The Thank You Farmers® Project, a Culver Franchising System, LLC, initiative, has been running since 2013 and has contributed more than $6.5 million to support FFA and agricultural education. Community engagement is key to the project’s success; guests at their local Culver’s restaurants contribute most of the project’s funds each year to help local FFA members.

“Culver’s restaurants are locally owned and operated,” said Alison Demmer, Culver’s senior marketing manager, public relations and cause. “So, for them to be able to work directly with the ag education teachers and FFA members in the community, to be able to give back and value those relationships, is really purposeful.”

Many restaurants participate in grassroots efforts to raise money for their local FFA chapters and members while strengthening community ties. Programs such as Culver’s Share Nights, where a percentage of sales goes to an FFA chapter, allow families, friends, and neighbors to share meals while giving to a great cause.

In 2025, Culver’s offered Round Up for Agriculture, where restaurant guests could round up their purchases, with the difference donated to FFA and other agricultural education programs.

Another favorite annual fundraiser, Scoop of Thanks Day, has been running for over 10 years. During this event, guests receive a scoop of Fresh Frozen Custard in exchange for their $1 donation to local FFA chapters or other local agricultural education organizations.

Demmer, an FFA Alumna and former Wisconsin FFA state president, said, “We are always looking for unique ways to encourage our guests to be able to see the value that the local ag education has in their community, and then do their part to make a difference.”

As a National FFA Foundation Gold corporate partner, Culver’s also supports initiatives including the Culver’s FFA Ambassadors, FFA official blue jacket donations, the milk quality career development event and AgExplorer. At the National FFA Convention & Expo, Culver’s helps present the annual concert and doles out an estimated 30,000 free scoops of Fresh Frozen Custard at their expo booth, among other support activities.

Demmer said, “Giving at every level is critical to funding organizations we want to see live on.”

From helping young people find their career paths through agricultural education to raising funds for a local FFA chapter’s greenhouse to funding a member’s trip to the national convention, Culver’s is dedicated to agriculture’s next generation.