Please scroll down for our 2024 Referral Reward Yearly Award Ballot!

(updated 12/4/24) We’re very proud that most new clients of Tom Dwyer Automotive Services find us through our existing clients… people telling their friends and family what they’ve found with us. We used to say ‘thank you’ for your Referrals with certificates for our Minor Interval Service, but in 2014 Tom started thinking… if a client has a self-interest in making a referral, doesn’t that ‘taint’ it a little? Even unconsciously? That was the start of our Referral Reward program and now we say ‘thank you’ by making a donation to any charity (or other non-profit group) you choose. It’s a win-win-win… we still get to show you how valuable your word-of-mouth is, a deserving charity gets a little boost, and you can recommend us with absolutely no conflict of interest! This month we thought we’d share the details of the Referral Reward Program with any new clients, introduce you to some of the groups who’ve benefitted so far, and explain why you may not have gotten a Referral Reward call from us even if you’ve referred someone…

The Takeaway…

Before we dig deep, we want to focus on two basic ideas…

Since the Referral Reward Program started in 2014, we’ve donated $40,871.47 to hundreds of organizations large and small. (as of 12/4/24)

and

It’s easy for YOU to participate!

Referral Reward Program details

For each new client you refer to us we’ll donate 20% (minimum $10, but up to $50) of the qualifying purchases from their first invoice to the non-profit group of your choice.
We’ll be thankful for everyone you send us, but oil changes, tires, and batteries won’t count toward their qualifying purchases.
At the end of the year our clients vote on a Yearly Winner from all the groups we donated to through the year. We make an additional donation of $1,000.00 to that cause.
The person you refer must have a 15-years-old-or-newer vehicle of a type we service. Sorry, but our 15-years-old-or-newer policy still has to apply, and we can’t help with their Lamborghinis or semi-trucks. (We should remind you that the “15-years-old-or-newer” restriction applies ONLY TO NEW CLIENTS. If you’re an existing client and we’ve been servicing YOUR older vehicle, we’ll gladly continue to do so!)
Referrals don’t have to come singly; you can coordinate your group to come in as a whole. In fact, we have a sample letter you might want to use to tell them about the program.
You can pick any group or organization, preferably with a 501c3 designation, but that’s not required. They can be political, social justice, environmental, recreational, religious, educational, or any other purpose YOU care about.
We prefer (but don’t require) donations to smaller groups. Big groups like the Red Cross, Mercy Corps, or Oregon Food Bank do amazing work. Many of our clients choose these groups and we gladly give to them, but our donations aren’t huge (max $50) and may get lost in the noise of their bigger donations. Smaller, usually local, groups don’t have the operating budgets or ability to go fund hunting, and $50 (or even the $100 yearly award) to these groups can be a huge boost.

Are there groups you WON’T donate to?

We reserve the right to say ‘no’ to any group for any reason, but we’ve only rarely had to do it. Our Referral Reward program is designed to THANK you, so we do our best to donate to any group YOU care about. If for ANY reason we decide not to accept them we’ll have you pick another; in the unimaginable situation that we couldn’t find ANY group you wanted to give to then we’d turn your Referral Reward into an in-shop credit for future services. Like we said though, our goal is to give to the people YOU think need it most.

We won’t donate to a group that won’t ACCEPT our donation. For example, several clients wanted us to donate to Bernie Sanders but the Bernie campaign isn’t allowed to accept corporate donations (and Tom Dwyer Automotive is a corporation). We found a ‘support Bernie’ group instead, BerniePDX, which worked out even better… one client is now an active member of the group!
We won’t donate to a group if we CAN’T FIND them. One client wanted to donate to a small relief group in Nigeria (which sounds like a scam, but turned out not to be). After several attempts over about two months we finally gave up and donated to Mercy Corps instead. International donations can be tricky; we’ll try if you want but we’ll recommend a US-based (or at least large and well-known international) charity instead.
No one’s ever asked and we don’t expect our clients ever would, but we won’t donate to hate groups. No KKK, Proud Boys, Nazis, or suchlike. If you want to pick one of these groups then you can go pound sand. We’ll give you a coupon for an oil change at a Quick Lube (because we’re still grateful for your referral) but you’ll never hear from us again.

Why haven’t I gotten a Referral Reward? I’ve referred lots of people!

First, we’d like to apologize… your word-of-mouth keeps our doors open, and we would love to be able to thank EACH person individually! Unfortunately, we don’t always know who’s doing the Referring. The only way we know how a new client found out about us is to ask them on their first visit, and we use their answer as their Referral source. Even if you sent someone to us they may not give your name as the Referrer. While they may have first heard about us through you, they may have later checked us out on Yelp or finally decided to come in just because we were convenient. When we ask, they may tell us “Web search” or “convenient location” instead of your name, and then we don’t know there’s a Reward to issue. We can’t guarantee all your Referrals will give your name as a source, but if you want the charity you care about to get your Reward then it’s up to you. Make sure your friend knows to “tell ‘em I sent you!”

2024 Yearly Voting is going on NOW!

Please pick ONE of these deserving groups for 2024’s $1000 Referral Reward…

1000 Friends of Oregon Animal Aid Animal Rescue and Care Fund

Apano Bikes for Humanity PDX Blanchett House

Body Vox Dance Bradley Angle Cupcake Girls Elakha Alliance

Feral Cat Coalition Fort Kennedy Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Gisele Currier Scholarship Fund Grant High School Constitution Team

Grief House Impact NW Japanese Ancestral Society

Jewish National Fund for Tree Planting Lift Urban

Milwaukie Community Center Morrison Child & Family Services

Native American Youth and Family Center Neighborhood House

One School Global Oregon Dog Rescue Oregon Donkey Sanctuary

Outside In PDX Cat Trappers People of Color Outdoors

Pueblo Unido Q Center Seeding Justice

Sellwood Church Sellwood Community House St. Agatha School

Taking Ownership PDX Unity Center for Behavioral Health

Wichita Center for Family and Community Wilderness Volunteers

William Temple House Wisdom of the Elders Dougy Center

Email your choice to charles@tomdwyer.com, call us at 503-230-2300 with your vote, or pick up one of our ballots on your next visit and drop it with one of our Service Advisors. (Voting ends 12/31/24)

What groups have you already donated to?

We’ve tried to round up a complete list of everyone we’ve given to, and it’s pretty thorough but we apologize if we missed someone. Every group name is a link to the groups’ website, so please click and get to know them. They can ALL tell you exactly why your money would be so well invested with them!

Here are the recipients of our Quarterly and Yearly Referral Rewards…

2014- The Program was just starting, and we didn’t have Quarterly Awards yet.

2014 Yearly Award – Oregon Food Bank

2015 Quarterly Awards – Artichole Music, Janus Youth Services, Madison High School, RoseHaven

2015 Yearly Award – HealthCare for All Oregon (HCAO)

2016 Quarterly Awards – Medical Teams International, Randall Children’s Hospital, Friends of the Columbia River Gorge

2016 Yearly Award – Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette

2017 Quarterly Awards –Dougy Center, ACLU of Oregon, no 3^rd award

2017 Yearly Award- Southern Poverty Law Center

2018 Quarterly Awards- p;ear, Multnomah County CASA, no 3^rd award

2018 Yearly Award- We ended quarterly awards, and increased the Yearly award to $1000. Our Yearly Winner was Immigration and Refugee Community Organization

2019 Yearly- Pongo Fund

2020 Yearly– Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education

2021 Yearly– Sellwood Middle School Foundation

2022 Yearly– Meals on Wheels People

2023 Yearly- Children’s Cancer Association (JoyRX)

And here are the recipients of our past year’s monthly Individual awards…