Guest post by Gingr
The ASPCA estimates that roughly 6.3 million dogs and cats enter animal shelters annually in the U.S. As an animal shelter manager yourself, you know how overwhelming it can be to keep up with the intake of new animals, offer them quality care, and adopt them out to loving forever families. Your shelter may be overcrowded, understaffed, and underfunded more often than not.
However, fundraising can alleviate some of these challenges by providing your shelter with much-needed resources from animal lovers willing to help. As Gingr’s guide to pet industry trends highlights, Americans spent more than $147 billion on their pets in 2023—and that number is expected to grow. What can your shelter do to carve out a place in their budgets?
Take advantage of this growing industry with these creative fundraising strategies that will help you reach potential donors and inspire them to give.
Organize fun, relaxing events
A survey conducted by the American Heart Association found that 95% of pet owners rely on their animals for stress relief. Help your supporters soothe away the stress from upcoming exams, a rough week at work, or a hectic move across town by organizing calm events with your shelter’s animals!
Have supporters pay to attend events such as:
Puppy or cat yoga: Hire or partner with a yoga instructor to lead the class and let the cats or dogs roam freely. Pets may curl up on the yoga mats for a nap or perch on attendees as they flow through a cat-cow sequence or push up into a downward-facing dog. Not only will your supporters get some relaxing movement, but they’ll also be surrounded by adorable, adoptable animals.
Cat cafe: Convert a room in your facilities into a cat cafe for an afternoon (or long-term if you have the space) and allow attendees to book time slots. Offer drinks and snacks and allow people to work, study, or just hang out with the adoptable cats in the cafe.
Kitten and puppy cuddle sessions: These sessions allow you to socialize your kittens and puppies, secure funding, and relieve stress all in one. They are the perfect event for worn-out college students, frazzled new parents, and anyone else who needs a quiet moment with a fuzzy baby animal.
If you can, consider holding these events weekly or monthly. In addition to helping you raise money, they’ll serve as informal adoption events that allow supporters to bond one-on-one with your animals.
Start a Pet of the Month subscription program
Recurring or monthly giving programs are an excellent way to secure reliable revenue and foster deeper relationships with supporters. Supporters simply agree to donate a fixed amount each month, meaning your shelter doesn’t have to put in hours of work for each donation.
Get creative with your recurring giving program to keep supporters engaged. Frame it as a monthly subscription through which they sponsor a specific pet or pets in need. Depending on the size of your program, you might:
Select one high-needs animal per month for your recurring donors to support. For example, perhaps you take in an injured dog in need of extensive veterinary care. If you pick that dog as the pet of the month, all of your monthly donors’ contributions will go toward that dog’s surgery, medication, and rehabilitation.
Select multiple “pets of the month” and allow members to sign up for a specific pet they’d like to sponsor. Each pet might have two to three spots donors can claim. This keeps donors looking forward to each new month and eager to know about their animal’s progress.
Provide regular updates to your monthly donors to show them the impact of their contributions. Highlight the specific medications, care, toys, or bedding that their support provided, and share photos and videos of the animal’s progress.
Additionally, strive to attract new recurring donors by marketing these services across digital marketing channels. During the busy spring season, for instance, you might post photos of new mother cats and their litter of kittens on social media, urging followers to sign up for the program and sponsor them.
Work with local businesses
Local businesses and corporations in your area may be interested in partnering with your shelter for corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. CSR is the concept that companies should consider their social, economic, and environmental impacts and strive to better their communities.
By forming relationships with these companies or simply spreading awareness of corporate philanthropy, your shelter could enjoy the benefits of CSR programs like:
Matching gifts: When an employee donates to a charitable cause, like your shelter, their employer will match their donation. Matches are typically offered at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that a $50 donation could become $100 without any added expense for the donor.
Volunteer grants: Companies may also make financial contributions to the organizations employees volunteer with frequently. Spread awareness of these programs to your volunteers, help them track their hours, and encourage them to seek volunteer grants from their employers.
Corporate sponsorships: The company partners with your nonprofit to support specific campaigns or events. For instance, a local running store may sponsor your charity 5K in exchange for featuring their logo on event signage.
In-kind donations: These non-financial contributions may include items, equipment, or pro bono services (e.g., a dog groomer providing free baths, haircuts, and nail trims to your shelter’s dogs).
Additionally, CSR programs may incentivize volunteering by offering volunteer time off (VTO). Similar to paid time off (PTO), VTO is time off reserved specifically for volunteering—in other words, employees can spend the time they would normally be working volunteering at your shelter. As Double the Donation’s guide to VTO explains, taking advantage of these programs provides a larger pool of support, opens the door to long-term partnerships, and allows you to devote more time and resources toward mission-critical work.
Hold percentage-of-sales donation day fundraisers at pet businesses
Speaking of local businesses, consider pairing up with a pet business like a dog daycare or kennel, pet groomer, dog training, or pet store to hold a percentage-day (or week, month, etc.) fundraiser. These businesses share a core value with your shelter—a deep passion for animals and their well-being.
During the fundraiser, a portion of the store's proceeds will be donated to your shelter. For the best results, your shelter and the pet business should jointly promote the campaign in advance, encouraging supporters to patronize the business while the campaign is in effect. When pitching this idea to local businesses, let them know what is in it for them—increased foot traffic, higher sales, and maybe even new customers!
To maximize these campaigns’ impact, you could also incorporate a donation drive. Put out a bin at the business to collect in-kind donations, adding a sign with your logo. Ask staff at the pet business to encourage customers to donate. Ensure you get the items you need most by auditing your nonprofit’s current inventory and creating a wish list.
It’s no secret that people are passionate about animals. These fundraisers could attract first-time donors to your shelter who are primed to become long-term, loyal supporters—as long as you cultivate relationships with them. Be sure to thank them for their support with personalized, donor-centric thank-you messages, share regular updates about your shelter, and recommend other ways to support your cause.