My organization is Garfield's Rescue, Inc., (GRI) a homeless cat rescue, S/N/V, foster to adopt charity in Virginia's underserved region of the 4 counties that comprise the Northern Neck. Our apprx. 55,000 population of residents is spread across 745 sq. mi. of apprx. 17.25% croplands & 18.25% woodlands. Our over 65 population is as high as 36.5% in two of the counties. Our NN region is full of charity after charity, all competing for the same small pool of capable, able bodied volunteers and seeking money from a small slice of available money. While exhibiting at a Farmer's Market in October two years ago, we met a visitor to our booth that told us about a successful Wine and Whiskers fundraiser w/ a silent auction they held in their mountain region in VA. I later contacted her for more detail, and GRI expanded on that. We proposed a W & W fundraiser to a small, new winery in our area, asking they donate the wine and venue. They wanted to limit ticket sales to 100 due to limited parking space, and wine donation to 50 bottles. We also provided coolers of water, tea and lemonade. Our ticket price of $30 included 2 glasses of wine, and passed appetizers from an amazing, generous caterer very supportive of GRI's homeless cat rescue mission (we've rescued 1228 since our March 2020 inception, placing 1135 in furever homes!); music w/ a DJ; and, mu former garden club provided many beautiful, whimsical fresh floral arrangements
Planning began in March for a September 22, Thursday 5:00-7:30 date. Once all parties could be available for our date, "Save the Date" fliers were posted at libraries, P.O.s, local retailers and social media reciting ticket sales would commence in August online and at 4 designated physical locations. Once the physical locations were secured, revised fliers reciting those addresses were posted and 20 numbered tickets were provided to each site for direct sale, w/ a signup sheet to complete w/purchaser's name, email address & phone number for reference in case they lost their ticket. These were added to often as some sites, (our local veterinarian!) had brisker sales than others. These sites were monitored weekly, as within a week of the event we were sold out of our 112 tickets! Some people turned theirs in as a donation for re-sale if they discovered they couldn't attend. Post card mailers advertising the event to our 900 person mailing list were mailed 6 weeks prior to the event. A press release with GRI's mission stated and all details of our fundraiser were submitted to our local newspaper. An original oil painting painted exclusively for our event by a local artist was featured in color in the press release. Over 80 items were donated by local retailers, theaters, service providers and local artisans to comprise 40 themed baskets for our Silent Auction for bidding. Volunteers sold 50/50 raffle tickets to attendees throughout the evening for end of night drawing. That week GRI had just rescued a stray, 16-year-old cat we named Holly, whose picture we enlarged on a poster displayed on an easel for all to see! What a milestone for our event! Our local radio station advertises for free upcoming events for non-profits which we used heavily, plus advertising in any free local print publications available, and in the calendar sections of our newspaper. The event itself required the work of all 10 of our BOD members, several of their spouses, and another 5 supportive members. We were not able to set up until the day of the event, along w/ my garden club who used fresh flowers in all their arrangements. We had about 5 tents, as the inside tasting room of the vineyard was too small for an inside event. Due to wind, we couldn't set up tents until the morning of the event. And, of course it rained a good two hours the day of the event, thankfully stopping about 4:30 so we could set up the Silent Auction items as attendees started pouring in at 4:45! Note that we plan to hold this event again in 2023, but hope to secure an inside venue so rain isn't a factor. Tent set up was challenging and strong men and women are needed for that. We were lucky to have all of them donated! A BOD member's church loaned us the 12 six-foot tables needed for auction items & event entry cashier's table. The vineyard had bijou tables and chairs throughout the grounds for attendee sitting and some tables and chairs on their porch. Of course, we had a large donation jar positioned on a tall bijou table at the event exit in case attendees wanted to donate more, and all were given an exiting pawprint cellophane sleeve w/GRI informational pamphlet, donation envelope and signature GRI refrigerator magnet. This year we will ask sponsors if they'd like us to include any coupons for their services. I will try to upload some files of our mailers/fliers. I'm not computer savvy. Our website is www.garfieldsrescue.org to checkout W & W from last year. Our FB page is www.Facebook.com/garfieldsrescue
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Karen Peterson
Vice president
Garfield's Rescue, Inc.
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-02-2023 12:33 PM
From: Kim Domerofski
Subject: May 2023 Resource Drive: Fundraisers
Fundraising is a crucial aspect for animal welfare organizations to continue their mission of providing services for people and pets. Successful fundraisers bring in the necessary funds to cover the costs of medical care, food, shelter, and other essential needs.
We would love to hear about your organization's most successful fundraisers and how you marketed them to your community members to raise awareness and funds for your mission. Whether you created a wish list for specific supplies, ran an online auction, or partnered with a local business - we want to hear from you!
You can participate in 2 ways:
1. Reply to this post and tell us about the most successful fundraiser your organization has done. Bonus points if you upload or share marketing materials, planning documents, event checklists, etc. that your organization used to help make your fundraiser a success.
2. Reply with a request about a fundraiser you'd like to run and we'll do some group brainstorming to see how we can help!
🤑 Participation = Your Entry To Win 🤑
Everyone who uploads a file, shares a resource on this thread or replies with a successful fundraiser during the month of May will be entered to win a $50 gift card to Amazon, Petco or PetSmart (winner's choice). Your reply will also enter you to win a $3k grant! Start sharing now!
*Pro-Tips for sharing resources:
Use the "Upload File" button when replying to this thread to attach a file. We encourage you to attach the file versus hyperlinking to the file whenever possible. Files that are attached to discussion threads are automatically added to the Maddie's Pet Forum Resource Library so attaching helps make the resource searchable and improves accessibility within the forum.
Yes, you can share fundraisers that your organization did not create. Sharing is caring and this applies to resources too! Make sure the creator allows the resource to be shared publicly and be sure to give credit to the creator or source organization.
#FundraisingandDevelopment
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Kim Domerofski (she/her)
Community Manager
Maddie's Fund
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