If you’re interested in increasing your restaurant’s sales and doing something great for the community, GiveDish is for you.
Have you ever had one of those ‘lightning rod’ moments? A thought, an idea, a concept of some sort, something that seems to magically appear out of thin air and brings such a rush that it gives you chills down your spine and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Those moments are seemingly few and far between in life and when they happen, you never forget. Paul Willmes, Co-Founder and CEO of GiveDish, based here in Orange County, had his lightning rod moment on the way home from a dirt biking trip in 2016, and it changed the course of his life and if he has any say, the future of restaurant marketing…forever.
His company, GiveDish, is a rare breed of business in this new world of likes, follows, taps and tweets. They are online, yes, and certainly do a great job at social media (currently at 11,000+ followers on Instagram in less than a year), but what really moves the needle for restaurant owners, non-profits and customers alike, is this fantastic intersection of in-restaurant marketing, conscious capitalism and charitable giving all wrapped into a neat and tidy package. A package that not only drives significantly more new customers to restaurants but increases average ticket sales, generates more loyalty from existing customers and creates significantly deeper ties to the local community. It’s the next generation of restaurant marketing, and it works.
Let’s say you’re grabbing a bite at your favorite local Italian restaurant. Same as always, a server presents you with the menu, you glance across the familiar landscape of apps, mains and desserts, but something new on this menu catches your attention. Next to a handful of these items is the ‘Giving Hands’ icon that signifies these items are part of the GiveDish program. You read on and see that a purchase of these ‘GiveDish Eligible’ items generates a donation for a local school. Books on shelves, computers in the classroom, uniforms for various sports teams, you name it, they all need help in the fundraising department. For the customer, there’s nothing to sign up for, no app to download, nothing to do but simply order any of the GiveDish Eligible items and that restaurant patron can help a local school in need. So easy, so effective and so worth talking about to your friends, your family and now more importantly than ever, your followers.
“What I love about our platform is the genuine ‘win’ it creates for everyone involved,” said Paul Willmes, Co-Founder and CEO of GiveDish. “Restaurants choose which items are GiveDish Eligible and customers gravitate towards those items knowing they will help a good cause. We see higher than average ticket sales as a result and given it’s an everyday giving program, no one needs to remember when to come by the restaurant, that restaurant is supporting a great cause all year round!” Annie Alvelais, Assistant Director of Cause Marketing, CHOC Children’s Hospital, told South Coast Magazine, “We’ve been a GiveDish benefactor since the early days and we’re thrilled to see how much they’ve grown. What an amazing way to bring together good food, good people and a good cause!” On the restaurant side, Jonathan Moore, Director of Operations at Skyloft in Laguna Beach, has seen not only a significant increase in sales as a result of partnering with GiveDish, but he uses GiveDish as a recruiting and retention tool as well. “We’ve seen an increase in sales of items we’ve tagged as ‘GiveDish Eligible’ of around 10% year-on-year and it’s helped our hiring and team morale working year-round with a company like GiveDish. I know these guys set out to build a marketing program that raises money for charity, but what they ended up with is a killer customer acquisition platform and recruiting tool in one!”
If you’re interested in increasing your restaurant’s sales and doing something great for the community, we highly encourage you to check out their website and setup a meeting with Paul and his team. Who knows, maybe this could be your ‘lightning rod’ moment.
(949) 498-0705
tanner.mccall@cusdfoundation.org
