Does Exit provide centralized advertising services to franchisees?
Exit Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
From the fees generated from each sale or lease transaction, a portion of the fee is paid to EXIT to be deposited in various separate funds administered by EXIT or its affiliate. Currently deposits are made into the following funds: United States Charitable Fund, United States Creative Fund, United States Advertising Fund, Regional Development Fund and Administrative Fund. None of the funds are audited. The Charitable Fund is administered by EXIT and is used by EXIT to make donations to a United States charity or charities selected by EXIT. The United States Creative Fund is administered by EXIT and used to create concepts and programming used for national and local advertising of EXIT. EXIT uses the Fund to pay its employees and subcontractors for the advertising services that it provides. The United States Advertising Fund is administered by EXIT and used for advertising and promotion within the EXIT System. All deposits to and expenditures from the foregoing described funds are within the sole discretion of EXIT. EXIT is not required to spend any amount on advertising or promotion in any particular area or region. The Regional Development Fund is administered by EXIT and used to purchase advertising services within the region in which the Regional Development Fees are generated. The Administrative Fund is administered by EXIT. EXIT distributes the Administrative Fund proceeds to Franchise's Administrators for the sole and exclusive purpose of paying an annual bonus to the support staff employed by the Franchise. Franchisees and Brokers of Record are not eligible to receive the support staff bonus from the Administrative Fund. If an office does not have administrative staff, or if the office does not complete and submit the Administrative Bonus information to EXIT by April 30th each year, the Administrative Fund proceeds allocated for the office will be applied to the United States Charitable Fund. The amount paid to the Franchise Administrators employed by the Franchisee is based upon the discretion of the Franchise and is uniform across the EXIT System. Neither EXIT nor its affiliates shall be considered a trustee or fiduciary with respect to any of the Funds, and no such fiduciary or trust relationship is created hereby.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 42–235)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Exit's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a portion of the fees generated from each sale or lease transaction is allocated to various funds, including the United States Advertising Fund and the United States Creative Fund, which are administered by Exit. The United States Creative Fund is used to create concepts and programming for national and local advertising, and Exit uses this fund to pay its employees and subcontractors for advertising services. The United States Advertising Fund is used for advertising and promotion within the Exit system.
Exit retains sole discretion over all deposits to and expenditures from these advertising funds, and Exit is not required to spend any specific amount on advertising or promotion in any particular area or region. There is also a Regional Development Fund, which is used to purchase advertising services within the region where the Regional Development Fees are generated. These funds are not audited.
For a prospective franchisee, this means that while Exit does provide centralized advertising services, the level and location of advertising support may vary. The franchisee has no direct control over how these funds are spent, and there is no guarantee of a specific level of advertising support in their area. It is important to note that the funds are not audited, so franchisees have limited visibility into how the advertising money is being managed and spent.