Dairy Queen® System Continues to Build Longstanding Partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® with over $120 Million Raised

As a brand that prides itself on sharing a smile and a story with each customer that stops in for a sweet treat or a meal, the Dairy Queen*® leadership team and its franchisees take extra steps every day to bring smiles to the faces of those in need through its charitable efforts.

The brand's charity of choice since 1984 has been Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®, with franchisees raising more than $120 million for sick and injured children during that time period. There are now over 170 local hospitals across the U.S. and Canada involved in the partnership, and the donations help provide support for over 32 million patient visits each year.

“Our partnership with Children’s Miracle Network is unique in the fact that it provides an opportunity for all of the dollars collected by an individual franchisee to stay local and serve the Network hospital in the community,” said Adam Layne, Cause Marketing Manager for ADQ. “That local impact of the charitable effort reinforces the genuine nature of our brand and its operators.”

Each year, the brand encourages locations to participate in Miracle Treat Day the final Thursday in July in the U.S. or the second Thursday in August in Canada. On that day, for every Blizzard® Treat sold, participating DQ® locations donate $1 or more to the local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

While Miracle Treat Day is a huge fundraising opportunity for the partnership on an annual basis, Layne noted that the brand’s operators are committed to the cause for much more than that single day.

”Many stores in the DQ system fundraise on a year-round basis for their local CMN Hospital,” Layne said. “Whether using donation canisters at the register or selling Miracle Balloons, our average store raises about $1,500 annually for local kids.”

In 2015, the top fundraiser of all participating locations in the U.S., raised over $57,000. That store was in Madison, South Dakota—a city with a population of around 6,500 people.

“The record-breaking accomplishment that we saw in Madison shows that the size of a community doesn’t matter as much as the motivation of an individual operator to make a difference in his or her community,” Layne said. “A lot of the operators who participate in the partnership reiterate that for every dollar they put toward the cause, their local customers pay them back twice as much.”

As the 76-year-old brand continues to grow, Layne and his team oversee charitable efforts for both veteran owners and new operators in the system. Between 2013 and 2015, the DQ system increased annual fundraising from $6.5 million to $8.9 million, showing 37 percent growth. By 2017, Layne said the brand hopes to reach $10 million in fundraising for kids across the U.S. and Canada.