You’ve seen them at the local high school football game or maybe at a dance recital in Broward County. Someone hands you a card and says you can get half-price pizza for a year. It sounds like one of those "too good to be true" things, but in South Florida, the "Slice the Price" card has basically become a staple of local life. At the center of it all is a company called Platinum Fundraising Fort Lauderdale.
They aren't a charity themselves. Honestly, that's where people get confused. They are a professional fundraising organization that partners with Domino’s Pizza to help schools, sports teams, and nonprofits raise cash without having to sell frozen cookie dough or overpriced wrapping paper.
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What Platinum Fundraising Fort Lauderdale Actually Does
Located right off SE 17th Street, these guys have been running the show for over 25 years. If you've ever had a kid in a Fort Lauderdale JROTC program or a traveling soccer team, you’ve probably interacted with their system. They essentially act as the middleman between the massive Domino’s corporate machine and the local PTA.
The flagship product is the "Slice the Price" card. You buy a card for a set price—usually around $10 or $15—and every time you buy a large pizza at menu price, you get another one free. For a family in Fort Lauderdale trying to feed three teenagers on a Friday night, that card pays for itself in exactly one visit.
The business model is pretty straightforward. The organization (like the Stranahan High marching band) keeps a significant chunk of the card sales. Platinum Fundraising handles the logistics, the printing, and the "Dough Raiser" nights.
Why This Specific Program Stuck Around
Most fundraisers are a nightmare for parents. You have to store boxes of chocolate in your garage while they melt in the Florida humidity, or you're chasing people down to deliver tubs of popcorn. Platinum Fundraising Fort Lauderdale flipped the script by going digital and service-based.
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- No Upfront Costs: This is the big one. Most schools don't have $2,000 sitting around to "buy" inventory to resell. Platinum doesn't charge the school to start. They only get paid when a card is sold.
- Zero Inventory: You aren't hauling boxes of frozen pizzas around in the back of an SUV. It’s just a card. Or, more recently, a digital code.
- Incentives: They do this thing where the top-selling class gets a pizza party. It's a classic move, but it works because, well, kids like pizza.
It’s not just for kids, though. We’ve seen local nursing clubs and even Greek life at FAU or nearby colleges use these programs to fund their community service projects.
The Reality of Working There (and Working With Them)
If you look at the company from a business perspective, they are a high-energy sales environment. Their office in the 1650 SE 17th St building is known for a culture that’s... let’s call it "intense but fun." They have massage chairs and LoveSacs in the office. They play music. It’s a very "Fort Lauderdale" vibe—professional but with a distinct lack of suits and ties.
From a partner perspective, the feedback is usually about the ease of use. A common misconception is that the school has to do all the paperwork. Actually, Platinum’s team handles most of the tracking. But, you’ve gotta be organized on your end. If a coach loses the signup sheets or fails to promote the "Dough Raiser" night, the fundraiser will flop. It’s a partnership, not a magic wand.
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Is It Worth It for Your Organization?
Let's talk numbers. If a soccer team in Davie or a cheer squad in Coral Springs needs $5,000 for new uniforms, how many cards do they need to sell? Usually, the group keeps 50% of the sales. If a card is $15, you’re looking at $7.50 profit per card. You’d need to sell about 667 cards.
That sounds like a lot. But when you realize that almost everyone in Fort Lauderdale eats pizza and the card works at hundreds of Domino's locations across 13 states, the "ask" is much easier than asking for a $20 donation for nothing in return.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often think this is a local Florida-only small business. While they are headquartered here, they actually represent over 300 Domino’s locations across the Southeast and Midwest. If you buy a card from a kid in Fort Lauderdale, you can usually use it when you're visiting family in Georgia or North Carolina.
Another weird myth? That the cards expire in a month. They usually last for an entire calendar year. If you're a regular pizza eater, it's a no-brainer.
Practical Steps to Get Started
If you're actually looking to run one of these, don't just wing it. There’s a specific process to making sure you don't waste your time.
- Check Your Area: Ensure the Domino's locations near your supporters actually participate. Most in the Broward and Palm Beach area do, but it’s worth a five-minute phone call to be sure.
- Assign a "Point Person": Even though Platinum does the heavy lifting, you need one parent or leader who is the "Pizza Czar." This person is the only one who talks to the rep. Too many cooks in the kitchen (pun intended) ruins the fundraiser.
- Set a Tight Window: Don't let the fundraiser drag on for two months. People lose interest. Two weeks of high-intensity selling is the sweet spot.
- Use the Digital Option: Especially now, nobody carries cash. Use the online portal Platinum provides so people can pay via credit card and get their codes texted to them.
Fundraising is usually a chore that everyone dreads. Platinum Fundraising Fort Lauderdale has survived as long as it has because they took a product people already buy (pizza) and made the process of selling it significantly less annoying for the people doing the work. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme for your nonprofit, but as far as "return on effort" goes, it's consistently one of the highest-rated options in the South Florida market.