Restaurant's Online Fundraising Wildly Successful

Well, that didn't take too long.

Only a few weeks after announcing to their fans that they wanted to give people an opportunity to contribute to a new Lynnhurst restaurant that hopes to become a community gathering space, The Lynn on Bryant has surged far past its goals on the Kickstarter fundraising website. In less than 30 days, they've raised over $4,000 beyond than their $25,000 target, from 200-plus people.

When co-owners Jay Peterson and Peter Ireland , Peterson told Patch that the goal was two-fold.

"This is a way to help us through the stretch run, but also to galvanize the support of even more friends, family members and—most importantly—our new neighbors," he said. "And to reward them for their participation with good food and great coffee."

Looking strictly at the numbers, their success seems to stem from expectations about The Lynn's food. Kickstarter allows the people doing the fundraising to select gifts for people who donate certain amounts—a $100 donation netting you a dinner for two, for example. The food rewards offered by Peterson and Ireland seem to have attracted the lion's share of the donations.

Looking across town at Lyndale's , they seem to be . While Butter owner Dan Swenson-Klatt is still a little under halfway to his $15,000 goal with only 10 days left in his campaign, food-related rewards seem to have helped spur around one in seven of the dollars donated.

Want to donate?

Butter Bakery Cafe's Kickstarter page can be found here.

They Lynn on Bryant's Kickstarter page can be found here.