Dairy Queen soft serve may give customers brain freeze, but their philanthropy warms hearts
By Daniel McIntosh
Whether for cooling down on hot summer days, or for celebrating significant milestones with an ice cream cake, DQ® is often top of mind for Canadians when it comes to cold, sweet treats.
But the 84-year-old soft-serve brand is known for another reason as well: its charitable impact on sick kids. Across Canada, and throughout its franchise system, the brand makes its philanthropic presence known by throwing much of its resources behind its financial backing, food donations, and visits in support of children’s hospitals across the nation. Year-round marketing efforts and product-based fundraising are also foundational to its charitable presence.
Candida Ness says the brand’s connections to children’s hospitals are an essential part of its community connection. As DQ® Canada’s vice president of marketing, she oversees the partnerships with Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations, which facilitates fundraisers between the brand and 12 member hospitals across the country. “Though we’re a global brand, our franchisees are very connected in their local markets,” says Ness. “What we really like about that relationship is all dollars raised stay local.”
Whether franchisees are in Ontario, Alberta, or B.C., they know that the raised funds are going directly to kids in their community.
“It’s super important and super relevant, because all of us, at one point or the other, have had need for a children’s hospital, or know someone that has needed a children’s hospital.”
Ness says that the partnership between DQ® Canada and Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations has collectively raised over $52 million since it began some 40 years ago. “In Canada, we raise about $3 million every year,” Ness notes. This is accomplished in part through the buy-in of their franchisees who, ever active in their local communities, can encourage customers to round up their orders to the nearest dollar to increase donations amounts.
DQ also maintains a relationship with Funding Innovation’s Art Easel Program, which displays Canadian-made art, sport, and music prints in store locations. Customers place bids on the prints that will support the charity of choice.
Miracle on ice (cream)
While these year-round initiatives do certainly impact the brand, much of DQ staff, customers, and supporters look toward the yearly north star of fundraising, August’s Miracle Treat Day, which accounts for $2 million of what the brand raises annually. During the event, the net proceeds of every Blizzard sold are donated to local children’s hospital foundations.
“It’s a huge credit for franchisees across Canada, because they’re the ones that bring Miracle Treat Day to life with all of their crews, their engagement, and their connection to the hospital,” explains Ness. “In Canada, we’re really proud of the fact that almost 100 per cent of our locations participate in Miracle Treat Day, even though it’s technically an optional program.”
She says DQ franchisees and staff, along with head office support, look forward to Miracle Treat Day every year, traditionally held on the second Thursday in August. Crew members of all ages appreciate working for a brand that gives back to their local community, which helps with employee hiring and retention, and Ness says that, similarly, customers want to spend their money with brands that support local.
Of course, there’s also a business benefit, as packing out a store with customers for a good cause links the brand with positive intentions in the mind of customers.
“That relationship with the brand and with that particular franchisee carries on throughout the year,” notes Ness.
In order to drive awareness for the yearly event, DQ preps franchisees, especially those taking on their first Miracle Treat Day, on how to maximize the opportunity and the ways in which it allows them to set roots in their local community. In addition, some franchisees double as ambassadors for the cause: they’re situated across the country and share the benefits of philanthropic support and drive engagement among the wider body of franchisees. The brand also utilizes a full-funnel marketing campaign to drive awareness.
During this year’s Miracle Treat Day, Ness travelled to stores across Edmonton, visiting children’s wards and getting a first-hand look at the excitement and engagement of franchisees in the community, and the smiles on the faces of children who needed them the most. At The Beach, a play area within the Stollery Children’s Hospital, a local franchisee distributed Blizzards to kids staying in the hospital.
“It’s an opportunity for kids to get away from what they may be dealing with from a medical situation,” explains Ness. “It was just an amazing experience out there, because the energy and busyness, everything about it was really amazing.
“We’re super grateful to our franchisee ambassadors as well, because we found the most effective way to get folks engaged in raising funds is franchisee to franchisee, so they understand the benefits and can have those conversations.”
Keep going, keep giving
Charitable ambition doesn’t just stop at the franchisee level, or after Miracle Treat Day is over. The DQ Cares program encourages employee volunteerism and product donations in the area surrounding the brand’s Canadian head office in Burlington, Ontario. Staff get to support a local charity of their choice, and the brand even offers two days of paid volunteer time for staff members. That could involve acting as an older sibling in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada program or, with holiday season around the corner, packing holiday hampers and gift boxes for the nearby Halton Women’s Shelter. Staff members are encouraged to take leadership in creating charitable events in their community, like a cricket tournament developed by one corporate staffer and hosted at their local cricket club, now in its second year, in support of Ottawa’s Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Ness says that, overall, franchisees are extremely engaged with the DQ brand’s wider philanthropic efforts, running contests or promotions among their staff to reward team members who had the most roundups in a given week. In addition, top fundraising franchisees are invited to attend Children’s Hospital Week at Disneyland in Orlando, Florida, and come face to face with the children that their fundraising supports.
“They have champion children that’ll come from [around] the U.S. and Canada. It’s an awesome opportunity for franchisees experience their dollars at work.”
It appears that charitable giving at Dairy Queen runs through the hierarchy of the company, and Ness offers a sage answer why. “Many of the things that we do in our lives can be very transactional, and I think that emotional connection for any brand is so important for loyalty and for customers to truly understand what is really at the heart of your brand. It’s not just about a transaction, it’s actually about the emotional connection and brand loyalty.
“For DQ specifically, I think that also holds true. Our connection with children’s hospitals is something that we are passionate about and dedicated to as an organization, but our franchisees are also very proud. I think it makes them proud of being part of the DQ system, because we’re certainly thankful for them and everything they do.”
Learn more about franchising with Dairy Queen Canada
