By Ed Avis
Mexican restaurants are well known for supporting their communities, whether it’s donating food to the homeless shelter, collecting money for hurricane relief funds, or sponsoring local baseball teams. The owners do these things because they sincerely want to help, and if they get a little marketing boost as well, great.
But the truth is that the list of potential causes that need help is endless. You can’t help them all! So how do you determine which are the worthiest of your support?
“Every donation is an investment in community equity,” says Allison Todd, a business development strategist and founder of SiMar Enterprises in Lexington, Virginia. “The question isn’t simply, ‘Is this a good cause?’ It’s, ‘Will this partnership help strengthen the specific community our customers care about?’”
We interviewed Todd and two other experts of small business philanthropy. Here’s what we learned:
LOOK FOR TRUE ENGAGEMENT
A smart charitable donation is one that helps strengthen your restaurant’s community, rather than just gets your name out there, Todd explains.
“Mexican restaurants and family eateries are inherently cultural and social hubs for their neighborhoods. To maximize impact, owners should treat charitable contributions as an investment in local infrastructure rather than a generic expense,” she says, noting that strong philanthropic partnerships meet three criteria:
• Authentic value match: The cause aligns with the owner’s personal core values.
• Overlapping demographics: The organization directly serves the same local community and customer base the restaurant feeds.
• Relational depth: The partnership creates pathways for genuine human engagement, not just superficial logo placement.
Joe Braier, president/CEO of Lake Country Advisors in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, agrees. He says small businesses build brand credibility and visibility when they engage in philanthropic endeavors with community organizations.
“A restaurant with a high level of community engagement is likely to have more consistent attendance, improved word of mouth, and an increased competitive positioning within its market,” Braier says. “The best philanthropic opportunities for Mexican restaurants typically align with the identity of the business and/or the neighborhood served by the restaurant.”
Sponsoring school events, supporting local food banks or partnering with community organizations are examples where a restaurant becomes perceived as having roots rather than being simply promotional, Braier adds.
“In many cases this type of philanthropic effort will serve to differentiate the business from others in its market and provide for greater profitability over time,” he says.
SET A BUDGET AND GET EMPLOYEE INPUT
If you set a clear budget for your charitable giving — make sure you count “in-kind” donations such as food — it is easier to say “no” when organizations ask too late in the year. You can invite them to ask again at a certain time in the following year, which lets them know that you have an organized process for responding to donation requests.
Once you have a budget, ask employees what charities they think are worth supporting, suggests April Shprintz, a business consultant who pioneered the concept of The Generosity Culture — a professional and corporate philosophy that focuses on pouring into your employees, your clients, and your community. Not only will that generate some ideas that you may have overlooked, but it also will make your employees feel like their opinion matters.
“Consulting employees about the charities and events that resonate with them can have a huge impact on employee retention,” Shprintz asserts.
ASK FOR MORE THAN YOUR LOGO ON A SIGN
When you make a donation to an organization or cause, it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll get some recognition, such as your logo on a sign or a “thank you” from the leader during the event. But a more valuable return on your investment (ROI) is the opportunity to deepen your relationship with that group or community, Todd says.
How can the organization you’re supporting facilitate this? Here are three possibilities:
- By providing you with photos and other content you can proudly share on your Facebook or Instagram page
- By creating opportunities for you to personally meet organization or local community leaders
- By connecting you to broader, neighborhood networks.
“A good nonprofit partner helps a restaurant become part of a shared neighborhood story,” Todd says. “The ultimate goal isn’t simply to be thanked on a flyer; it’s to build long-term trust and relationship capital.”
MEASURE YOUR ROI THOUGHTFULLY
It’s always hard to measure the ROI on marketing investments, and even harder to measure the return on a charitable gift. Furthermore, when you’re giving to a cause you believe in, you may be reluctant to attach a tangible value to it. Plus, the benefits of making donations, such as increased brand awareness and goodwill, are almost unmeasurable, Shprintz notes.
“Donations can often circle back as revenue to the business in numerous ways that can’t be directly tracked the way a coupon or offer can,” Shprintz says. “That said, speak to any business that regularly participates in their community by donating time, money and resources and they will be able to share anecdotally how it contributed to their growth.”
Since the best long-term return of charitable donations is deepened community trust, you may want to measure the ROI of a donation with these indicators, Todd suggests:
- Did this initiative introduce us to new community relationships, local leaders, or B2B partners?
- Did our current customers actively engage with, comment on, or share the story?
- Did the partnership visibly strengthen our brand reputation in the neighborhood?
- Did it boost internal employee pride, alignment, and team morale?
“Not every charitable investment produces an immediate weekend sales spike, but it consistently manufactures trust,” Todd says. “In a crowded market, trust is the most valuable, appreciating asset a business can build.”
She concludes by noting that consumers often forget typical marketing promotions, but remember businesses that demonstrated that they care about the community:
“They will remain fiercely loyal to the restaurant that sponsored their child’s youth team, supported a local family in a crisis, or consistently invested in neighborhood infrastructure.”
Sidebar: A Fiesta That Gives Back
Hacienda Mexican Restaurants, headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, is following the format experts on philanthropy recommend.
For more than a decade, the local chain — with 14 locations in the Hoosier State — has operated its “Gives Back Fiesta” program. The process is simple: organizations pick a date for their fiesta, then promote it with digital materials the restaurant provides along with “Gives Back Tokens” supporters present when paying for their meal. Hacienda, in turn, donates 20 percent of proceeds from supporters’ purchases.
The Goshen location’s May 20 fundraiser for Relay For Life, presented by the Goshen Center for Cancer Care, is a recent example: It raised $1,139 for Relay For Life, and also generated brand recognition via social media posts.