Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Boba Bom Here. You've seen it at your local supermarket, department store, or even on your rideshare app. You're asked verbally or digitally if you'd like to round up your purchase to the nearest dollar, with the difference going to a charity. It may not seem like much to hand over an extra sixty three cents, so you say yes. But how much do these charities collect and is it worth it? Check Out charity, as it's called,
isn't just about community service and warm fuzzies. It's a big business engage for good and organization devoted to corporate social initiatives found that in seventy six point of sale fundraising campaigns raised more than six five million dollars in the United States. Each of these campaigns raised at least a million bucks. A viral TikTok video claimed that stores can right off these checkout donations from customers on their own end of your taxes, but that's simply not true.
These donations don't count as company income, so they can't be written off. When a store donates from its own business income, the company can write that off as a charitable donation. Customers who donate to these checkout charities could also write off their contributions on their taxes, but most
people don't as the amounts are so small. For the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Work spoke with Joe Waters, a consultant in what's called cause marketing, which his blog Selfish Giving defines as a partnership between a nonprofit and for profit for mutual profit. Waters said, what companies are hoping for out of checkout charity is that there's a halo effect and the consumers are going to spend more with them because they view the company more
favorably and the tactics seems to be working. Of respondence to a survey said that they felt positive about a company after being asked to donate at the register. How stuff Works also spoke with Michael Giebelhausen, a marketing professor at Cornell University. In He and a team published a study that looked at revenue at a national chain restaurant following the implementation of a checkout charity campaign. They found it had a statistically significant positive impact on sales. This
economic effect is something marketers call a warm glow. Everybody wants to see themselves in a positive light, and when companies give consumers the chance to engage in pro social behavior like reusing their towels at a hotel to save water or packing up groceries in an environmentally friendly reusable bag, consumers walk away feeling good about themselves in psychological terms. By donating to a checkout charity or reusing a hotel towel,
the consumer has earned moral credit. And once you've earned a little moral credit, you have license to do something that's not as virtuous, like spending money on something frivolate, sorb unhealthy. Giebelhausen said, if your business is a vice business like fast food or candy, and it's a particularly good combination, customers who donate feel good about you, and then they have these moral credits that they can spend on your products. Rounding up can even beat asking for
a straight donation. For nineteen days, and researchers from North Carolina State collaborated with a local zoo. The zoo employees asked patrons of its on site cafe if they'd like to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar for charity, and the results were compared to the campaign that the zoo normally ran, which asked patrons to donate an extra dollar at the cafe. The study found that of patrons agreed to round up, compared to only eighteen percent who
usually gave a dollar. The zoo also raised more money during that nineteen day period. Check Out charity campaigns are not without their pitfalls, though. The Waters mentioned a local Austin grocery store chain that hit him up for a different charity every time he came to the register. The store employees didn't engage customers or bothered to explain what the charity was all about. An option just popped up on the credit card PINpad, and Waters felt pressured to donate,
he said, of those are the programs that people complain about. Indeed, a study published in October two found that checkout charity could increase a shopper's anxiety, with respondents using words like pressured, annoyed, and concerned about being judged to express how they felt about being asked only used positive words to express their feelings.
The researchers found that the anxiety quote can be relieved when customers agree to donate, but only when the solicitation comes from a cashier as opposed to an automated request made by a computer or self service checkout machine. In Waters experience, the checkout charity campaigns that work are thoughtfully executed and integrated with the company these mission and client base.
For example, in outdoor retailer Patagonia donated a hundred percent of their Black Friday sales toward environmental groups and raised ten million bucks, which is five times more than they were expecting. Waters also pointed to the Month of Giving campaign at the sandwich chain Jersey mis during the month of March and only during the month of March, each franchise location partners with a local charity and solicits donations.
The campaign is capped by the day of Giving, when the prose feeds from all sales made on March twenty eight are given to the chosen charity. Today's episode is based on the article checkout charity works if It's done right on House to works dot com, written by Dave Ruse. Brain Stuff. This production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com and it's produced by
Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the heart radio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.