Beat the Competition with a Restaurant 'Dine & Donate' Program

Last Thursday, restaurants across the country celebrated Cinco de Mayo in honor of Mexican heritage and pride. Although many assume the date has something to do with Mexico's Independence Day, it doesn't. Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16^th.

Actually, this country pays more mind to Cinco de Mayo than Mexico does. That being said, Northern California restaurants that lean towards plates of tacos, chimichangas, chips and salsa, Corona, Tecate, and Negro Modelo were packed on Thursday with patrons celebrating whatever they though they should be celebrating. Other restaurants not so inclined merely hosted empty seats.

I thought it would be a good night for Kranston and me to enjoy Thai food at Sea Thai Bistro. I assumed it would be an easy night for a quick, non-Mexican meal, and I knew Chef Tony Ounpamornchai hadn't decided to offer Street Fair Noodle Tacos.

Sea Thai Bistro's dining room was overflowing that night. Ounpamornchai marketed his way to a full house by offering a Dine and Donate day benefiting Face to Face, the Sonoma County AIDS Network.

Combating the Cinco de Mayo promotional wave with a self-designed Dine and Donate evening is a brilliant way to compete with the competition that periodically comes from a variety of directions. Whether a national restaurant promotion, like Cinco de Mayo, a season finale of a popular T.V. show, or a sporting event attracting millions of viewers, competition is more perplexing today than ever before for restaurant owners. Yet, Ounpamornchai may have discovered a way to level the playing field of competition.

"I decided to hold the dine and donate today because I knew it would work to bring in customers. We are donating 20 percent of our proceeds from lunch and dinner, and we have been busy all day," Ounpamornchai said.

The promotion was marketed through social networking to Sonoma County AIDS Network members, and check holder inserts in mid-April. The evenings covers were impressive and the local organization received a substantial donation from the restaurant. And, diners had the option to write-off a portion of the meal as a donation.

It was a win-win for everyone involved.

For restaurant owners perplexed on how to fill empty seats, the dine and donate promotion could be the perfect program to increase sales on evenings when the competition may seem too tough to beat.

Setting up a few dine and donate days may be easier than it seems.

1). Choose four local organizations that you would like to donate to. Contact them and make sure they are open to the promotion and that they will help promote the evening to their members and send out a press release to local media.

2). Select the nights you would like to increase business. Check your calendar for dates that make sense and may be horrifically slow.

3). Even though 20 percent is a fair donation percentage, decide if you want to donate more or less. The more you donate, the greater the participation from the organization sponsoring the event.

4). Print cards, table tents and design your email campaign.

5). Two weeks before the event, start to publicize the event and sponsoring organization by placing the promotional cards in the guest check holders. 

And you'll find you've found a tremendous way to promote your business, help a local organization and build a following.