Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Fundraising and donations

    Posted 03-26-2024 09:52 AM

    What are some ways your group has been successful with fundraising and donations this year? It seems like most rescues are hurting. I know we are. Just wanted to see what other groups are doing successfully. :)


    #FundraisingandDevelopment

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    Michele Futch
    President
    N FL Rescue Inc
    FL
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  • 2.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 03-26-2024 10:27 AM

    We have found donation drives to be a great resource for donations/fundraising.  Gyms, schools, libraries, etc. We always request canned food, toys, towels, blankets. 



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    Whitney Hollingsworth
    Southern Pines Animal Shelter
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 03-27-2024 01:43 AM

    Hi, Michele.  You are right that every nickel is harder to win! Our on line campaigns are still generating recent, but we aren't always reaching goals and they need a lot of shepherding.  So, we continue our approximately monthly  in person fundraisers that are actually more friend-raisers,  and focus hard on developing relationships with our friends and donors, old and new.  The fundraisers have small financial goals (upcoming bowling event is $4000, a wine tasting at a winery is $2000, etc), it's really about a monthly touch-base with donors and friends so they are ready for our bigger pleas.   As a relatively small group with a budget of around $250k, we still take a very hands on approach to development and try to follow the rules to connect with your people three times for each donation.  Be it an event, a newsletter, an emailed update, or a personal call for the big donors.  Development is a slow process that is invaluable.  Fundraisers are only one piece of development.  



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    Diane Metz
    Volunteer
    Orange Street Cats, Inc.
    NY
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 30 days ago

    Thank you so much for the feedback. Any and all help, is appreciated. We are struggling here.



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    Michele Futch
    President
    N FL Rescue Inc
    FL
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 29 days ago

    Donations are definitely going down in all sectors. It can be really challenging, so you're not alone. We do four appeal letters each year to our mailing list, and make sure to feature a heartwarming story about an animal and lots of pictures. We also have a fee-waived adoption event and vendor fair in the summer, and this year are having a concert and dance party in the fall with a local band. We also do one-off events like Cat Trivia and Cat Yoga (we are a cats-only operation). It all depends on how much money you're looking to raise, but with some ingenuity and a good team, there are ways. If you don't have a big team I'd try the appeal letter (maybe you're already doing that?) And always share many many pics of the animals...that's what the people want to see! 



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    Meghan Randolph
    Development and Communications Coordinator
    Madison Cat Project
    WI
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 28 days ago

    Hi Meghan, I'm with a cat rescue as well (Eden Animal Haven in Missouri). We tried our first direct mail appeal in December and got very little response. The mailer followed the guidelines of a Best Friends webinar, featuring a single adorable kitten and an upbeat story.  I used our mailing list of people already affiliated with our rescue as donors, adopters, fosters, or volunteers. In the process of figuring out how to do a mailing, I learned that you can obtain a list of addresses from USPS  for specific zip codes. I'm curious how you and others put together a mailing list? Is it better to use known contacts or try a "cold call"?



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    Pamela Adelmann
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 28 days ago

    I'm the volunteer President of the Board of Purrfect Match Cat Rescue based in West Tennessee.  We're a smaller non-profit with a $250K budget.  In 2022 our board created a Fund Development Strategic Plan with the goal to expand our revenue sources from primarily FaceBook posts seeking small/medium contributions to a more well-rounded fund raising program.  Our plan is to institute ONE new avenue of revenue each of the next 5 years.  In 2023 we focused on grants.  We received 7 grants from foundations across the US totaling over $60K in NEW REVENUE.   We will continue seeking grants in 2024.  Our 2024 focus is expanding our social media presence.  We qualified for Google Ads for Non Profits and get $10k a month to create campaigns on Google. Our Facebook and website are connected to these campaigns.  In addition, we are starting an Instagram presence and it is connected to our FaceBook posts.  In 2025 we will continue both of these programs and add corporate fund raising and Donor Advised funds locally.  In 2026 we will add Planned Giving as by then we hope to have greatly expanded our donor base that will give us more opportunity to promote bequests and gifts of stock/IRA contributions.  As a totally volunteer-driven organization, we feel that we can handle one new program a year and still continue to strengthen the ones we have put in place in past years.   We purposely DO NOT do any special events as we don't have the volunteer bandwith it takes and the ROI is usually not enough for the time and expense they take to be successful.



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    Bruce Thorsen
    President, Board of Directors
    Purrfect Match Cat Rescue
    Millington TN
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 29 days ago

    This month I have purchased some dog toys (My organization caters to small dogs), baggies, and printed business cards. I am going to set up a booth in areas around our service zone and pass the baggies and cards out. I will also answer any questions that come.  In May I will hand out flowers for Mother's Day and seek donations. 



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    Charlee Eller
    Founder and President
    Voiceless Moments Dog Sanctuary and Rescue
    TN
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 29 days ago

    We have a couple of successful fundraisers we hold once every year that our community comes to expect. They are our biggest fundraisers. But we also have an Amazon wish list and during the holidays we have done "Wish Lists" which we hung on the kennels and shared on FB. People would "adopt" one of the animals and purchase the items on their list. 



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    Kathryn Barnett
    Board Member
    Gunnison Valley Animal Welfare League
    CO
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Fundraising and donations

    Posted 28 days ago

    We are now doing a fundraiser letter once a year, expanded to 3 of the 4 counties in the Northern Neck region we service with our cat rescue/spay/ enter/vaccinate foster to adopt charity. We got property addresses w/value if $250,000+, translating to 10,000 letters w/donation envelope. The backprinting was full color showing our accomplishments  of # of rescues/adoptions; pics of our large TNR rescues and collaborative efforts of reducing euthanasia rate of a high % euthanasia shelter in our region. We have a nonprofit bulk mailing permit to reduce our postage costs. We generate a spring and fall newsletter a/donation envelope. We hold an annual Wine and Whiskers gala w/ appetizers, wine, music, Silent Auction of assembled baskets from retailer/artisan & service providers; and, a "Fund a Need" segment soliciting additional attendee donations for a recent large scale rescue (which we always have!!) we've started doing a story of a rescue weekly on website & FB…we always have stories of horrific rescues from hoarders and evictees. 



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    Karen Peterson
    Vice president
    Garfield's Rescue, Inc.
    VA
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    Original Message


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