I remember when we started Caliente Pizza & Draft House. I had many “whys” that drove me to put in the effort to be successful. What I remember most about those whys is when I asked my wife what hers were. My wife, Angie, said: “I want us to thrive so we can give back to those who really need it.”
That always stuck with me. Anyone who knows my wife knows she has a servant’s heart and has always been one to help others. Last month I wrote about self-care and ended by saying that sometimes you just need to do something for yourself. I also said that if you don’t think you deserve it, then to do something nice for someone else.
I believe we have a social responsibility to the communities that support us. Whether it be the homeless who live around our pizzerias or the little league baseball teams looking for a donation to buy a new scoreboard, it’s our privilege to help. I truly believe in giving not to get but giving to help and spread love. Once that is established, you know you are helping and giving in the right way.
In the beginning, I struggled with being a business that received recognition for our giving; that was not the reason we were donating our goods. Once I realized that I was doing it from the heart, I quickly realized that leveraging it makes it better for both the organization we are helping and our business. There are still times that we give in silence and don’t advertise it. I just have realized that bringing awareness to an organization’s needs through our social channels is a good thing.
It can be overwhelming due to all the donations that a pizzeria gets asked for. I thought it would be helpful to list our schools of thought on how we handle those requests.
The first one to address is the request for free pizza. We donate pizzas case by case. We usually do not ever donate more than 20 pizzas to one event. We do make exceptions if they warrant it. We also offer a discount on pizzas to organizations on a case-by-case basis.
Asking questions usually will help with those decisions. I like to ask how many people are being fed, what is the cause, do you have official non-profit status, etc. Any type of questions like that will help.
We also get asked a lot for monetary donations. I usually ask if I can give a gift basket to raffle off instead. I do make exceptions if it’s an ad in a program for a school function. I ask for pictures of the events that the baskets are going to so we can make a post on our social media accounts talking about the organization and their event.
Next month, we will continue talking about ways we give that are a win-win to all involved.
Nick Bogacz is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh. Instagram: @caliente_pizza
