Helping Others Help OthersBy: Lauren Deckard 11/23/2009

For over 12 hours, the owners hardly left the restaurant. The phone rang off the

hook, and rumors raged about the need to call in back up staff. While outside

observers attributed the chaotic environment to the popularity of the local Tenth

Street restaurant, regular customers found themselves amidst something special on

what started off as an ordinary Monday. Many restaurant patrons seemed to know

each other, greeting one another with upbeat words and cheery faces as they

walked into an entryway adorned with an array of bright blue balloons.

Local Lennie’s Restaurant, Pub, and Brewery partnered with the Bloomington

community to celebrate its twentieth anniversary on Nov. 16-18 by donating 100

percent of sales to three Bloomington charities: Hoosier Hills Food Bank,

WonderLab (a science museum for children), and Stone Belt (a service provider for

individuals with learning disabilities). Lennie’s frequently partners with area non-

profit organizations to provide financial support, but this event was the first time

they contributed for such an extended period of time.

“Bloomington has been helping us for 20 years, and we are thrilled that we can

give back to the community,” said Lennie Dare-Busch, CFO and co-founder of

Lennie’s Restaurant.

Reaching Out to the Community

In line with the spirit of Thanksgiving, Lennie’s sought to give back to local

organizations through its anniversary celebration. Both of the Lennie’s founders, Jeff

Mease and Lennie Dare-Busch, along with General Manager Michael Fox

collaborated to select the three charities based on their own respective involvement.

As Fox said, Mease’s decision to partner with Hoosier Hills was “obvious because

they are an organization that focuses on feeding people, and that is what we are all

about as a restaurant.”

Giving generously to feed the hungry is not a new concept for Lennie’s. Each year,

it sets aside one day to donate 100 percent of beer sales to feed the hungry. The

money that comes in from these sales is donated to an Indianapolis charity that

specifically focuses on reaching out to children in need. Lennie’s also attributes 90

percent of its advertising budget to marketing in charitable ways through providing

gift cards, participating in silent auctions, and conducting sales donation nights,

known as “dining for donors”.

“In general, local businesses are very supportive and philanthropic in

Bloomington,” said Stone Belt Development Director Amy Jackson.

Partnering with Stone Belt

The partnership between Lennie’s and Stone Belt first developed when Fox

approached Stone Belt, requesting permission to display Stone Belt clients’ artwork

in the restaurant dining room. One of these exhibits currently hangs on the

restaurant walls for the third time since the businesses paired up in 2007. This

exhibit consists of a multitude of colorful, abstract paintings and mosaics made from

fake jewels, pipe cleaner, cloth and other craft items ranging in size.

“Our relationship with Lennie’s is particularly unique because it’s not just a

financial contribution, but of time and in advocacy by displaying our art and

promoting clients,” Jackson said.

By providing advertising space for Stone Belt, Lennie’s benefits from the

relationship. Involvement with Stone Belt allows Lennie’s to expand its marketing

outreach outside of philanthropic events because they penetrate other valuable

social networks.

Connecting with the Customer Base

When it comes to reaching their target audience, Lennie’s primarily relies on word

of mouth. Fox recalls that in exchange for Lennie’s making the donation to its

partnering organizations, it became their responsibility “to get the word out to their

constituents.”

“We didn’t want to be passive participants,” Jackson recalled. “We wanted to

cultivate how great Lennie’s is into the community.”

As part of their marketing efforts, the three charitable organizations sent out

promotional flyers and emails to those on their donor lists and used Facebook to

invite hundreds of community members to the event Lennie’s created.

Bloomington residents are known to enjoy their food and beverages, and word of

the culinary event caught on quickly within the community. As published by the

Orbitz Travel Guide in 2007, Bloomington is "the seventh fastest growing

destination in the nation for wine and culinary enthusiasts."

Enthusiasts for Lennie’s and their philanthropic efforts helped make the event

successful by passing along the news. One of Stone Belt’s senior staff members sent

out an email that was then forwarded to a woman in her synagogue on four different

occasions. After hearing stories like these, Jackson estimates Stone Belt’s marketing

efforts alone “touched several thousand people.”

Hitting Their Mark

Despite the market’s current economic hardship, Lennie’s nearly doubled its

fundraising goal.

“Our goal was to raise at least $5000 for each of the three charities, but there was

no limit on our donation. It all depended on how busy we were,” Lennie Dare-Busch

stated.

Between sales of just over $23,000 and with additional donations from vendors,

Lennie’s collectively raised $8,700 for each non-profit. Even though none of these

organizations reported current plans to use their allotted donations, they recognize

the donations as a driving factor that enables them to run successful community

outreaches.

Meeting Community Expectations

Regular Lennie’s customer and Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Professor, Steven Kreft, coaches his Corporate Strategy students on the profit

drivers of sustainable business that occur when businesses incorporate social and

environmental interests into business practices to both maintain and improve

profits. Consumer trends illustrate their preferences for businesses to take socially

responsible actions, especially the younger generations. As Kreft told his students

they “are proving themselves to be the most socially minded class of individuals

yet.”

Consumers focusing on being more socially aware have a tendency to watch the

news and listen to what Non-Governmental Organizations stress to them about

these business practices. As reported in a 2009 survey by Boellin Enterprises,

“consumer distrust in corporate leaders is at 52 percent, while 66 percent of

individuals report trusting NGO leaders.”

These statistics show how absolutely critical it is for businesses to reach out and

partner with area organizations if they want to sustain profitability and gain

consumer approval. Notably spreading goodwill throughout the community also

helps increase consumer trust in their specific businesses’ leadership and helps

them to avoid NGO attacks.

As Lennie’s took these precautions through their anniversary celebration to help

ensure profitability over time, Stone Belt particularly noted the weight of Lennie’s

donation in terms of their own financial statements because government financing

steadily decreases from budget cuts and reallocations.

Although Medicaid provides basic financial assistance, organizations such as Stone

Belt can only provide minimal services with the newly reduced government funding.

For charities to offer higher quality care, it is crucial they find private donors

interested and capable of supporting them. Finding such donors is becoming hard to

do because they face the same pressures of a tight economy.

“As of lately, we rely more and more on contributions from donors to immediately

improve people’s lives,” Jackson said. (1145)