Evanston chain restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings will no longer host dance-party style “bar night” fundraisers for Northwestern student and philanthropic groups due to the company’s concerns about underage drinking and low profitability.
Buffalo Wild Wings, 1741 Maple Ave., hosted its final bar night fundraiser the day before the Super Bowl in February and has since refused dance party events at which student groups charge a cover fee for attendees, reserve the bar and clear the area for dancing. The branch continues to host fundraisers in which student groups get flyers with coupons that donate 15 percent of profit from coupon users’ bills to the group’s funds.
Restaurant Manager Sheridan Foster said the decision was in part owing to the number of underage students who showed up to events already intoxicated, for which the restaurant’s zero-tolerance policy does not allow.
Although all food and drink money on bar nights went to Buffalo Wild Wings, the manager said the restaurant lost business on event days, and it did not make financial sense to host them.
“It was a lot easier to just say no,” said Foster, who added the decision was made by “higher-ups.”
For NU student groups, the ban means one less easy fundraising option is available. Nikhil Bhagwat, fundraising chair for NU dance competition Tufaan, tried to schedule a bar night fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings after having organized a successful event there for another group in the past. When he was turned down, the Weinberg freshman said he was disappointed because the bar nights were quick, popular and raised much more money than the current 15 percent coupon deal usually yields.
“It was a really good way for groups to make money,” Bhagwat said. “It’s such a shame because it’s going to be hard for us to find any type of fundraiser that’s as effective.”
He said he understands the reasoning, but alternative ways to raise money would have to be more out of the box in order to raise as much money as quickly as bar nights formerly did. Although it came as a surprise, Bhagwat said he still loves the chain and does not resent the restaurant because what they do with their space is ultimately up to them.
Kimberly Nelson, co-chair of NU to Benefit Special Olympics, also contacted Buffalo Wild Wings during Winter Quarter to inquire about a fundraiser and was told without an explanation the restaurant no longer hosted fundraisers at all.
“They just said, ‘Nope, that’s it. We’re not doing fundraisers anymore,'”said the Communication junior, even though she intended to hold a 15 percent coupon event.
She said she was surprised and confused as to why other groups successfully organized fundraisers at Buffalo Wild Wings but decided to fill out an event application down the street at Chili’s, 1765 Maple Ave., instead. Nelson said she had wanted to work with Buffalo Wild Wings because she was told they had a good connection to students and were more generous in the amount of profit given to students.
Such miscommunications are comMonday, restaurant manager Foster said, which is another reason the restaurant banned dance parties.
“Whoever was holding it would be expecting things that we weren’t aware that we were agreeing to,” Foster said.
Communication junior Jenna Lebersfeld organized an Autism Speaks U fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings last week with the coupon deal and said she was disappointed with the low amount of money raised. The 15 percent profit donated to her group added up to less than $100, although the Autism Speaks U co-founder and secretary does not blame the restaurant for the low turnout.
“They were really nice, and working with BWW was a positive experience,” Lebersfeld said. “Our fundraiser didn’t go as well as we hoped, but it wasn’t a lot of effort on our part.”
