What If Your Next Banquet Dinner Came in a To-Go Box?

I recently spoke at a wonderful fundraising banquet, and they did something I had never seen before. They served dinner in a to-go container!

Now, I know what you're thinking. A to-go box? At a fundraising banquet? Hear me out.

This was not some small, disorganized organization trying to cut corners. Quite the opposite. This is a very professional nonprofit that is run well, has multiple staff members, and works with more than a dozen regular volunteers. They do a tremendous amount of good work, and a few years ago, they decided to try something different with their banquet dinner. They started serving the meal in takeout containers, and they discovered something interesting. People loved it!

Of course, part of the appeal was convenience. Guests didn't have to worry about balancing a plate, servers didn't have to navigate the room carrying multiple dishes, and the whole process was simpler. But here's what really caught my attention.

Dinner was WAY faster than just about any other banquet dinner I've experienced.

I've been around a lot of fundraising banquets over the years, and I've seen how much time dinner can take. The guests are seated, the servers begin bringing out plates, one table gets served while another waits, somebody needs a drink refill, and before you know it, a significant chunk of your evening has disappeared.

At this banquet, the servers simply took care of things like filling water glasses and handed each guest one large container with their food. That's it! And honestly, there was more food in those containers than many people could eat anyway.

It was simple. It was efficient. And it worked!

Now, I'm not suggesting that every nonprofit should run out and order a thousand takeout containers for its next banquet. Your venue, your audience, and the kind of event you're hosting all matter. A formal gala might call for a completely different approach. There are also practical questions to consider, including catering costs, food presentation, and whether the containers actually make things easier for your team.

But I do think it's worth asking yourself a question: Are we doing things a certain way because it's the best way, or simply because it's the way we've always done them?

I talk a lot about banquet ROI, and when I do, I'm usually talking about how much money an organization raises compared to what it spends to put on the event. But there's another piece of the equation we sometimes overlook: time.

Your banquet has a limited amount of time to accomplish a very important goal. You want people to connect with your mission, hear the stories of lives being changed, understand the need, and have an opportunity to respond generously. Every minute matters.

Think about what you could do with an extra 15 or 20 minutes in your program. Maybe you could give a family more time to share their story. Maybe you could allow your speaker to make a stronger connection with the audience instead of feeling rushed. Maybe you could spend more time helping guests understand the impact of their generosity. Or maybe you could simply finish the evening on time!

I'm not promising that switching to to-go containers will save you 20 minutes. Every event is different. But this organization found a way to make dinner easier and move the evening along faster, and I think there's something worth learning from that.

Here's the thing: People don't come to your fundraising banquet because they're hoping to experience the world's longest chicken dinner. They come because they care about your mission.

They want to make a difference. And hopefully, they're there because they want to be part of the solution.

Dinner is important, but dinner isn't the mission. The meal should support the purpose of the evening, not get in the way of it.

So, the next time you're planning your banquet, don't be afraid to ask a few questions. Could we simplify the meal? Could we serve it differently? Could we make the experience easier for our guests and volunteers? And most importantly, could we use the time we save to make the fundraising experience even better?

Maybe the answer is a to-go box. Maybe it's something else entirely.

I just love seeing organizations willing to try something different, evaluate the results, and keep doing what works. Sometimes the best ideas aren't complicated or expensive. Sometimes they're as simple as putting dinner in a box.

(also - it didn't hurt that was incredible BBQ!)