Operations

How QSRs can drive customer engagement through round-up donations

With more than half of Americans willing to round up their purchases for charity, these small contributions can collectively generate millions for causes ranging from education and hunger relief to disaster assistance.

Photo: Emma Horn

September 2, 2026 | By Emma Horn, Executive Director of the KFC Foundation

Summarize with

At the checkout counter, rounding up a few cents for a good cause may not feel significant in the moment. But when consumers understand the impact behind those cents, an everyday transaction becomes an opportunity for a meaningful act of giving. With more than half of Americans choosing to round up for charity when given the option, those pennies add up to a powerful force for change.

For quick service restaurants, round up campaigns integrate community giving directly into the customer experience. A successful round-up strategy not only supports a good cause, it also drives customer engagement and fosters stronger community connections for restaurants.

A path to collective impact

Individual donations to nonprofits have been steadily declining for years, even as community needs have grown. With fewer consumers going out of their way to make a donation, the convenience of rounding up creates an accessible way to give back for customers who may not have the means to make a larger charitable contribution. Round up giving democratizes philanthropy by creating a low barrier to participation and encouraging involvement without the need to significantly change purchasing behavior.

When combined, small contributions from round up donations raised over $275 million nationwide in 2024 to support causes such as pediatric hospital funding, disaster relief, or scholarship assistance. Personally, I witness the power of round up donations through our work at the nonprofit KFC Foundation. Round up donations at KFC restaurants fund more than 63% of our total operations, driving education accessibility, hardship assistance, and local hunger relief efforts to support and empower restaurant employees and their communities. The spare change customers choose to donate is changing lives across the country.

Driving loyalty and trust

The impact of rounding up extends beyond the charitable work the contributions fund. Round up campaigns allow restaurants to show up as community partners in a meaningful way while uniting customers, employees, and franchisees around a shared cause that builds trust, engagement, and brand loyalty.

Restaurant employees should be ready to reinforce the campaign message and encourage participation without pressuring customers. Ensuring employees have the background to advocate for the cause is essential to establish trust. One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding round up campaigns is that corporations claim a tax write-off with the money customers donate. In truth, the corporation acts as a conduit; the amount customers donate is transferred directly to the cause, making the donation tax-deductible for the individual donating rather than the corporation.

Transparency drives a return on investment

Consumers often wonder who ultimately benefits from the donations collected at checkout, reinforcing the importance of clearly communicating where donations go. To fully buy into the campaign, customers need to understand how donations are tracked, distributed, and put to work.

One method to underscore purpose is to set clear campaign goals and celebrate milestones. Allow consumers to feel the impact of their contributions by sharing meaningful metrics, such as meals provided, students served, or families supported. At the KFC Foundation, we display clear, compelling signage in restaurants to share how round up donations support our efforts to offer scholarships and assistance to 18,000 individual recipients and nearly 5,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide.

Transforming spare change into community change

QSRs have an opportunity to partner with nonprofits to make supporting positive causes part of the everyday customer experience. The results have a measurable impact on communities while creating stronger relationships with customers that drive long-term loyalty.

Whether you are considering expanding your existing round up campaigns or creating a new one, recognizing the power of shared purpose and collective impact fuels mutual success for impactful causes and for business.

* Emma Horn is the Executive Director of the KFC Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting KFC restaurant employees and strengthening their communities through education, financial assistance and community giving programs. Under her leadership, the KFC Foundation has reached more than 18,000 individual recipients and supported more than 4,600 nonprofit organizations.