Can 80 cents change a life?

Right above the tip line on credit card receipts, Irvine-based Yard House restaurants offers customers the option to round up their dining bill to the nearest dollar. It is, for thousands of Yard House customers, an easy way to give to charity.

It's also part of a new era in charity-related innovations.

In the year-plus since the launch of Round it Up America, customers at the Yard House's 27 restaurants have given more than $250,000 – at an average donation of 80 cents each.