I can share a quick story now.

I once held a company FRG fundraiser at a Buffalo Wild Wings where on an agreed upon night of the week, anyone who identified themselves as supporters of Alpha Company, approx 10% of their bill would go to the FRG informal funds account.  I am not endorsing BWW specifically, just using the facts.  I came to learn that many other restaurants have this option and it’s worth finding the best restaurant that suits your company’s needs. We advertised a few weeks out and when the night arrived we earned a few hundred dollars. We also had an informal team building event in the process and got to have families mingle and build relationships.

After the fund raiser concluded, BWW was unable to deposit the funds because the tax ID number (EIN number) for our FRG informal funds account indicated it was not a non-profit status. BWW only did electronic funds transfer for their fundraisers and our profit would be inaccessible to us until we changed our tax ID number. We eventually fixed the issue but it cost us a few weeks of waiting for the funds.

The take away is this – check your FRG informal funds account’s tax ID number now and ensure it is aligned as a “non-profit.” This can be done by visiting the bank the account resides and talking face to face with a bank employee.

Another learning point we DID do was clear this fundraiser (and all fundraisers) through our Brigade JAG to ensure everything was legal.  I encourage all company FRGs clear their fundraisers with their JAG before beginning the fundraiser to be safe.

I hope this quick posts helps a some company FRGs.