Give a Slice

What it reported doing in 2025

Provision of financial relief to employees of bj's restaurants and their family members arising from illness, injury, death, fire and catastrophic events. The give a slice program is funded by voluntary contributions from participating team members who donate a small portion of their paychecks into the fund. Although all team members are invited to contribute, approximately 42% of the bj's restaurant workforce contributes to the fund via bi-weekly paycheck at levels of each employee's discretion. The gsl application does not ask if the applicant contributes to the fund, yet it is assumed that many awardees also contribute to the fund. The average donation per paycheck is $1.62. Given this modest average contribution it is definitely not an insurance policy that guarantees awards; it is a fund to altruistically help fellow team members in need. To begin the application process, management team members complete an application on behalf of the team member, applications are mailed to the president of the give a slice program who evaluates the application, checks for the inclusion of necessary documentation, makes recommendations to his committee members who approve or suggest adjustments to the applications. The committee includes robert deliema, director, president, executive director and treasurer of the foundation, kendra miller, director & corporate secretary, and julie weinman, director. If the committee approves the application, they decide on an appropriate award and a check is sent to the applicant's manager, who gives to the award recipient. Turnaround time from the receipt of application to receipt of check is just a few days. Examples of financial aid include: assistance with unexpected funeral expenses for family members, loss of work time due to accident/injury, extended illness and financial hardship involved in the need to acquire new housing as a result of the sale of one's dwelling by landlord, and domestic issues prompting the need for replacement housing. Applicants are only considered for the grant once a year and documentation must be provided showing the loss or expenses paid, ie: hospital bills, funeral home report/receipt, missed wages, court document validating domestic violence/seeking of new housing, etc.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 99.7%; rating input score 100
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.08; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -28.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings