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  • 1.  Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    Posted 11-02-2023 10:13 AM

    Updated 11/6/23 at 3pm: Recording now available to watch on-demand!

    We hope to see you on Monday, 11/6/23 at 11am PT for our next Community Conversations call for a panel discussion with @Aleah Simpson, Pets for Life Program Manager, Humane Society of the United States, @Paula Shaw (she/her), Pets for Life Program Director, Companion Animal Alliance of Baton Rouge, and @Stephanie Macgill (she/her), Founder, SIXONEFIVE Oracles on, "Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity".

    Delve into the transformative world of ethical fundraising with our esteemed panelists, Aleah Simpson, Paula Shaw, and Stephanie MacGill. Challenge traditional narratives, understand the importance of empathy in community relations, and tackle the pressing question of equitable practice in fundraising. From addressing power dynamics to the art of story-gathering, this panel will equip you with the tools and perspectives needed for a holistic and compassionate fundraising approach.

    About the Panelists:

    • @Aleah Simpson is the Program Manager of Marketing & Communications for the Pets for Life Program within the Humane Society of the United States. She is an avid cheerleader for the human-animal bond. Her 15 years of experience in animal welfare has given her an in-depth perspective of the underlying systemic issues in communities that can create challenges for both animals and humans alike. Throughout her career, she has worked with various animal welfare organizations to develop and advocate for programs that improve pet owners' access to care and promoting DEI initiatives within animal welfare.

    • @Paula Shaw (she/her) began her career in animal welfare at the Companion Animal Alliance in 2011. In 2017, she became the founding Director of Pets for Life, a program of the Companion Animal Alliance. Paula is a firm believer and advocate for equity and inclusion in the animal welfare space (for pet owners and professionals alike). Under her leadership, the program prioritizes using door-to-door community outreach -  building trust so her team can authentically share the stories and photographs that highlight the human-animal bond in the underserved parts of Baton Rouge. Since its founding, PFLBR has provided free-to-owner pet services and supplies for over 2000 people and 4000 pets. When Paula is not providing services and meeting new people and pets, she is devoted to her son, Thomas, and their dogs - Scooter, Nina, Sugar, Chanel, Lucky and their cats - Chloe, Fiona, Simba, Mimi and Othello.

    • @Stephanie Macgill (she/her) is the founder of SixOneFive Oracles, a multi-dimensional coaching and consulting firm for emerging and established leaders and organizations. Stephanie has been working in the nonprofit sector on behalf of people and animals for over two decades. She is both a fundraising and program planning expert, with a penchant for somatic enquiry, process and system design, and authentic communication. She worked at Best Friends Animal Society for over 10 years fundraising for, consulting on, and project managing some of the organization's keystone programs and strategic initiatives.  Now, as SixOneFive Oracles, Stephanie offers a unique blend of leadership coaching, strategic planning facilitation, and fundraising consulting with spiritual wayfinding, therapeutic support, and wellness practices. She is your business advisor, idea doula, cheerleader, and yoga teacher all in one. She lives in Bentonville, Arkansas with her two chihuahuas, Susan and Philip.

    Register here for our Weekly Community Conversations Calls taking place on Mondays at 11am PT: maddies.fund/CommunityConversationsRegistration
      
    If you are unable to make it live on Monday, this thread will be updated with the recording and resources so you can watch and share whenever you'd like.  After you watch the recording on-demand or attend the call live, be sure to complete this November entry form to enter to win up to a $5,000 grant: https://www.maddiesfund.org/weekly-community-conversations-nov23-giveaway.htm


    #Diversity,Equity,InclusionandJustice
    #FundraisingandDevelopment

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    Maddie's Pet Forum Admin
    Maddie's Fund
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  • 2.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    Posted 11-06-2023 12:03 PM

    Do we fill out the entry form each time we watch a video or just one time a month?



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    Dianna Pedersen
    Office Manager
    Abilene Animal Hospital
    KS
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    Posted 11-06-2023 02:57 PM

    @Dianna Pedersen You can fill out an entry form each time you join a call live or watch a recording! Here's the link for November's giveaway: https://www.maddiesfund.org/weekly-community-conversations-nov23-giveaway.htm



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    Charlotte Otero
    Community Strategist at Maddie's Fund
    she/her
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    Posted 11-06-2023 03:14 PM

    Thanks to the 159+ people and paws who joined us on today's call! The recording is now available to watch on-demand. Below you'll find a recap of today's call and all of the resources shared. Thanks again to our incredible panelists and hosts for such a thoughtful and engaging conversation. 

    • Welcome from Hosts
    • Question of the day: What is ethical fundraising?
      • "Inclusive fundraising. Transparent too" - Jennifer Salan
      • "Telling the truth in your story/plea" - Julie Jacobson
      • "transparency" - Amanda Gra
      • "Transparent and honest fundraising" - Johna Boatright
      • "Full disclosure in all respects." - Alice Guttler
      • "Inclusive, transparent, low-cost to org" - Jenny Franz
      • "Transparency, agreed." - Jenna Ricci
      • "Transparency" - Corinne Forzano
      • "Asking consent" - Bobby Mann
      • "Tell the truth and following the regulations and laws." - June Thomas
      • "Openness" - Anita Selby
      • "Stories that don't turn people into villains." - Rebecca Stuntebeck
      • "Making sure the Funds received go to the purpose of the fundraising." - STEVE MARRERO (Director-LibertyCounty Animal Services)
      • "clear honest cause needing support.  Open to all community members (inclusive).  Funds raised being used for what you said." - Mary ellen Shivetts
      • "being honest about how much you can accomplish with the money." - Maria S
      • "transparent, honest, and open communication throughout the entire donor cycle from identification and cultivation to solicitation and stewardship." - Leighanne Alford
      • "Being clear about intention, where we are using funds and how they will benefit our community." - Kimberly Moore
      • "Campaigns that don't include photos/videos of animals being tortures or badly abused." - Margaret Tompkins
      • "Don't make people feel awful -- 'the dog will be euthanized today' -- when it is not true. Even if it is true, avoid doing this to powerless audiences." - Donna Miller
        • "Yes, don't guilt trip people!" - Maria S
        • "I hate the photo cards with suffering animals. I immediately ask to be taken off their list. Those are totally inappropriate for people with triggers from abuse, some seniors, and children. I don't believe it elicits more help. In fact, most people I know feel as I do and are turned off. We know what goes on. Graphics that are gross are not necessary." - Penny Leisch
      • "Being vegan at events - not serving meat or animal products, not auctioning things like hunting or fishing trips, etc" - Jenna Riedi

    • National Updates
    • Today's Presentation - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity 
    • Highlights From The Chat
      • "I think providing feedback and updates to donors is important.  Show what their money is doing." - Doris Kempton
      • "Language matters" - Jillian McMillian
      • "Also body language when meeting new people" - Anita Selby
      • "I think it's about allowing everyone to feel good, not the donors more than others" - Terri Wood
      • "I love sharing the stories that shows appreciation for the community and how they are helping to keep families together" - Sharon @Maddie's Fund
      • "We're giving people permission to demonize pet owners which also drives animals into the shelter." - Vincent Medley
      • "So you are defining power as targeting your message to make the donor feel good - that is giving them power?" - June Thomas
        •  "Hi June, i think the "power" we're talking about is the power that drives decision-making and programming. What the community needs should power programming, rather that who is donating and what the donor believes is needed. We need to advocate for our community needs and raise funds for that, rather than let funders tell us what they want to fund (and then maybe change our programming in ways that don't serve the community as they wish to be served)." - Emily Wood
      • "If you are a nonprofit, it benefits you to publish your annual impact report on your website. It is transparent and inspires donor giving. Your 990 should be on there too." - Lisa Pearce
        • "Small organization may not have those things. We file 990N which doesn't require that detail. However, organizations can still publish their impact and use a pie chart or infographic to demonstrate the use of funds, grants received, and more." - Penny Leisch
      • "Make the donor the hero....love that" "We have 'voice' guidelines where we try to focus on positive actions of our community members - our community, long before we moved in, has been taking care of its own - and that includes the dogs and cats. We're here providing access to resources in a resource desert. If a sick dog is brought in, we try to highlight that a member of our community brought them to us, etc." - Diana Pupillo
      • "TEAM- Together Everyone Achieves More" - Anita Selby
      • "Absolutely.  Our mission is that no pet should be surrendered due to a lack of resources by their owner." - Maris Brown
      • "I have often found just having a conversation about our approach (judgement-free, keeping pets with their people, understanding that pet ownership doesn't always look like what you expect) helps either change their mind or start bringing them to our way - it's like a lightbulb going off when you start talking about it. It's not something that has historically been a part of animal welfare, but once you hear it it just makes sense." - Diana Pupillo
      • "I got into animal welfare because of my struggles during a bout of homelessness. I am also now a volunteer for My Dog Is My Home. Because I went through the hardships I went through, I've become empowered to fight for the human-animal bond. I am the living embodiment of not judging a book by its cover." - Jillian McMillian
      • "YES! And fear of Animal Control. We often don't acknowledge that many rules animal control enforces are based in older, segregation-based thought." - Shannon Roebuck
      • "I use to volunteer for a dog rescue run by people outside my Native American community but this rescue helped the dogs on my reservation. I was told the sadder the story, the more donations that come in. However, it got to the point where so much hatred was pointed toward my Native American people and reservation. So, we decided to start our own nonprofit and dog rescue to change the narrative, and not follow the "sad" "people blaming" way." - Chantal Wadsworth
      • "I'm in a military area, and you can ask anyone about the issue of dumped animals here. Most are because they get an animal and then they get orders to go to another (out of the country) How would you approach that?" - Anita Selby
        • "Talk to people and see why they are resorting to dumping. Maybe they need foster care for a temporary deployment. Maybe they couldn't find anyone to adopt the pet. Maybe they didn't know what resources were available." - Maria S
        • "When organizations adopt out an animal include returning the pet to the program, they got it from if that happens so they have an option." - Penny Leisch
        • "Our shelter sits next to Joint Base Charleston. We offer rehoming resources on our website and connect with active-duty personnel- as volunteers and other shelter opportunities. They know we are here to help to avoid surrender. It takes time but worth connecting with command and community engagement officers to identify resources. It's hard." - Lisa Pearce
        •  "Also, it's usually not a surprise. People generally know far in advance that they are going to be relocating. So like Lisa said, work on making leadership aware of pet services/options!" - Maria S
      • "The Hearts Speak stock photo collection, free for animal welfare orgs, is a treasure trove for images to help communicate representation https://www.petsandpeoplephotos.org/" - Sara Fitzpatrick
      • "We can have 2 exactly the same dogs up for adoption and the one that got hit by car and was found in a ditch will have 5 people waiting to adopt and the other nothing...I think the story does make a difference.  How do we give ALL the pet a 'story'?" - Dianna Pedersen
      • "Create a storytelling group through your organization. Or send them over to My Dog Is My Home." - Jillian McMillian
      • "It is also important to educate your donors on the population you serve.  Dogs Matter temporary foster dogs for addicts/alcoholics that need inpatient treatment, so we come across donors that need to know more about the disease of addiction." - Stephen Knight - Dogs Matter
        •     "So true.  I was part of an org that provided crisis fostering. The difference in response we got when we talked about those needing fostering for medical reasons, as opposed to taking up a spot in rehab or surrendering themselves because of legal troubles was saddening, and it made it hard to provide equal visibility to all of these groups of people who needed support and care." - Sara Price
      • "Good point, Jose. What you do for me, without me, you do to me. Someone said that. It definitely applies here." - Lisa Pearce
      • "I'm a little confused by this video, to be honest, it strikes me as coming from a savior approach." - Allison Cardona
      • "There's no substitute for door-to-door canvassing!" - Sara Fitzpatrick
      • "White people helping brown and black people. Need diversity on the staff for that video." - Donna Miller
      • "If you don't go out either white, brown, whatever color we do not touch anyone. The point is to go out no matter what." - Christina Avila
      • "'Let people tell their own story' amen!" - James Pawlowicz
      • "Find a good writer who can find the stories and spin them well. It's not something everyone can do well, but it matters a lot in the communication." - Penny Leisch
      • "I would include paying people in the community for the work they are doing instead of asking them to volunteer." - Allison Cardona
        • "Pets for Life often does that too! Many staff are from the community or are former clients" - Maria S
      • "We generally take an adoptable dog with us on our door-to-door canvassing days - not every day, but sometimes. And we've had successful adoptions. Our first 'target neighborhood' is in the same area as a large swap shop - we have weekly weekend adoption events there." - Emily Wood
      • "As a TNR group, although we do pull kittens and friendlies into rescues, one of the things we constantly say when we are doing outreach for TNR, in lower income areas or larger homeless encampments is that we aren't the pet police, and many times they respond that they appreciate that." - Karen Jealous
      • "Thank you to the panelists! What an amazing session!" - Ellie Fox
      • "Thank you, everyone.  I really learned a lot today." - Christine Best
      • "Thank you all so much! Amazing topic and great conversation today." - Erika Skouby-Pratte
      • "Thanks for these conversations!" - Christine Lugo
      • "This was an inspiring call that I NEEDED" - Terri Wood



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    Charlotte Otero
    Community Strategist at Maddie's Fund
    she/her
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 11-07-2023 04:09 PM
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat:

    "Our shelter team works very hard to make sure the "right dog goes the right owner".  their heart is in the right place as they don't want the owner to have a bad experience or for the dog to be returned to the shelter.  However, hearing this conversation has me a bit concerned that our assessment of the "right owner and the right dog" may be biased or excessively harsh.  This is both an issue for perpetuating stereotypes and it is hampering our ability to get dogs adopted as fast as possible to a good home.  Can you comment on this?" - Mary Ellen Shivetts


    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 11-07-2023 04:09 PM
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat:

    "I'm in a military area, and you can ask anyone about the issue of dumped animals here. Most are because they get an animal and then they get orders to go to another (out of the country) How would you approach that?" - Anita Selby


    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 11-07-2023 04:10 PM
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Unanswered question from the chat:

    "I would love to hear from any organizations who are marketing adoptions to areas such as those served by Pets for Life? Could this help have large dogs be adopted into these great homes? Opening adoption potential :)." - Kathleen Makolinski


    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    Posted 11-09-2023 08:11 AM

    Great question! We have brought dogs for adoption to our pet pantry giveaway at a community center. Since we have a bunch of animal lovers coming to get food, what better place to bring dogs for adoption? It also opened up other opportunites to bring dogs for adoption at other events in the area - back to school events, summer camps, etc. 



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    Paula Shaw
    Program Director Pets for Life Baton Rouge
    Companion Animal Alliance of Baton Rouge
    LA
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Community Conversations - 11/6/23 - Reimagining Fundraising: Ethics, Empathy, and Equity

    Posted 11-27-2023 09:15 AM

    I know this Community Conversation has been a while ago, but I only had a chance to view it now and wanted to share that I found it to be truly inspiring. While aware of the change in approach and discussion, this discussion really helped me with concrete examples of reframing in terms of our approach as well as concrete story-telling. I am rethinking our holiday appeals, as I am watching this.  

    Thank you for this helpful Community Conversation!



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    Nora Paech
    Development Director
    Snake River Animal Shelter
    ID
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    Original Message


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