Jim Abrams Leads Rollout of Hotels that Help Fundraising Program for Charity

SAN FRANCISCO | Hotels that Help, a unique fundraising system that brings hotel staff and guests together in support of local community charities, launched its drive to enroll 1,000 hotels raising $10 million annually by 2010. Jim Abrams, the recently-retired CEO of the California Hotel & Lodging Association () will lead the rollout of this new, nonprofit, guest-giving system for hoteliers.

Through the “Hotels that Help” () program, hotel staff choose a local charity to support, and then invite guests to contribute $1 (or more) per night. 100 percent of guest contributions go directly to local social service nonprofits that deliver critical aid to families, children, sick, homeless, and the disadvantaged. No funds go to Hotels that Help or any other entity for “overhead” or “expenses.”

Under Abrams’ leadership, Hotels that Help aims to enroll 1,000 hotels in California by June, 2010, with a goal of raising more than $10 million each and every year in “net new monies” for trusted nonprofits. In 2011, Hotels that Help will go nationwide with even more ambitious goals, based on the nearly 1,000,000 occupied hotel rooms—each night, every night—across the US.

“I am proud to lead Hotels that Help,” Abrams says. “We offer a unique and compelling leadership opportunity for the hospitality industry, by teaming up with our guests and employees to support our local communities in these challenging times. I encourage hoteliers—large and small—to join us in making a difference.”

Coming out of the 2007-09 pilot phase, more than 20 Bay Area hotels now raise approx. $20,000 every month (or $300,000 annually). Having refined its approach based on field testing and evidence of the program’s success, Hotels that Help will use its unique web-based support system to support hospitality professionals in rolling out at individual properties or across multiple properties.

Hotels that Help is a program of the Kohala Foundation (an IRS-recognized 501(c) 3 operating foundation, www.kohalafoundation.org). “Jim Abrams brings connections, credibility, and clout to this program,” says Dave Levenson, Founder of Hotels that Help and the Kohala Foundation. “Jim will lead our rollout California-wide…and eventually nation-wide. He will engage the hospitality industry and the traveling public and make Hotels that Help the largest charity fundraising system in the nation.”

Hotels that Help--hotels and their guests helping communities through charitable contributions.