Animal Welfare Professionals

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Thank you for those suggestions, Stacy. Maria, I'm in a situation similar to yours. I've had a TNR program for 2 years, but not a lot of local help. Do you have a vet who knows what you are doing and is willing to give you discounted rates? As far as the community, I'm very active on social media, and that's how I've managed to find some other like-minded people to pitch in. I sign up for every community event this area has, and I talk to anyone who will listen at these events. I also give them handouts about TNR. I do a lot of pics and videos, and I make them FUN. I want people to see how rewarding this work is. I'm having discussions with the city council members in my town about  adopting a "community cat program". I'm also developing a relationship with local Animal Control. There are probably more people out there who are like you than you realize, the challenge is finding them and getting them motivated to make some big changes. 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Hi Amy,

I have one vet that will do two neuters or one spay a week that will give us discounted rates, otherwise I'm driving about 2 hours away to get them sterilized at a low cost (we are very rural). 

Are you volunteer ran? Myself and our 4 other volunteers work full-time as well and it's hard to balance, doable because we believe in the cause but I do worry about burnout. Our area has meetings like that but it's typically during the day so it's hard for us to get to go. I will dig deeper into that. Thank you so much for that idea. 

I attended the zoom meeting with Maddie's fund yesterday, it was about social media and it was so helpful.

I needed to hear that there are more like minded people out there. Thank you.

Thank you for those suggestions, Stacy. Maria, I'm in a situation similar to yours. I've had a TNR program for 2 years, but not a lot of local help. Do you have a vet who knows what you are doing and is willing to give you discounted rates? As far as the community, I'm very active on social media, and that's how I've managed to find some other like-minded people to pitch in. I sign up for every community event this area has, and I talk to anyone who will listen at these events. I also give them handouts about TNR. I do a lot of pics and videos, and I make them FUN. I want people to see how rewarding this work is. I'm having discussions with the city council members in my town about  adopting a "community cat program". I'm also developing a relationship with local Animal Control. There are probably more people out there who are like you than you realize, the challenge is finding them and getting them motivated to make some big changes. 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Yes, we are volunteer-ran. I have one volunteer who is basically "full-time". I work at a full-time job, as do most of my other volunteers. We rely heavily on the colony caregivers do the trapping and transporting, and it's worked great so far. We provide all the equipment and training, they trap the cats and take them to the appointment we've scheduled for them. We have a vet who is an hour's drive from us who gives us a discount. We are also very rural, so it's not easy to get things done! We're attending a community health fair in a couple of weeks, where we will educate about TNR, and we'll be selling some t-shirts and necklaces. We'll also have a big "DONATION JAR" front and center. If you could find one person among your volunteers who is outgoing and has  the flexibility to attend community events, it could be a big benefit in a lot of ways. I wish I had someone who could work on grants full-time for me! 

Hi Amy,

I have one vet that will do two neuters or one spay a week that will give us discounted rates, otherwise I'm driving about 2 hours away to get them sterilized at a low cost (we are very rural). 

Are you volunteer ran? Myself and our 4 other volunteers work full-time as well and it's hard to balance, doable because we believe in the cause but I do worry about burnout. Our area has meetings like that but it's typically during the day so it's hard for us to get to go. I will dig deeper into that. Thank you so much for that idea. 

I attended the zoom meeting with Maddie's fund yesterday, it was about social media and it was so helpful.

I needed to hear that there are more like minded people out there. Thank you.

Thank you for those suggestions, Stacy. Maria, I'm in a situation similar to yours. I've had a TNR program for 2 years, but not a lot of local help. Do you have a vet who knows what you are doing and is willing to give you discounted rates? As far as the community, I'm very active on social media, and that's how I've managed to find some other like-minded people to pitch in. I sign up for every community event this area has, and I talk to anyone who will listen at these events. I also give them handouts about TNR. I do a lot of pics and videos, and I make them FUN. I want people to see how rewarding this work is. I'm having discussions with the city council members in my town about  adopting a "community cat program". I'm also developing a relationship with local Animal Control. There are probably more people out there who are like you than you realize, the challenge is finding them and getting them motivated to make some big changes. 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

Hi Maria,  Thank you so much for starting up a cat organization to help with TNR and Community Cat support.  This is the best group to get ideas etc.     It sounds like the first step is trying to build your group with more people who are like minded about cats and want to help.  If it seems appropriate I would post in your local neighborhood social media that you are looking for volunteers to help buildout a TNR program and fundraise to help support this program.  At Community Cats Central we offer monthly TNR certification workshops that you can require folks to take(it is only $10) to get certified and then can access benefits like access to traps, ability to help with spay/neuter and transport to appointments, trapping etc.  You can define those benefits.  It will save you a lot of time if people aren't willing to do a 2-3 hr virtual training then you know ahead of time that they aren't really going to be a committed volunteer.   In terms of fundraising- I always say it takes 4 people fundraising to support 1 person trapping.  Check out Get Fully Funded- they have some great resources etc.    I am not sure what your spay/neuter costs are and what volume you are at but check out: https://mnsnap.org/community-cats/.  You might want to reach out and connect with other groups in the state to share and collaborate.  I hope this is a helpful good start. Reach out if you need anything.  

I've grown up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people under it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But noone is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but none wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

I really appreciate this discussion because community involvement is honestly one of the biggest factors in whether TNR efforts succeed or fail. It's not just about trapping and fixing cats-it's about building awareness and trust within the neighborhood.

One of the most effective ways to get people involved is by making TNR feel accessible and non-intimidating. A lot of people want to help but assume it's complicated or that they're not qualified. Breaking it down into simple roles-like reporting colonies, helping with short-term recovery, or even just donating food-can make a big difference. It gives people a way to participate without feeling overwhelmed.

Where I live, we have a SNIP bus that works directly with the public and prioritizes TNR cats. Standby lines can be long, but when cats are brought in using humane traps, they are typically accepted first thing in the morning. Programs like this highlight how important it is to connect the public with accessible resources, because the support systems do exist; but people need to be aware of them.

I also think education plays a huge role. Many people still turn a blind eye to what's happening in their neighborhoods, often because they don't fully understand the issue or realize they can be part of the solution. Explaining how TNR reduces overpopulation, nuisance behaviors, and shelter intake can help shift perspectives and encourage involvement.

 I also think there is room for stronger community-level support and accountability. While shelters are important, increasing funding toward proactive resources-like mobile spay/neuter services, outreach programs, and dedicated response teams-could make a more direct impact. A task-force approach that not only responds to reports but actively works within neighborhoods could help address the issue at its source. Alongside this, encouraging responsible pet ownership through education and, when necessary, enforcement (such as addressing repeated unplanned breeding) could help reduce the cycle over time.

Overall, successful TNR programs seem to be the ones that combine education, accessibility, and community engagement. Expanding resources while also holding communities accountable can create a more sustainable and humane solution.

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

Hi Maria - There are a lot of great ideas here that can hopefully help. I agree that starting to post more on social media to bring awareness is a good start. It will help find like minded people while also making the public a bit more aware of all that goes into this process. You aren't pigeonholed into any specific aspect of this yet, so that is a good thing. You can show video of when you go check out a new location  -what it looks like, what you are looking for, etc., pictures of the cats in traps, video of you driving them to clinic, how you hold them the night before and recover them the night after, how they are covered and why. You have a ton of potential content to show. This is also a great time to ask for volunteers. Even if you were to get a volunteer that is up for the drive, even if one way once a week, that would lessen some of your burden.
Also as we head into spring and summer, any opportunity you can get to have a table at a community type event can also have great benefits. We started doing street fairs a couple years ago to raise awareness and solicit donations. Now I can honestly say we have one of the most popular booths at these event and average between 1400-2400 per event between selling merch and our donation jars. 
We are lucky to be in a city that also has a HQHVSN clinic but we also have built relationships with multiple private vets. People like what we do and how we do it, and one of our vet partners actually reached out to us to partner. They offer one appointment a week, either one spay or two neuters. They also donate all the vaccines. We book these spots up to 3 months in advance. The other 2 private vet clinics we use both let us keep vaccines there, that we purchase at a discount, and they administer. One of those clinics donates the Rabies vaccine to us. 
It takes consistency and lots of talking about what you are doing. I started our org and was just a solo trapper for a couple yeras, not wanting to set up a nonprofit, but I relented, mainly in order to fundraise better and to get some of the perks that you receive as a nonprofit that you cannot if you are not a 501c3. We bacame a nonprofit in 2022 and in 2025, we cracked 100K in donations! If you highlight the hard work you do, you will find people that admire what you are doing and help support you. 
And - Stacy LeBaron was one of my mentors, who helped guide me as I tried to narrow my scope as to not be spread too thin in my goals and get overwhelmed.

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

Karen, can I ask you about your donations? Do they mainly come from individuals, local businesses, or corporate payroll deduction funds? You're doing amazing work! 

Hi Maria - There are a lot of great ideas here that can hopefully help. I agree that starting to post more on social media to bring awareness is a good start. It will help find like minded people while also making the public a bit more aware of all that goes into this process. You aren't pigeonholed into any specific aspect of this yet, so that is a good thing. You can show video of when you go check out a new location  -what it looks like, what you are looking for, etc., pictures of the cats in traps, video of you driving them to clinic, how you hold them the night before and recover them the night after, how they are covered and why. You have a ton of potential content to show. This is also a great time to ask for volunteers. Even if you were to get a volunteer that is up for the drive, even if one way once a week, that would lessen some of your burden.
Also as we head into spring and summer, any opportunity you can get to have a table at a community type event can also have great benefits. We started doing street fairs a couple years ago to raise awareness and solicit donations. Now I can honestly say we have one of the most popular booths at these event and average between 1400-2400 per event between selling merch and our donation jars. 
We are lucky to be in a city that also has a HQHVSN clinic but we also have built relationships with multiple private vets. People like what we do and how we do it, and one of our vet partners actually reached out to us to partner. They offer one appointment a week, either one spay or two neuters. They also donate all the vaccines. We book these spots up to 3 months in advance. The other 2 private vet clinics we use both let us keep vaccines there, that we purchase at a discount, and they administer. One of those clinics donates the Rabies vaccine to us. 
It takes consistency and lots of talking about what you are doing. I started our org and was just a solo trapper for a couple yeras, not wanting to set up a nonprofit, but I relented, mainly in order to fundraise better and to get some of the perks that you receive as a nonprofit that you cannot if you are not a 501c3. We bacame a nonprofit in 2022 and in 2025, we cracked 100K in donations! If you highlight the hard work you do, you will find people that admire what you are doing and help support you. 
And - Stacy LeBaron was one of my mentors, who helped guide me as I tried to narrow my scope as to not be spread too thin in my goals and get overwhelmed.

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

Sure!

Most of our donations are individuals! We don't have any corporate payroll deductions, although I believe we are registered with Benevity and some folks do their donation match to us. We hustle on our fundraising. I need to start reaching out to businesses but I don't feel strong in that area, I'm more like a throw me out to the public and I will work it hard, but the corporate - I'm pretty intimidated. I also work full time during the day so my outreach in person needs to be after hours or on the weekends, which isn't great. 

We are involved in a bottledrop program in Oregon, which is our redemption program for cans and bottles. They are 10 cents for each item and if you return them in blue bags, that goes to the registered nonprofit. That nets us close to 1200-2000 per year and is increasing fast. We try to fundraise for any super critical medical case if we have time or if we end up having to do like 10 dentals in a community cat colony. We are also in a big holiday campaign for local nonprofits that is very competitive, but we have made the cut each time we tried (the past 2 years and are in year 2 of a 3 year term!), where we raised almost $30k last year. That lasts us until about March/April. Our street fairs do well and we have done a larger convention in Seattle. But we have someone who spends all kinds of time ordering cat themed items, we have supporters make stuff for us to sell and have a super fun interactive cat board that usually makes us between 200-400 each event in donations alone. Plus that allows us to do a ton of education and outreach while everyone is telling us about their cats. 

We work relentlessly on this though.  None of our super active volunteers have kids at home, and even though we all work full time, we can mostly dictate our own schedules. We either have a supportive partner who may or may not be involved or no partner at all. 

Our tentative street fair and event schedule:

I hope this helps some?
Karen

Karen, can I ask you about your donations? Do they mainly come from individuals, local businesses, or corporate payroll deduction funds? You're doing amazing work! 

Hi Maria - There are a lot of great ideas here that can hopefully help. I agree that starting to post more on social media to bring awareness is a good start. It will help find like minded people while also making the public a bit more aware of all that goes into this process. You aren't pigeonholed into any specific aspect of this yet, so that is a good thing. You can show video of when you go check out a new location  -what it looks like, what you are looking for, etc., pictures of the cats in traps, video of you driving them to clinic, how you hold them the night before and recover them the night after, how they are covered and why. You have a ton of potential content to show. This is also a great time to ask for volunteers. Even if you were to get a volunteer that is up for the drive, even if one way once a week, that would lessen some of your burden.
Also as we head into spring and summer, any opportunity you can get to have a table at a community type event can also have great benefits. We started doing street fairs a couple years ago to raise awareness and solicit donations. Now I can honestly say we have one of the most popular booths at these event and average between 1400-2400 per event between selling merch and our donation jars. 
We are lucky to be in a city that also has a HQHVSN clinic but we also have built relationships with multiple private vets. People like what we do and how we do it, and one of our vet partners actually reached out to us to partner. They offer one appointment a week, either one spay or two neuters. They also donate all the vaccines. We book these spots up to 3 months in advance. The other 2 private vet clinics we use both let us keep vaccines there, that we purchase at a discount, and they administer. One of those clinics donates the Rabies vaccine to us. 
It takes consistency and lots of talking about what you are doing. I started our org and was just a solo trapper for a couple yeras, not wanting to set up a nonprofit, but I relented, mainly in order to fundraise better and to get some of the perks that you receive as a nonprofit that you cannot if you are not a 501c3. We bacame a nonprofit in 2022 and in 2025, we cracked 100K in donations! If you highlight the hard work you do, you will find people that admire what you are doing and help support you. 
And - Stacy LeBaron was one of my mentors, who helped guide me as I tried to narrow my scope as to not be spread too thin in my goals and get overwhelmed.

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

Thank you for sharing those ideas, Karen! It definitely helps!

Sure!

Most of our donations are individuals! We don't have any corporate payroll deductions, although I believe we are registered with Benevity and some folks do their donation match to us. We hustle on our fundraising. I need to start reaching out to businesses but I don't feel strong in that area, I'm more like a throw me out to the public and I will work it hard, but the corporate - I'm pretty intimidated. I also work full time during the day so my outreach in person needs to be after hours or on the weekends, which isn't great. 

We are involved in a bottledrop program in Oregon, which is our redemption program for cans and bottles. They are 10 cents for each item and if you return them in blue bags, that goes to the registered nonprofit. That nets us close to 1200-2000 per year and is increasing fast. We try to fundraise for any super critical medical case if we have time or if we end up having to do like 10 dentals in a community cat colony. We are also in a big holiday campaign for local nonprofits that is very competitive, but we have made the cut each time we tried (the past 2 years and are in year 2 of a 3 year term!), where we raised almost $30k last year. That lasts us until about March/April. Our street fairs do well and we have done a larger convention in Seattle. But we have someone who spends all kinds of time ordering cat themed items, we have supporters make stuff for us to sell and have a super fun interactive cat board that usually makes us between 200-400 each event in donations alone. Plus that allows us to do a ton of education and outreach while everyone is telling us about their cats. 

We work relentlessly on this though.  None of our super active volunteers have kids at home, and even though we all work full time, we can mostly dictate our own schedules. We either have a supportive partner who may or may not be involved or no partner at all. 

Our tentative street fair and event schedule:

I hope this helps some?
Karen

Karen, can I ask you about your donations? Do they mainly come from individuals, local businesses, or corporate payroll deduction funds? You're doing amazing work! 

Hi Maria - There are a lot of great ideas here that can hopefully help. I agree that starting to post more on social media to bring awareness is a good start. It will help find like minded people while also making the public a bit more aware of all that goes into this process. You aren't pigeonholed into any specific aspect of this yet, so that is a good thing. You can show video of when you go check out a new location  -what it looks like, what you are looking for, etc., pictures of the cats in traps, video of you driving them to clinic, how you hold them the night before and recover them the night after, how they are covered and why. You have a ton of potential content to show. This is also a great time to ask for volunteers. Even if you were to get a volunteer that is up for the drive, even if one way once a week, that would lessen some of your burden.
Also as we head into spring and summer, any opportunity you can get to have a table at a community type event can also have great benefits. We started doing street fairs a couple years ago to raise awareness and solicit donations. Now I can honestly say we have one of the most popular booths at these event and average between 1400-2400 per event between selling merch and our donation jars. 
We are lucky to be in a city that also has a HQHVSN clinic but we also have built relationships with multiple private vets. People like what we do and how we do it, and one of our vet partners actually reached out to us to partner. They offer one appointment a week, either one spay or two neuters. They also donate all the vaccines. We book these spots up to 3 months in advance. The other 2 private vet clinics we use both let us keep vaccines there, that we purchase at a discount, and they administer. One of those clinics donates the Rabies vaccine to us. 
It takes consistency and lots of talking about what you are doing. I started our org and was just a solo trapper for a couple yeras, not wanting to set up a nonprofit, but I relented, mainly in order to fundraise better and to get some of the perks that you receive as a nonprofit that you cannot if you are not a 501c3. We bacame a nonprofit in 2022 and in 2025, we cracked 100K in donations! If you highlight the hard work you do, you will find people that admire what you are doing and help support you. 
And - Stacy LeBaron was one of my mentors, who helped guide me as I tried to narrow my scope as to not be spread too thin in my goals and get overwhelmed.

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------

I've grew up in a small rural town in northern Minnesota where cats were a dime a dozen. I've always been a cat person since I was a little girl and not many people understood it. When I moved and started working at a cat rescue out of state, I felt like I was with my people. Now, being back home in the town I grew up in, it's still the same- dime a dozen. 

I recently started a cat rescue after finding yet another frozen dead cat in a colony I help with. We're a registered nonprofit for community cats/feral cats/strays that need to be trapped. We have a TNR Program and our website has educational information that I made to be shared and printed- whatever to get the word out. But no one is interested in that- they just don't want the cats. I just trapped and brought a cat in that had been living in horrible conditions with its eye hanging from the socket for months and others are pretty nonchalant about it because it's a cat. 

Our TNR Request list is at 139 within just 6 days and within 40 miles from our location, but no one wants to donate to help with the TNR services. 

I'm stuck- I want to continue to TNR, continue to help the ones that have nowhere else to go but my community isn't interested and I can't continue to pay for everything myself. 

Any ideas on how I can get my community to change that dime a dozen mindset so we can continue to make an impact? 

#CommunityCatManagement

------------------------------
Maria Plattner
Director
Forest Felines
MN
------------------------------