# Rescue Fund-Raising: What works?



## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Everyone in rescue knows about the never-ending vet bills that empty the bank account. Even when you try to avoid "expensive" pulls, there will always be healthy-seeming dogs that you thought would be quickly ready for adoption who instead turn out to have dire issues needing extensive care. Most good rescues don't break-even on adoption fees -- at least, not if they're doing it right with quality vet care. This means fundraising is needed to bridge the gap.

I'd like to start a thread about *what fundraising methods work* for your rescue. And if you don't rescue but regularly donate to a rescue, what kinds of fundraisers to you like donating to? (E.g., do you buy a cool t-shirt, a raffle ticket, a pancake breakfast, give to campaigns for sad stories on Facebook, send a check on your dog's gotcha day or at Christmas time, etc.)

Projects like Amazon Smile and Walk for a Dog are useful, but they generate very small amounts of money for most rescues -- under $100 probably. Those aren't realistic sources of meaningful income unless you have thousands of supporters.

So what works? For us, we've had very good responses to selling jambalaya and white beans out of grocery store parking lots a few times a year. We set up cauldrons and work all day. It wouldn't have worked in Los Angeles -- if I'd seen people in tents cooking in a parking lot, I'd have _never _stopped. It's a beloved regional tradition that surprised me when I moved to South Louisiana.

*Let's keep this thread about productive ideas for rescues. *_(If you hate rescues, hate fundraisers, and wish that all dogs in shelters would be euthanized, please take it to another thread.)_


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## jschrest (Jun 16, 2015)

They do a twice a year doggy parade and get together in my area, but it's to raise money for the humane society. I think it may work just as well for a rescue? They ask for 5 dollar donations to get in (the host it at a baseball field, fully fenced) and then sell tickets for large pet baskets to be raffled off. The baskets are made from donations. They have smaller basket to give away for various contests (best costume, talent competition, etc). The community gets very involved, and everyone brings their dogs. They do require muzzles on all large breeds, but I'm sure that's to prevent any liability on their end if anything were to happen. 

Maybe you could get a few rescues together and host one? They promote it through Facebook and Twitter, so there isn't any money spent on advertisement, and for awhile they had volunteers hang flyers in pet stores, the humane society, feed stores, that kind of thing. 

If you can get your city/county involved, you wouldn't need to pay for the park rental, and sponser like groomers, pet stores, feed stores, and local animal groups provided all the goodies for the raffle and prizes. 

Just an idea. I hope you get a ton more that may work better for a smaller rescue situation, I'm not sure mine is helpful.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Down here that sounds like mardi gras!  

The parade of Krewe of Mutts in Baton Rouge (and Krewe of Barkus in Nola) rolls during carnival season. Super fun time... I think Krewe of Mutts is the biggest annual fundraiser for the rescue that hosts it--it's a big deal, taking over a chunk of downtown. They pick a theme every year and you pay a few bucks to be in the parade. One year it was "totally80s" a theme, so my trainer got a bunch of friends (clients) with GSDs together (at least a dozen), and dressed up the biggest ones as Muttley Krew (with signs identifying each "band member" dog, in costume), then the other dogs marched in formation under signs that said "band security," in costume. It was a fun time, with well behaved dogs being really excellent breed ambassadors. 

That rescue makes money on booth rentals to vendors too, as people stay all day. It's a big, big undertaking, requiring a small army of volunteers, but it's a great event.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

I have not been involved with rescues, but have enjoyed going on fundraising walks and fairs. One fair was a wine tasting event at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. They had a band, lots of vendor booths, costumes (I really don't like the costume part) and so you really didn't get tipsy, the wine was in very small amounts, and they had good food.

A doggie parade or just a good long walk through a scenic area is something I would attend also.

Some fairs have dog performances, like herding, agility and they get the local K9 units to put on a show. They charge small amounts like $5/person or dog. 

One of my daughters like to volunteer - for a museum she volunteer at she arranged for a percentage of profits of a local pizza place to go to the museum for a certain night. This restaurant did this for non-profits every Wednesday. She just took her dog to an outdoor beer garden that also was donating profits from the day to a dog training youth group. So if you can't organize a huge event, then check out the local restaurants or grocery stores - Whole Foods in our area will donate the "bag" fee if you bring your own of .05 cents to a local organization. They change therm up all the time.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

My daughter is a animal rescue club at school. Through the school the club raises money by selling coupon books, bake sales etc. to donate to animal rescue groups. Around the holidays they also have pet food drive and collect pet food, new pet toys, beds, blankets, and food/water bowls. Another idea is a Chinese auction. I went with my mom and sister to a Chinese auction run by a cat rescue group . we bought many raffle tickets and won some great prizes- that were donated by local shops and bed and breakfasts. My mom won a overnight stay at a bed and breakfast:grinning:


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

In Wyoming the humane society put on a dog wash once a year. I participated because it was a good oportunity to get the late Barker Sisters the first out with other dogs and people. They loved being bathed. I loved having them out. There weren't many opportunities in the town - just what the humane society would sponsor. 

I'd probably take them to something like that here if it were on something besides a Saturday. But I haven't heard of any being offered. Here they operate a couple of thrift shops -- with very good prices. (I shop a lot of junk stores.)


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

One large draw that our local Humane Society has done for about 15 years is "the blessing of the animals". They have dogs, cats, pot bellied pigs you name it show up. A local priest does the blessings. It's set up in their thrift store parking lot there are stacked hay bails to keep the smaller critters in crates away from the larger ones. A photographer takes a photo of the individual pet getting blessed and an extra 10.00 is charged. I would say they have between 150 and 200 people that show up every year with their pets. It started small but really took off.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

this!!
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...eneral/110057-kissing-booth-idea-rescues.html


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

I steer clear of donating, but if I put myself in the shoes of someone who donates to rescue, I could see something like a party at a bar or taproom being fun. You can rent the space and raffle stuff off, maybe charge a cover of $5 or one donated item. You could do a karaoke contest. Wine tasting. I think one local group here obtains wine and labels it with the rescue's logo and sells it to raise money.


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## MishkasMom (Aug 20, 2015)

What I find works best here is "Empties For Paws" Its donating your empty beer/wine bottles. We set up in front of beer/liquor stores (with permission-never had anyone say No) and you wouldn't believe how much you can get in a day. Even on X-Mas time when everyone is counting pennies I would say 8 in 10 people have no problem donating bottles. There is also regular drop off points all year.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks for reviving this thread! 

There are some amazing ideas here. 

I would LOVE to do a blessing of the animals, as we live in a religious community, so it would be an event meaningful to lots of people. There are several of these blessings done free around town by local Episcopal and Catholic churches, esp. around the Feast of St. Francis, but my impression is that people who do this will often go to all of them, and they wouldn't mind contributing a donation for a rescue.

I've thought about working with the good, high-end craft distilleries down here in South Louisiana. Not sure what to do with them yet. 

The other thing I just discovered is that it's possible to hold an animal CPR class as a public fundraiser, though a company that does certifications for vet techs. They donate a percentage of the sign-up fee. I think a lot of people with dogs would go to that--even if they don't care about rescue--just to know what to do if your own dog stops breathing.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

Is pairing bourbon/whisky with foods a thing like with beer dinners and wine pairings? Our craft distilleries are brand new - at least one is still in development with the whisky still aging - so this isn't as well established and I'm just guessing/grasping at straws. Distillery tours where you buy in bulk and sell/auction off ticket packages and X% goes to you?


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

Just throwing out ideas here, don't know if they would be workable.

Churches here periodically have Trivia Nights to raise money for various charities. They usually charge $10 per person for entry and the food/snacks are extra. I know my family and I attended one that benefited GRRAND (golden retriever rescue) several years ago.
Overhead is pretty low, I would think.

Have your pets picture taken with Santa? Pet stores in my area already do this, but maybe not in every area..


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Fund raising walks are great as are all the ideas. I like the empty container . Ive always wanted to buy christmas crads that benefit a rescue group for dogs. I always buy the companion animals calander every year to give as gifts. poker Runs are alot of fun and bikers love them.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

What about setting up your website so that advertisers (pet stores, pet products, etc.) would pay to be listed? I am not exactly clear on how this works, whether they pay by the number of people who visit or the number of “likes,” or what. I know when I used to blog for Newlie , you could set your blog up for advertisements and I think that there are groups who have been very successful with this kind of venture. I guess it could also draw more potential adopters to your site as well.


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## WIBackpacker (Jan 9, 2014)

Annual Blessing of the Animals is done at a few churches and schools near me, and it is _WILDLY_ popular! As in, people wait in line for quite a while, coffee and treats are sold, small St. Francis pendants are sold, and all funds benefit the designated shelter or rescue organizations.

Two of the locally owned pet supply stores in our area are hosting photos with Santa this month, and donating all of the money to rescues. With the availability of excellent digital images, all one might need is a volunteer with a nice camera (and some time emailing images) and another with a Santa suit. 

One thing in our community that led to some disappointed/somewhat bad PR was when our municipal shelter changed their annual fundraiser to a dress-up formal event, instead of a semi-casual dinner with cash bar. My husband and I attended regularly for years, until the ticket price jumped from about $40-$50/pp (reasonable for a nice night out for a good cause) to over $100. per person. We went the first year that the event was super fancy, sushi was served (including Bluefin tuna which made me sad, but that's a topic for another day), and adoptable pets were brought across a lighted stage in costumes. It felt contrived and I felt sorry for the animals. We both felt awkward, and the following year we chose not to attend (we donated cleaning supplies instead, and have continued to do so). The people who still go seem to be raising nice sums, so in the end, hopefully the money is still going to the animals (instead of purchasing sushi and champagne), but a lot of middle-class people in the community have stopped donating entirely because it appears that the shelter is quite affluent, since they throw one of the nicest gala events in the area. Kind of a Catch-22? :shrug:


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Yeah, I loathe those gala events too. Every shelter seems to do them. They aren't aimed at "dog people." They're aimed at a certain type of wealthy socialite. I went to our local shelter's the year my blind dog was the shelter's "dog of the year," since he had to be there on stage to get his award. I thought it would be like "dog prom," with lots of dog people I knew from the rescue world dressed up, there with their dogs. Mostly it was a bunch of very rich old ladies and their adult trust-fund kids, and very few small dogs. I wanted to vomit when the shelter director auctioned off a cute shelter puppy to those people --- raising thousands of dollars from a very drunk guy, with intense bidding. (The puppy was returned the following week, after peeing on his prized oriental rug and chewing up something expensive.) To me, everything about that event illustrated how NOT to raise money.

I've long thought it would be fun to have an Oktoberfest jointly hosted by all the German breed rescues in the region: GSDs, rotts, dobes, weims, dachshunds, etc. There's no shortage of them in rescue here, and seeing lots of breed rescues together is always fun.


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## WIBackpacker (Jan 9, 2014)

The Oktoberfest idea sounds fun! I'd attend if someone hosted it in my area.

One last idea, don't hesitate to ask store owners if you can leave a "change jar" on their counter, if you have a relationship with the owner. Your favorite coffee shop, a deli you visit regularly, etc. Our business has nothing to do with the pet industry, but we have a donation jar for one wildlife rescue and one other animal related organization by our registers. People are often happy to dump pennies and nickels, which add up. When the jar is full, I call the contact person and they bring me a new stock of brochures and take their change.

I used to make "Coffee for a Cause" and have free coffee by our registers and the donation jar (which yielded quite a bit on weekends!) but was advised by our attorney that we're just asking for some nutcase to sue us. What a strange world we live in. BUT! Ask your local independents, every bit may add up.


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