition of Nation’s Restaurant News.
Campaign Sponsors: Companies sponsoring at $10,000 or more will be listed in the national ad in Nation’s Restaurant News, showcasing your industry leadership.
Independent & Regional Operators: Sign up by April 30 and commit to raise $1,000 per location or more to be listed on the Dining With Gratitude webpage.
Join us to support food service workers and show your commitment to building a community of care!
Need fundraising ideas?
A fundraising promotion can be engineered to drive sales, engage employees and invite guests to donate to receive something in return. We offer guides to help.
For Operators:
Guest generosity drives donations:
Bounce Back or Thank You Offer – can drive repeat business, introduce new products, or increase guest checks.
Pin up promotion, can be added to a bounce back offer
Round Up Promotion
Product Promotions: Limited Time Offers (LTO’’s) Embed the donation amount into the menu price. Partner with your supplier for a discount, or donated product.
Special events: Host a special event, dinner, tasting, brunch, golf tournament… get creative, have fun, sell tickets, and a set dollar amount or percentage for each ticket, meal or mulligan sold. Invite a local celebrity, or newscaster, for a remote broadcast and/or photo opportunity to attract guests.
For Suppliers, Vendors, and Service Companies
Support Giving Kitchen’s mission by sponsoring Dining With Gratitude. We offer campaign or corporate sponsorship packages to help further Giving Kitchen’s mission. Content and assets are provided to market your support.
Ways to sponsor Dining With Gratitude:
Budget a tax-deductible donation to become a campaign sponsor
Product promotion: Donate $X per case/item of product sold during a set time for product introductions, clean out inventory or activate a year-round giving promotion.
Service promotion: Service providers can donate on behalf of new clients
Employee donations with a match
We can share additional ideas on ways to raise funds and market your donation!
“Giving Kitchen enables operators to make an immediate, positive impact on the single most valuable part of the restaurant industry: Its People.”
Case Studies
Cotton Patch Café’s Product Promotion Fundraiser
Cotton Patch Café donated $1 for every dessert sold throughout the month of October. They established a goal to raise $16,000 and soared past their goal to raise $32,000 in 48 locations.
NFA Burger’s Special Event Fundraiser
The 2024 Burger Benefit, held on September 22nd at NFA Burger, saw an incredible turnout of over 1,100 attendees and raised over $65,000.
Thank you, 2024 participants
Check out the Dining With Gratitude participant map to see who participated in 2024.
The map will be updated with 2025 participants beginning May 5, 2025.
How to participate
Operators
We offer a guide for every step of your Dining With Gratitude partnership:
Sign up today (embed registration link) and your locations will be placed on the map!
Once you sign up, access the Dining With Gratitude Resource Center and download materials.
Determine how you will participate and plan your promotion.
Educate your team and roll out your promotion.
Activate your promotion and have fun!
Thank your customers and team members for a successful promotion.
Announce and celebrate your campaign results.
Diners & Supporters
Plan to dine out and make your meal count during October at participating food and beverage service operations and support their promotion. If your favorite restaurant is missing from the map, print this document and share it to invite them to learn about Giving Kitchen as a resource for the food service workers and to sign up to participate in the Dining With Gratitude campaign this October.
Invite your family, friends and associates to dine with you and post your meal on social media. #GivingKitchen #DiningWithGratitude
Write a note on the guest check thanking them for supporting Giving Kitchen.
About Giving Kitchen
Giving Kitchen, a national 501(c)3 helps food service workers in crisis, in all 50 states.
Giving Kitchen helps in two ways:
• Financial assistance, based on need, due to an illness, injury, death, or house disaster.
• Stability Network to connect clients to low or no cost social services in their community.
Participate or Sponsor Dining With Gratitude
During the month of October, we invite food service operators and suppliers nationally to pledge to raise vital awareness and critical funds for Giving Kitchen’s mission to support food service workers in crisis.
We provide turn-key tools that you can incorporate in each stage of your fundraising promotion or to showcase your sponsorship of the campaign. These include:
Planning tools to help you create an easy and effective fundraiser
Training for your employees
Implementation guides including POP materials, scripts and more
Gratitude communication assets to drive diner support and employee engagement
We’re excited to provide educational materials that will help you empower your team! We want to make sure that food service workers know that Giving Kitchen can help them if they, a teammate, or another food service worker in the community should face an unanticipated crisis.
Together, we are Giving Kitchen. We help food service workers.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT GIVING KITCHEN’S DINING WITH GRATITUDE CAMPAIGN
Download our information deck to learn more about the Dining With Gratitude campaign and how you can support food service workers in crisis.
Be part of the national movement to help food service workers
Sign up today and you will receive access to our partner resource center which includes turn-key turn-key tools that you can incorporate in each stage of your fundraising promotion or to showcase your sponsorship of the campaign.
Become a sponsor of this campaign:
Multi-unit operator and franchisee participation:
Contact Sheila Bennett, Development Director — National Campaigns
Thank You to our 2024 Dining With Gratitude Sponsors
