“There could be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others.”
– President George H.W. Bush

Having a purpose and a clear vision about giving back to the community is inherent to the success of any charitable campaign. Many times, we are asked from all directions to donate and help organizations. Last month, I spelled out strategies about how we organize campaigns and make the most of those opportunities for all involved. This month, I want to detail one of our most aggressive and successful campaigns. It was a win-win for all involved, and it has birthed numerous other promotions in the same spirit afterward.

I am sure it has crossed your mind to have a famous person promote your company. Whether that person is an athlete, celebrity or – in this day and age – an “influencer.”  There can be many benefits to that strategy. We have had great success with retired athletes, specifically those who have a foundation. Being the championship city that it is, Pittsburgh has many respected former athletes who still have name recognition. We had been approached for years from current athletes’ agents or their marketing teams about working with them, but the price tag was exorbitant.

We had been approached by former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier’s foundation about working with Ryan and supporting his foundation, The Ryan Shazier Fund for Spinal Rehabilitation. Ryan and his team do great work with many people of all ages dealing with spinal cord injuries, including children. He gets them the support and resources they need and, many times, gives them the foundation to work toward walking again. We met with his team and pitched them this idea: We would hold an online contest where customers would submit their soon-to-be-award-winning pizza, and five finalists would get to come to the restaurant to have a bake off. Ryan would be a judge (along with members of our team). The winner’s pizza then would end up on the menu, and a portion of the proceeds then would go back to Ryan’s foundation.

Ryan’s team loved the idea.  Notice there was no dollar amount tied to him working with us – just a promise to donate a portion of the proceeds back. Once it was agreed that Ryan would come out and judge, we got to work promoting the online contest. Our customers got to go to one of our pizzeria locations to buy a pizza kit, make their pizzas at home and then post the pictures of their creation to our Facebook page. The turnout was great. After a few weeks of promoting it, we picked five finalists. We then invited them to the restaurant for the bake off.  Ryan was there to help judge. The winner was a chicken parm pizza. The creator was awarded a huge trophy and free pizza for a year!

For the next two months, we ran the pizza as our limited-time offer. It was a very popular pizza – and from the social media side, we had many shares and likes from the online contest. At the end of the contest, Ryan came to one of our locations for a big-check presentation. He was hoping for $2,500, and we surprised him with a check for $5,395! The local media picked up the story, and it got us a ton of press. This was a big win for all involved, including the people he was helping to walk again. We have used this formula of giving back to various foundations and creating a pizza to do it many times over. The free press from this is incredible.

In the next installment of Building Blocks, we will talk about “all things press releases.”

Nick Bogacz is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh. Instagram: @caliente_pizza