Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello,

I am a volunteer at a local animal shelter who is looking to start a "sponsor a pet" program. Here are the initial details we've established. For a certain monetary donation each month (initial thinking is $50/month), a dog or cat could be sponsored and in return the person sponsoring would receive information about the dog or cat, as well as a photo. Each month, if that animal was still at the shelter they would receive an update until it was adopted. There would also be a sign posted on the kennel that this animal was being sponsored.

Wondering if any of you have experience with these programs and what has/hasn't worked. Thanks in advance for any information!

We have a "sponsor a kennel" program rather than an animal. It's $50 a month but they have a 6month minimum. We put a plaque on the kennel door. A lot of businesses do it because it's free advertising! 

We do something very similar, except it's $250 for one year. Donors can choose whether they'd prefer their plaque to be on a cat cage, a dog kennel, or a small animal cage, and as long as their choice is available, that's where the plaque goes. We didn't think having more sponsors than cages would ever be an issue, but we're almost there!

I think pet sponsorship programs like the one you are describing would be great, but also very labor-intensive, and you also have to figure out how you'll approach a sponsor if something should happen and the animal can't be adopted for whatever reason.

Thanks so much for your reply! Labor intensive is not what we're going for, so perhaps we need to revisit and only do a "sponsor a kennel". You've given me some good info to consider, Appreciate it.

Thanks for your reply and for attaching a photo of the plaque on the kennel door. Very helpful!

It is great to sponsor a dog, but if a person can't afford an adoption fee, how are they going to take care of the dog. (Medical bills, etc)

This is getting off topic, as the original poster never said that they would waive the adoption fee, but sponsored adoptions on specific animals helps to showcase that animal and give them a certain “marketing appeal” for potential adopters who come in. 

This would also fall under all the same knowledge and proof that has been studied for years about why there is nothing wrong with fee-waived adoptions, and that charging a fee doesn’t guarantee the animal will receive better care in the adoptive home. You are also making the assumption that the only people that adopt “free” animals are people who can’t afford a fee. We do free adoptions all the time at my shelter, and I can guarantee you that most of the adopters are not there looking for an animal just cuz it doesn’t cost anything - they can get that on Craigslist. 

Kathy, we do a "Sponsor a Shelter Pet" for $75 and then post the sponsor to our fb page. We've found that people love to see their names and where their monetary donation is going. It's a one time donation that covers the dogs being altered, rabies vaccination and heartworm tested, and for cats it covers them being altered, rabies and Feluk/FIV test. This is what the vet charges us for those serves. We do not waive the adoption fee, but it does allow us some leeway when it comes to running adoption specials. For instance, we are over run with cats right now and are running a $50 adoption fee special on kittens.  It was very simple to set up and we assign the animal (they can choose cat or dog) which cuts done on the confusion and makes the paperwork easier. I've attached our sponsor form. I hope this helps!!!!  IT HAS BEEN A HUGE SUCCESS FOR US!!!  Jennifer 

Attachment(s)

Sponsor a Shelter Pet form - Frances Hensley Animal Shelt...pdf   133 KB 1 version