RaiseRight has added Benihana and Rent the Runway eGift cards to its fundraising catalog, opening another route for spending with the restaurant and fashion-rental businesses to generate money for participating organizations. The additions were announced on September 19. [S01]
The change concerns distribution through RaiseRight, where people buy cards at face value and a portion supports their chosen fundraiser. It brings two different spending occasions into that network: dining and access to clothing. [S02]
What the catalog addition changes
| New eGift card | Available value | Announced gift-card earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Benihana | $25 to $500 | 7% |
| Rent the Runway | $25 to $500 | 9% |
Source: RaiseRight’s September 19 brand update. [S01]
RaiseRight also advertises an additional 6% for shopping at Rent the Runway through its online-shopping channel. That is a separate earning action, not an unconditional 15% return on every card purchased. The platform says online earnings require a tracked shopping visit and qualifying purchase; brand exclusions can apply. [S01] [S03]
This distinction matters commercially. Buying prepaid value and directing an online sale are different services. A customer may complete the first without completing the second, so the two headline percentages should not be treated as interchangeable.
A distribution network built around fundraisers
RaiseRight connects retail spending with schools, teams and other organizations. Its company history traces the business to a Michigan school-fundraising operation in 1994 and the RaiseRight rebrand in 2022. Its public description says the network has served more than 50,000 organizations since launch, a cumulative figure rather than a count of organizations currently using the service. [S04]
Benihana operates restaurants centered on teppanyaki cooking and chef-led dining. Its website says gift cards are valid at U.S. locations except those marked Events Only. For it, this catalog listing adds a way to sell prepaid restaurant value to households already using fundraising gift cards. The September update does not disclose sales targets, commercial fees or an exclusive arrangement. [S01] [S05]
Rent the Runway operates a different redemption model. Its gift-card documentation says value becomes account credit that can pay for one-time rentals, purchases, subscription fees and certain subscription extras. Unspent credit remains available for later eligible charges. The cards therefore serve an ongoing digital account as well as individual purchases. [S06]
The commercial opportunity, and its limits
The business case is access to spending that already flows through a fundraising channel. A broader catalog can give RaiseRight participants more occasions to use its service. For the listed brands, prepaid value commits a customer's budget to future redemption, although the announcement provides no evidence that the additions will generate incremental customers or higher spending.
The beneficiaries are also distinct: participants retain the card's spending value, while the fundraising program receives the advertised earnings under its arrangements. Those percentages do not establish RaiseRight's own margin or the brands' acquisition costs. The confirmed development is a wider distribution catalog. Fundraising proceeds depend on card purchases and qualifying tracked shopping; any benefit to the brands depends on subsequent spending and customer behavior. [S02] [S03]
In this article
Suzie Elis
Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.