Aiming for the perfect night out drives Melting Pot’s thriving St. Jude Thanks and Giving® partnership

When guests step inside a Melting Pot restaurant during the holiday season, along with the fondue aroma and buzz of celebrations, they will find other essential ingredients: generosity and gratitude. The Melting Pot mission to provide the “perfect night out” has for 22 years now included a meaningful tradition — offering guests the opportunity to be part of the St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign. 

With a goal to “ask every table, every time,” Melting Pot has raised more than $18 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.  Guests are once again participating through “Donate & Dine” — a $20 donation to St. Jude earns $40 toward a future Melting Pot visit.  

Bob Johnston, a driving force behind Melting Pot’s partnership with St. Jude, celebrated the company’s 50th anniversary in 2025 as CEO before transitioning this summer to his current role as chairman and principal owner. As Melting Pot rallies to raise $1.6 million during this year’s St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign, Johnston shared what he’s learned about power of partnering to further the St. Jude mission: Finding cures. Saving children. ®

NOTE: Answers edited for clarity.

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: You’ve often said that Melting Pot is the “first, only and best” job for you. Can you tell us about that journey and why St. Jude entered the picture as the charitable partner matching your company values? 

BOB JOHNSTON: It started when I was 14, washing dishes, and six years later, in 1985, I dropped out of junior college to join my brothers to buy the concept from the original owners. Once we began to enjoy modest success, we felt the brand needed an affiliation with a trusted charity our customers would want to support. We considered other charities, and visited some as well, but the values of St. Jude were very similar to our own. That first visit to St. Jude was an unexpected, amazing experience. I didn’t know it would be such an uplifting experience, and that was the “a-ha” moment. We knew St. Jude and the Thanks and Giving campaign was the right affiliation. 

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: What have you learned about the value of partnering with St. Jude when it comes to Melting Pot deepening loyalty and trust with customers?

BOB JOHNSTON: There are all kinds of consumer research about affinity for a brand reaching a higher level when customers know about a charitable affiliation. That’s especially true when it is a pristine charitable brand like St. Jude, which has done a remarkable job growing awareness and maintaining the impeccable reputation of the brand. Yes, there is also the business case of bringing customers back through Donate & Dine, but it also draws the consumer closer to Melting Pot in terms of their emotional connection. The research is there to support that consumers are more likely to choose and remain loyal to a brand that has a charitable heart.

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: What are some aspects of St. Jude that stand out when you bring Melting Pot team members to campus so they can see firsthand the impact of their fundraising?

BOB JOHNSTON: I could go on and on, but I think of the families that you see and hear from, understanding how much St. Jude means to them and how grateful they are for their child’s care and for how St. Jude takes care of the family, too. You also are struck by how important it is for St. Jude to share what they discover. They are making these ground-breaking discoveries and sharing them. That’s extraordinary and it got our attention. 

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: When you visit and tour the campus, there’s a photo of a former patient that you always show the Melting Pot team members. Why is that so meaningful? 

BOB JOHNSTON: I go to the same spot first every year because there's a photograph of a young patient — her name is Caitlin. It’s particularly heartwarming because hers was the first patient family we all came to know at Melting Pot. They came to one of our annual conferences — Caitlin and her little brother and the whole family —  to talk about the impact of support. That made it real for us. A decade later, when we celebrated Melting Pot’s 10th anniversary with St. Jude, the family joined us at a conference, during Caitlin’s senior year of high school. All of our long-tenured franchisees will remember that moment. There was not a dry eye when they shared their story.

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: Why are those campus visits — and sharing peers’ reactions — so powerful for franchisees, managers and servers heading into St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaigns?

BOB JOHNSTON: My wife, Katina, plays a big part in planning visits, so team members can see firsthand what Melting Pot’s partnership with St. Jude helps make possible. We can tell them, but there's nothing like being there. And we capture impressions from the visit to use for the launch video for future campaigns, because even if they don't work shoulder to shoulder, they're much more affected hearing from other team members. It’s the same for the franchisee, the restaurant managers and leaders. A few years ago, when St. Jude had to limit campus visits to protect the kids [during the COVID-19 pandemic], that was a challenge for our fundraising. Getting people to visit St. Jude has been very, very inspiring. 

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: How do you take the motivation generated by those connections with St. Jude and channel it into fundraising at Melting Pot locations?

BOB JOHNSTON: We are confident support will continue to grow by staying committed to our goal to “ask every table, every time.” If we create the opportunity for guests to be generous by supporting St. Jude, our partnership will just strengthen. We try to find ways to be uplifting and encouraging to team members with something really simple — just give every guest a chance to be generous. If we get 15% to respond with support for St. Jude, we will hit our goal of $1.6 million.

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: How does participating in St. Jude Thanks and Giving enhance the culture of celebration so ingrained at Melting Pot?

BOB JOHNSTON: It’s a time of year when our minds turn to gratitude for the blessings in our lives and the people in our lives. At Melting Pot, we celebrate all year long. Yes, we celebrate Valentine's Day and big moments like birthdays and anniversaries, like promotions, weddings and graduations. But we celebrate every day at Melting Pot. We're thankful to have this opportunity to set up a table where our guests can celebrate with people they care about — that’s an honor. 

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: What led to you having your head shaved when Melting Pot exceeded $1 million in fundraising for the 2022 campaign?

BOB JOHNSTON: The first idea was for me to dye my hair green because that was the color of the campaign. And I just shot my mouth off and said, “Dye it green? Why don’t I just shave it off.” We were aiming for $1 million (in 2022) and we did that, and a little more. It was an opportunity to have fun and celebrate what the team was doing for St. Jude. The person who really sacrificed was my wife, Katina. For 5 months, I kept it off and she didn't say a word. When I finally started growing it back, she goes, ‘Oh, thank goodness. I really did not like it.’” 

ST. JUDE INSPIRE: There’s a favorite photo of you at a St. Jude event — quietly washing dishes in the back. Why does serving behind the scenes matter to you as a leader? 

BOB JOHNSTON: Washing dishes is about the only job in restaurants that I'm qualified to do now – I can still wash a mean dish. I get to go to St. Jude every year, but for many other team members, it's a special opportunity. I want them to get as much exposure to what's going on as possible. My priority was for them to experience the event, spend time hearing from patient families and learning about the lifesaving research made possible when Melting Pot guests respond with generosity.