Restaurants get into the Christmas Spirit

Besides offering gift cards this holiday season, you can boost customer loyalty by giving. That's right, don't be Ebenezer Scrooge this year. Reach into your pockets and give a little.

 

"In addition to the tax deduction and the enhancing of the brand, charities align with corporate values," said Sharon Bond, marketing manager for the Giving U.S.A. Foundation. "Working with charities can help with retention because it helps employees get involved and makes them feel like they're making a difference."

 

In 2004, corporations contributed $12 billion to charitable causes, according to the American Association of Fundraising Counsel. Even if you didn't budget for a large donation, you can still make a difference. Here are send easy ways you can give back to your community before the fat man in the red suit gets stuck in your restaurant's exhaust vent.

 

 

6. Set up a Christmas tree to promote the Salvation Army's holiday Angel Tree program. Denny's does this, and the company expects to collect more than 200,000 Christmas gifts for children. While your restaurant may not have the reach of Denny's, you can still contact your local Salvation Army affiliate to get a tree in your restaurant.

 

5. Set up a toy donation box at your entrance. Sammy's Woodfired Pizza works with the Marine Corps Reserve to collect and distribute toys children in need. The chain sets up Toys for Tots collection points at its Las Vegas and San Diego locations. In its fourth year helping with the program, the pizza joints accept unwrapped toys, and each customer who brings in a donation receives a free giant Messy Sundae, Sammy's signature dessert.

4. Give food away to people in need. Tastee Freez owner Rich Owens in Anchorage, Alaska, contributes to "Operation Santa Claus," the annual Alaska National Guard program to bring holiday cheer to children in remote villages across Alaska. This year, Owens' Tastee Freez store will prepare ice cream sundaes for as many as 800 children, the majority of whom will taste ice cream for the first time. Another way he and customers give during the holidays is through "Sundaes with Santa," a Tastee Freez fundraiser to benefit the Salvation Army's "Meals on Wheels" program.

 

3. Donate excess food. Many Long Island area restaurants, including Panera Bread and Red Lobster, have partnered with Island Harvest, Long Island's Source Authority on Food rescue. In addition to donating excess food, Panera, a partner of the non-profit Island Harvest, utilizes its locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties as drop points for the organization's annual Turkey and Trimmings Campaign aimed at providing those is need with nutritious meals during the holidays.

 

2.Give a needy family a portion of your profit. This holiday season, a Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill operator in Nevada has adopted two less-fortunate families. The restaurateur will donate a portion of all margaritas sold from Dec. 1-20 to the two families, and will then match the monies raised. The restaurant also will purchase decorations, gifts, food and other holiday necessities for the families. 

 

1.Put a donation jar at your counter. To keep the donations pouring in, Kate Zabriskie, founder of Business Training Works Inc., suggests posting a running total of your collection. "Posting a total gives the soliciting employee something to point to," Zabriskie said. "Think of it as the "Dr. Pepper method: 'I've donated, he's donated, she's donated, wouldn't you like to be a donor too?'"

 

Be careful, however, to ensure any holiday donations go to those in need, not those in greed. Such donation jars are easy targets for theft at the counter by employees or customers, and by employees as the funds are moved to a collection site.

 

If one of these ideas didn't strike a cord with you, visit the Salvation Army for more ideas.