How Chipotle (CMG) Is Utilizing Fundraising Technology To Help Under-Resourced Students

• Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) recently announced it is utilizing its new fundraising technology to help support under-resourced students returning to school

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) recently announced it is utilizing its new fundraising technology to help support under-resourced students returning to school. And through its first-ever digital fundraising program, Chipotle will support students across the country by donating 33% of fundraiser event sales back to local educational organizations using unique promotional codes. 

Over about a decade, three-fourths of Chipotle’s in-restaurant fundraisers have been school-related and raised more than $50 million for education-driven causes. And due to limitations with in-restaurant dining over the last few months, Chipotle has postponed these activities and is now introducing an online component to accompany the in-restaurant option.

And through its first-ever digital fundraising program, Chipotle will support students by donating 33% of fundraiser event sales back to local educational organizations using unique promotional codes.

Between August 31 through September 27, guests can round-up their change to the next highest dollar amount on the Chipotle app or Chipotle.com to support the Kids In Need Foundation. And the funds raised will go directly toward laptops and school supplies that will be delivered in Chipotle-branded backpacks with free meal cards to under-resourced junior high and high school students across the U.S. You can learn more at community.chipotle.com.

Chipotle will also utilize its real change feature on the Chipotle app and Chipotle.com to support Kids In Need Foundation, a national non-profit organization that partners with teachers and students in underserved schools to provide the resources needed for teachers to teach and learners to learn.

Over 7,000,000 children in the U.S. do not have computers at home and this lack of access disproportionately affects children from Black, Latino and Native American households. The achievement gap among these households is expected to worsen as the country leans on virtual learning to begin the school year. Through its support for the Kids In Need Foundation, Chipotle is hoping to narrow the digital divide and provide laptops for students without computers across the country.

Between August 8 to August 31, Chipotle spotlighted Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), an American non-profit organization that supports and represents students attending its 47 member-schools that include publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), medical schools, and law schools. And since June, Chipotle has utilized the real change feature to raise more than $1,400,000 for organizations supporting underserved communities.

KEY QUOTES:

“The new digital fundraising program is another example of our relentless push to replicate the Chipotle restaurant experience digitally. Customers can now contribute to impactful organizations in their community through delivery and pick-up orders.”

— Curt Garner, Chipotle Chief Technology Officer

“As a digitally forward company, we understand the importance of equipping students with capable technology to aid the effectiveness of virtual learning this school year. Our partnership with the Kids In Need Foundation combined with our guests’ support through the real change digital fundraising program on the Chipotle app will broaden opportunities for many kids as well as their communities.”

— Chris Brandt, Chipotle Chief Marketing Officer

“As a society, our reliance on technology continues to grow. With many students learning part-time or exclusively at home, that dependence is mirrored in our schools. Without access to laptops and connectivity, under-resourced students are experiencing a gap in their education. As a well-known national brand and leader in its local communities, we are grateful that Chipotle is acknowledging the challenges students are facing due to the digital divide and supporting those students with the technology they need to learn.”

— Corey Gordon, CEO of Kids In Need Foundation