How Donation At Checkout Changed Lives & Changed Business for Seattle Cider Company

“To not have to think about the transaction, it makes the transaction better, because you have time to talk about everything else that matters,” says Maura Hardman, who oversees the tasting room and also runs marketing and PR for the cider company. And what matters to Seattle Cider Company is telling guests about their delicious seasonal ciders, where they source their homegrown fruits, and what charitable cause they’re currently benefiting. 

Thanks to donation at checkout by Arryved POS, Seattle Cider Co. was able to raise over $2,600 in 12 weeks for charitable organizations in need!

As a leader in craft cider since 2013, Seattle Cider Co.’s fermented fruit beverages highlight the produce of the Pacific Northwest in a variety of offerings, including a low calorie, seltzer-esque Sparkling line and the high ABV Odyssey Imperial Cider. Core to their ethos is giving back. Seattle Cider even partners with the nonprofit organization City Fruit, taking the “ugly” fruit they’re unable to donate to food banks and using it for cider instead. 

When Seattle Cider’s POS system offered the ability to collect donations at checkout, they didn’t hesitate to implement the feature in their taproom. Within 12 weeks of turning on Arryved’s Donation Feature, they had raised over $2,600 for organizations in need:

• Bailing Out Benji: $915 raised in 5.5 weeks

This nonprofit organization is using research, advocacy, and education to end puppy mills.

• Cider Institute of North America: $503 raised in 3.5 weeks

In an effort to empower and diversify the cider industry, the Cider Institute provides education and scholarships for minority groups.

• Care.org in Ukraine: $1,202 raised in 3 weeks

CARE launched a humanitarian appeal to support the most vulnerable Ukrainians, as well as leverage partnerships with neighboring countries to deliver emergency assistance.

Besides raising an exceptional amount of funds for well-deserving causes, Seattle Cider continues to be impressed by the savviness of the donation tool itself. We spoke with Maura Hardman who runs marketing and PR for Seattle Cider Co., as well as overseeing the tasting room. As a former Peace Corps volunteer and having spent several years in the nonprofit world, it’s fitting that she runs community giving and partnerships, too. 

“Everybody loves drinking for a good cause,” Maura told us. And with the volume of money they raised in 12 short weeks, she’s not kidding! She credits their donation feature success in part to the tool itself, highlighting 3 aspects in particular. 

The Seattle Cider team was able to set-it-and-forget-it when implementing the donation feature. They made a one-sheet training document for bartenders in order to get them up to speed on the cause, and provide talking points for guest interactions. The team also created a guest-facing one-sheeter, to further provide information and encourage donations. Apart from educating staff and guests, turning the donation feature on was as simple as flipping a switch!

Maura also praised the intuitiveness of the feature, noting that staff are able to passively fundraise without having to prompt the donating parties themselves and distract from all of their other responsibilities. Arryved POS users are able to set up whole dollar donations, or a round-up feature, and the system only prompts a donation if the party already tipped during checkout. 

Lastly, Seattle Cider values the reporting on the backend of the donation feature. Seattle Cider is easily able to filter out donations from the rest of their data, so profit numbers don’t get skewed and their reports can stay organized. 

With an already-impressive POS system, Maura notes Arryved’s donation feature was the “whipped cream and cherry on top”! We’d bet their charitable beneficiaries would agree. 

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Featured Image Courtesy of Seattle Cider Company.