Fundraising with Naked Pizza

Naked Pizza, 1331 Beacon St, Brookline, MA | Get Directions »
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Naked Pizza starts by having a healthy and delicious product with a mission, an audience, and the capacity to reach it. Sprinkle in some point-of-sale technology, add a dash of process, and, voila -- you have an idea.

What is it?  We are going to empower motivated, high-minded people who are faced with the very real challenge of raising money for a cause.  Who does this include?  Anyone running the Boston Marathon for a group.  A high school tennis team.  A public radio station trying to provide great programming for its members.  A synagogue that is trying to provide services to its congregants.  An individual raising money for a summer learning trip.

For these folks, Naked Pizza provides a special code and a lot of help getting the word out.  Anyone who uses the person's code has 10% of their order go toward the Ambassador’s organization. In addition, on nights when we don’t run specials (Wednesday through Saturday before 9pm currently), the customer also gets 10% off their order. 

We know from experience that marketing is the key to making these kinds of programs successful.  So, Naked Pizza helps with that any way we can.  We’ll schedule an event where Ambassadors can bring as many people as they like into our shop for a pizza-tasting party, all at a fixed price, with profits donated to their cause.  We can send emails on our Ambassadors' behalf, provide them with all the materials they need about our menu and delivery areas, and happily promote their names and their cause.

Our first Community Ambassador (yes, we know, we need a better name for the program) is Allison Pelle.  She works at CBS Radio and is raising money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in mid-May.  Allison says, “Our family and friends have been touched by breast cancer. Since it runs in our family, we know it probably won't be the last time, so while we're young and healthy, we want to do something about it. The biggest challenge will be walking 39 miles in two days, but right now we've got to raise the money in order to be able to participate. We appreciate Naked Pizza's support and everyone I meet along the way will be a special part of my journey!”

Allison's code is “ALLYAVONWALKS”.  Every time you order and use her code, she’ll get 10% of the overall cost of your order donated to her efforts of raising $1800 for the Avon Walk.   You can help Allison out even further than using her code by spreading the word by tweeting about it or tagging us in a Facebook post that will get your friends involved as well. Thanks.

Why are we doing this?  Well, in a purely tactical sense, it helps sell pizza.  (Sorry, we are unashamedly pro-profit; you won’t save the whales if you can’t afford the boat.)  From a marketing perspective, empowering an army is more efficient than sending out a ton of direct mail.  Believe us, we’ve tried, and all we can say is -- never again. 

But it's more than just that. We think it’s really important for a brand to be defined by how it interacts with its community.  This means the company it keeps, the causes it affiliates with, and how it chooses to build its following.  Ours is a competitive business, and our edge is that we offer a healthy, delicious, and fun product that comes with an offbeat culture to match.  We try to express that in the attitude in our store and through our community interaction as well.

Wish Ally luck, and, if you can, please help her reach her goal.  We’ll be announcing new program participants in the coming weeks, and plan to open this program very soon to the wider community at large.