Rather than going through the work of planning, preparing and presenting a full-blown dinner to raise funds for your organization, consider “hosting” a restaurant night.  Many restaurants offer local organizations the opportunity to receive a cut of their earnings for the night.  Different restaurants do it differently.  Some require participants to bring in a flyer or something to connect them with the sponsoring organization.  Others will simply give a cut of total earnings for the night.  Either way, it’s a benefit to both the restaurant and to your organization.