Fundraising with Community Cats Podcast

Is there anything more intimidating than fundraising? If you feel that way, you’re not alone. You can have all of the passion in the world, but asking people for money can be scary. That’s the beauty of our Community Cats Grants program: it rewards your organization for experimenting with a new fundraising idea, matching your results if you raise $1000 or more for a targeted TNR program. It’s time to discuss Fundraising with Community Cats Podcast and other ways organizations bring in donations from their area!

So far, we’ve had over 44 groups complete the program, with 17 currently doing their projects, and we thought you’d enjoy hearing about some of their successes.

Social Media Fundraisers:

A number of groups took to social media for their fundraisers, appealing for funds across their established social media platforms, and/or using online fundraising platforms like Booster.com and YouCaring.com. Marianne Hamel from Project MEOW of West Philadelphia, PA notes that it’s a challenge to translate social media followers into donors: “Don’t assume that a large follower count is equivalent to a large donor base. You need to work to convert them.” A number of ways groups tried to do this were:

• Using directed emails to individuals who had opted into hearing from them
• Boosting Facebook posts to that more eyes would see the appeal
• Offering “swag;” Loudon Community Cat Coalition of Leesburg, VA designed a t-shirt to give to all donors.
• Storytelling:  Community Cats of Benzie County, Frankfort MI updated their YouCaring appeal page with stories and pleas for urgency.  They also shared a link to the page with their mailing list.

Events:

Although events are generally much more labor-intensive than online fundraising, there were some amazing – and fun – successes among our participants. Bikini Beach Cat Rescue of Murrells Inlet, SC held a BBQ/Bingo/Karaoke evening that raked in $2,292, including $685 raised with a“Chinese auction.” They’re already planning on making it an annual event.

Berkshire Animal Dreams of Pittsfield, MA promoted team spirit with a “Cat Dash”: a combination relay race and pub crawl in a local town. Each team paid a $100 registration fee for the Dash and they also included a raffle with over 20 items.

And of course, several groups opted for “Cat Yoga” – which is having an internet moment right now.

• Protectors of Animals in East Hartford, CT sponsored “Paws and Stretch Yoga with Cats” at a local studio, featuring adoptable cats among the mats, along with a raffle and t-shirt sale.
• Cat Network of Stanislaus, Modesto CA did Kitten Yoga. Monica Barker describes the planning and execution: “The studio owner organized the ticket sales via Event Brite and helped reach out via her social media sites. The participants just melted into the situation and the kittens did too. After the session we had people come to talk to us and ask about the program, wanting to foster. We had two adoptions on the spot and we will probably get one more in the next few weeks.  Some kittens sat on top of the people and it was just great fun. And of course the event was sold out, partly thanks to the outreach not only on social media but also via our local newspaper and one TV station. We reached out to a whole new group and that has expanded our territory.”

It’s important to note that younger kittens work best for kitten yoga – they’re more playful and less inclined to sulk in the corner or look for escape routes. Plus, it’s important to consider having a security team, so that the kittens don’t end up escaping or in the jackets of peoples’ yoga jackets!

Merchandise sales can also be an effective fundraising tool, either as part of an event, or run separately.  In addition to Kitten Yoga, Cat Network also sold tote bags at a pet store and through word-of-mouth by their volunteers. Berkshire Animal Dreams also partnered with two local pet supply stores to mount a display about their work, and sold paper “Cat Faces” that you could hang on a trap that was also set up as a donation jar.  Very creative thinking!

Here are a few more lessons learned through the inspired efforts of our Community Cats Grants participants:

• Promote the match!  Donors love the idea of their dollars going twice as far.
• Be specific about what the funds raised will allow you to do.  Tell potential donors how many cats you’ll be able to assist if you reach your goals.
• Try a number of ideas…there’s no need to rely on just one style of fundraising. Several groups worked multiple angles and ended up exceeding their own expectations.
• Ask everyone! One group actually got a $1000 match from their own Board, and in another case, an adopter made a substantive gift of $500. The bottom line from all of our groups was, “if you don’t ask for donations, you don’t get them.”

We look forward to updating you periodically with moresuccess stories and ideas.  Ready to become part of our Community Cats Grants program? Simply go HERE and find out how you can learn to put the “fun” in fundraising!