What is the

According to the 2024 Crawl Space Ninja FDD, franchisees are required to contribute to a Brand Fund, which is set at one percent (1%) of weekly Gross Revenue. Crawl Space Ninja retains the right to increase this contribution up to a maximum of two percent (2%) of Gross Revenue, provided they give notice to the franchisee. Each Crawl Space Ninja outlet operated by the franchisor or its affiliates may contribute to the Brand Fund, but they are not obligated to do so.

The Brand Fund is administered by Crawl Space Ninja's accounting and marketing personnel. The funds collected can be used for various advertising, marketing, and promotional activities, including the development and placement of advertising materials, marketing seminars and training programs, market research, public relations, website development, and to cover the salaries and administrative costs associated with these activities. The Brand Fund is intended to benefit the Crawl Space Ninja system as a whole, and Crawl Space Ninja has the right to use these contributions for advertising in national, regional, or local media, as well as for marketing campaigns through various channels, including internet and direct-mail campaigns.

During the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, Crawl Space Ninja collected $134,829 in Brand Fund contributions. These funds were allocated as follows: 85.1% on administration, 11.0% on advertising and marketing, and 3.8% on website updates/redesign. While the Brand Fund is intended to be perpetual, Crawl Space Ninja reserves the right to terminate it at any time, provided that all remaining funds are either spent on advertising or promotional purposes or returned to the contributors without interest, based on their respective contributions.

In addition to the Brand Fund, Crawl Space Ninja may establish regional advertising funds or cooperatives in the future, and franchisee participation may be mandatory. The minimum fee for these regional efforts will be half of the local marketing requirement, and the maximum fee will be the full amount of the local marketing requirement. If a franchisee's contribution to a cooperative is less than their local advertising requirement, they are still obligated to spend the difference locally. Crawl Space Ninja does not currently have an advertising council composed of franchisees to advise on advertising policies, but the Franchise Agreement allows them to create one at their discretion.