We have a restaurant on the island where we live that has been doing something along those same lines for several years. A month or two prior to re-opening for "the season" they asked their more affluent regular customers to pre-pay a set amount (looking to raise anywhere from $20k to $30k) the proceeds of which are use to renovate and redecorate their facilities.

The "contributors" are then given a food & beverage credit for that amount to be redeemed anytime during the current year.

I'm not sure how the economics of that really works since they spend the up front money right away and then give away a similar amount in food, etc. You have to wonder about their revenue stream.