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We’re thinking of augmenting our own high school concessions stand (which offers hot dogs and hamburgers) with a local pizzeria, sub shop and ice cream parlor that would set up temporary booths during football and basketball games. Our school would get a slice of the profits, but some school board members fear this approach might eat into our own fundraising efforts. What are your experiences contracting with outside concessions vendors?

At our football and soccer games, which are played in our stadium, we do have an arrangement with a local hotdog icon (not simply boiled hotdogs with mustard) and a national-brand vendor who alternate coming in and augmenting our concessions stand sales. Our sales and profits actually increase during these cooperative ventures, but you have to do a little pre-event planning. Our booster club concessions stand never sold the items that are offered by both vendors. In addition, the vendors do not sell beverages, which allows our booster club to increase their sales of these items during games. Our fans now expect these additional items and use the concession stand for a quick family meal at the game. And our booster club gets a slice of the vendor’s profits, as well.

Contracting for vender-operated concessions is becoming more and more popular, not so much because they improve the profit margin (you can't beat the staff costs of using volunteers), but because it greatly reduces the "hassle" factor and allows you to spend more efforts on other, quite often more productive, fundraising efforts. An expanded food service also offers you the opportunity to entice even more fans to attend games and enjoy the improved fan experience. Along with boosting ticket sales, your food sales will increase, too. Don't forget the importance of writing a good agreement with your concession venders and leave that "escape clause" in there in case the game plan goes in the wrong direction.

This provides an opportunity to serve vegetarian pizza or subs.

Dealing with outside vendors has its benefits and, of course, negatives. It is less labor intensive on your own staff, but you lose control. We have had issues lately with vendors paying their commission. First of all, it is hard to figure out if the commission they pay you is accurate. Secondly, they seem to have a hard time issuing checks on time. You have to compare numbers and headaches and pick the best one. It should be pretty easy to figure out which one is a better money-maker.

We have limited participation by outside vendors. We do have other teams running their own small booths during a football game with items that don't conflict with the sale of the items at the school concession stand. The trick is for the other teams to find items that sale. Rather than a commission. They have to pay a flat rate fee to the Athletic Department.