POSITION: President
COMPANY: Valluzzo Management
WHAT THEY DO: Own and operate McDonald’s restaurants
REVENUE: $166,563,400 in 2008
NEXT GOAL: “Just making sure the customers we’re taking care of today are satisfied.”
Valluzzo Management, which owns McDonald’s restaurants throughout the Capital Region and beyond, sponsors literally hundreds of events and organizations in an average year, from “Boo at the Zoo” to West Feliciana softball teams, President John Valluzzo says. He doesn’t have a lot of strict rules about which organizations the company supports, but there are a few guidelines.
In general, Valluzzo asks that all requests be submitted in writing. Marketing Director Lisa Musso usually goes through the requests first, then meets with Valluzzo once a week to discuss “literally every item.” Requests from for-profit entities are quickly eliminated. Valluzzo says about 80% of the company’s giving focuses on children, including schools, summer reading programs and other events. If they sponsor a golf tournament, the proceeds might go to the Zachary school system, for example.
There is no specific budget for community sponsorships, and Valluzzo says he can’t give an average amount the company spends in a year because the number varies too widely. He says they try to ensure the money stays local.
“If we are approached by what appears to be a local fundraiser, but they send 40% off to national, that’s not where we really try to push our money,” he says. “We really want it to stay in the communities that our customers are in, where we have our restaurants.”
A lot of it has to do with history, Valluzzo says. There are some events McDonald’s has sponsored for 20 years or more.
“Some of these things go back to when my grandfather first came to Baton Rouge in 1961, ’62,” he says. “The community supports us, so we feel a sincere obligation to return some of the benefit we’ve received. It’s a core value that my entire family has operated by.”
Of course, Valluzzo can’t always say yes.
“It’s difficult to say no, but you’ve got to have some parameters of what we’re going to support,” he says. “But 99% of the time, people understand. They recognize it as a request, and when you’re making a request, both sides of the answer could occur.”
