Tsunami Relief Piggybacks Loyalty Programs

A handful of airlines are using their loyalty programs to solicit donations for tsunami relief efforts, while retailers collect—and often match—shopper donations.

United Airlines will give 500 frequent-flier miles to each Mileage Plus member who donates $50 or more to the American Red Cross, AmeriCares, Operation USA, Save the Children or Sarvodaya USA. United will give away up to 5 million miles total. Chase Bank will give away another 5 million miles to Mileage Plus members who make donations via their Mileage Plus Visa card (issued by Chase).

United also encourages Mileage Plus members to donate miles to the non-profits to help transport medical personnel and volunteers to the tsunami site. Members can donate 1,000 miles or more through United's Charity Miles program; the airline has donated 2 million miles itself.

Delta Air Lines asked SkyMiles members to donate miles to the Red Cross, CARE and UNICEF via its SkyWish program; Delta donated 1 million miles itself.

Northwest Airlines will give 500 WorldPerks miles to members who contribute $50 or more to its non-profit partners, and encourages WorldPerks members to donate miles as well.

Meanwhile, retailers are working outside their loyalty programs to encourage shopper donations.

Starbucks will donate $2 to CARE for every pound of Sumatran coffee it sells through January. The company expects to raise $1 million over the next several months for relief efforts.

Virgin Entertainment Group will raise money for the Red Cross with its "100 Acts of Support," a one-day event with 100 live performances. Stages at Virgin Megastore's 20 U.S. locations will each host five or more bands on Jan. 20. Stores also will sell bracelets and host a silent auction to raise money from shoppers.

Grocers across the U.S. have set up donation boxes; many are matching shoppers' donations. BI-LO will collect donations for the Red Cross through Jan. 29, and match shopper donations with its own $25,000 gift. BI-LO shoppers can ask checkers to scan a special Red Cross card at checkout to trigger a donation of $1 or more, which is added to the total bill.

Shop-Rite will collect donations at its 200 stores through mid-February and add $100,000; funds go to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army South Asia Disaster Fund. P-O-P and circulars support.

Kroger Co. will collect shopper donations for the Red Cross through January, and match employee donations up to $300,000.

Verizon Wireless lets subscribers text-message donations of $5 to $25 to CARE. Callers send a message to 4CARE, enter the key word "gift," and then press "send" to donate $5 for each message (up to four). Donations are added to callers' cell phone bills; Verizon also will donate text-message fees from all donations to CARE. The program runs until early February. Text processor m-Qube and The Wireless Giving Association, a non-profit fundraising consultancy, assist with the program.