# Fundraising Ideas



## MatsiRed (Dec 5, 2004)

In this economy, I've noticed that people are not digging as deep anymore for charities, including in my own area. It's coming through clearly in the rescue section, also, especially in terms of transporting with gas prices and vet bills.

So I thought we might put our heads together to see what is working and what isn't. I'm not soliciting for donations, just setting up a think tank for fundraising ideas to be carried out by the individual rescues OFF the forum. (Mods please remove if I've broken any rules here.)

Sometimes it's enough for some just to see the dog's needs taken care of. For instance, our buddy system works pretty well. Person signs up for one particular dog, bond is established, and sends supplies to the foster home. (But vet bills are taken care of by the rescue.)

Many are familiar with cafepress store, where your photographs support the rescue: 

http://www.cafepress.com/

People can buy photo gifts with your rescue pictures on them, or designs created by your volunteers, and a certain profit from the company is sent directly to the rescue. The company handles all the business transactions to keep you freed up for other things, you just create the designs for calendars, mugs, tshirts, mousepads, etc. and link to the cafepress store from your website. (I've got a team working on ours right now in preparation for the holidays).

We also have a group of people that handle our events, such as the annual auction and dogwalk. They also run periodic raffles. These events bring in funds by the thousands, although they are time consuming and labor intensive to pull off so you really need a dedicated group of volunteers to just work on this aspect of rescue work.

I've seen so many beautiful photos posted of dogs here in the rescue section, and I often think to myself, gosh that would make a beautiful portrait if only....

I looked at Sinclair's Apollo, who is beautiful in his bare skin with his gorgeous head and unique character. If I had the time, I'd jump on his photos and do something with them. Sypmpathetic appeal to the viewer probably won't work because there are so many other stories like his out there, so one needs to think outide the box. I'm going to think that one through, but does anyone else have some ideas for him? A way to make him work for himself, so to speak? We need to make him stand out, give their website viewer something for their money. 

Everyone has a dogloving friend or family member. They still buy them birthday gifts and Christmas gifts, etc. They also still need to dress themselves and their children. They are also willing to spend lots of money on their own furkids. So if they NEED to spend money, how do we make it a win win situation both for the viewer and for the dog? And how do we reach the broadest audience? The internet of course. 

My own sense is that in this economy, people want to stretch their dollars, and get something BACK for their money. So I think the key to successful fundraising in this economy is to give them what they NEED or really WANT, and make it a win win situation for both the dog and the viewer.

Would love to hear some ideas.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

I posted this in Apollo's thread:
Ideas for fundraisers: Dog washes, pet photos, any summer festivals left that someone would let you raffle a pet basket, silent auctions, pancake breakfast (served either with or without dog hair), goodsearch-and some of those other internet sites that allow you to ask for money, labor day garage sale. This economy! GAH! 

I agree-and you know, it doesn't have to be something that people want because they want to help! It can be gas cards in a silent auction-I would probably enter to win those even if I was supporting a "Clone Genghis Khan" fundraiser! 

Look around your area-what are other groups doing and doing well with? I cannot tell you how many chicken bb-qs there are but they all seem to work! I watch the teams for the ACS Relay for Life-they have brought in a lot of money (trying to remember some of theirs). But some of these fundraisers really are kind of regional. 

If you can team up with places that will sell Apollo Stars (like MDA Shamrocks) for a buck, that is an easyish sell. 

4-H groups or other groups you can partner with-if there is a Rotary member who loves his dog, a local college that has a humane group of any kind, partners help. 

Anyone run bingo near you?
Scrabble, euchre tounaments...

Giant yard sale over Labor day weekend-get more stuff off of Freecycle

News media always an outside possibility. 

I think giving people what they want and need (dog related or not) is huge. Will keep thinking...and adding to this list.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: MatsiRed
> We also have a group of people that handle our events, such as the annual auction and dogwalk. They also run periodic raffles. These events bring in funds by the thousands, although they are time consuming and labor intensive to pull off so you really need a dedicated group of volunteers to just work on this aspect of rescue work.


I don't really have any ideas about fundraising in general (wish I did) but if you give me the info about this auction, I may be able to help you there.
I'm currently working on something for a local Golden Retriever rescue and would love to get involved and help the GSDs, too!

I'm an artist and what I'm doing is working on a real nice 11 x 14 graphite portrait of a Golden to be used as a display for their annual Gala/art auction, with the winning bidder receiving a gift certificate for a free custom portrait of their own dog (or child, or whatever.)
The coordinator that I'm working with said that these things always bring in a lot of money, because it's a unique, one-of-a-kind type of thing. And people will pay for that. 

So, it's just a thought. If you'd be interested in that kind of help, I'd be more than happy to do it.


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## MatsiRed (Dec 5, 2004)

Our auction is a smashing hit every year. Things that are not dog related sell big, like sports tickets DONATED to us by the teams, and jewelry seems to do well, too, especially if it has a shepherd on it. People always love the big dog beds, or something shepherdy that's really unique often found on E-Bay and donated to us. Prints do well, too, although we always have many of those.

I know this is going to sound like a brag, but I need to get the point across about being creative and thinking outside the box. I created a 5 minute slideshow of GSRNE dogs for our auction this past Spring. We showed it, and then people bid on it. It became extremely intense bidding, and once it got over $500, we had three people left. By the time the bidding was over, I had thrown in a two hour photoshoot (just the sitting) and another volunteer threw in five t-shirts with their dogs photos on it from the photoshoot for a package deal. We let all three bidders have it once the bid reached $850, so one 5 minute slideshow with five donated tshirts and a 2 hour photoshoot sitting brought in $2500. Just takes a little imagination to find something that people really want and can't say no to, and often that item has something to do with their own furkids. 

I will mention that people LOVE nice photos (or paintings) of their own dogs because they usually can't get them on their own. If you don't have a good photographer available, maybe some of the photo schools would like to jump in and help, or some of the established photo businesses might want to get a jump start on pet photography, which is booming! It would be a little footwork, but I think it would be worth looking into.


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## MatsiRed (Dec 5, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: GunnersMom
> 
> 
> I'm an artist and what I'm doing is working on a real nice 11 x 14 graphite portrait of a Golden to be used as a display for their annual Gala/art auction, with the winning bidder receiving a gift certificate for a free custom portrait of their own dog (or child, or whatever.)
> The coordinator that I'm working with said that these things always bring in a lot of money, because it's a unique, one-of-a-kind type of thing. And people will pay for that.


Yes, this is the kind of stuff I was referring to, and a nice gesture on your part, too Gunners. A custom portrait of your dog, especially with a sample of your work displayed, would be a big hit because people are willing to spend LOTS on their own dogs, or a nice surprise gift for a spouse, etc. And I think that's something a rescue could even do from a website, with little footwork involved.


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## Ilovealldogs (Nov 17, 2006)

In my town, we have a "Fur Ball." It sounds crazy, but they have been really successful in the past. It is a red carpet, black tie event. Admission is $75 and of course it goes to various rescues. We also have a Dog Jog every year and of course Paw Jam. I have included the links for ideas:

http://www.wilmingtonfurball.com
http://www.wilmingtondogjog.com
http://www.pawjam.net


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Lure coursing. We have been doing fund raisers all summer and while the numbers are down they are still good.

For example – we recently ran the lure at a fundraiser for a park in Milwaukee. Last year they had two rings going but this year it was just us (the other people couldn’t make it). I’d say we ran over 100 dogs. The cost was $8 for one run and $10 for two.

This is something that once people see how much their dog LOVES it – they want more. We’ve had people stand in line for over an hour just to run their dog once. We’ve had people stand in the rain just HOPING it would stop and we would be able to keep running. We are a draw at many big events – people come specifically to watch their dogs run … and are willing to pay for it.

But this is something that had high needs – space (we require a MINIMUM of 100’ square), fencing (we require fencing while others do not) and experienced people with the equipment (you want the experienced people so that you limit the risk of injuries to dogs).

We helped the people out in CA get started and they run the lure at the Wags for Wishes (pet event for Make a Wish). Last year I believe they made over $2,000 for the foundation!

And a side benefit – if you can get a decent photographer to take pictures even more money could be brought in for the group!


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## Jazy's mom (Jan 5, 2004)

I spoke with a friend today that helps with a church related non-profit. She gave me a great idea. The nonprofit that she volunteers with works a concession stand at the Univeristy of Tennessee football games. They receive 3% of the profits in return. 

If you live close to a major sports arena, you can contact who ever is in charge of the concessions and find out if they offer a similiar program. At UT they have various sized stands that range from a 2 person stand all the way to 30 people.


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