This holiday season, I wanted to do something meaningful for my dogs. Sure, they seem to always love their presents, but how many Hanukkah sweaters are really appropriate for California weather? With a creative idea and a wide social media outreach, you can make a significant impact on the lives of our furry friends \u2014 many who don\u2019t have a family to give them unnecessary sweaters. First, choose a charity or shelter to support and confirm your plans, making sure the organization is on board. Then it\u2019s time to get the creative juices flowing. Here are a few ideas to get you started.<\/p>\n
Set up a pet photo shoot<\/h3>\n
Hire a professional photographer to host a photo shoot and donate a portion of the proceeds to your charity of choice. Adam Goldberg of AGoldPhoto Pet Photography says he and his wife, Mary, raised about $270,000 traveling around the country, taking portraits of dogs and partnering with local animal shelters.<\/p>\n
Choose a location that\u2019s dog friendly and free of charge, says Adam, who typically shoots in breweries. Disclose details about other dogs who will be in the shooting vicinity, so people can plan ahead for anxious pups.<\/p>\n
\u201cBook early,\u201d advises Adam, so the prints will be ready by the holidays. \u201cSeptember or October is your sweet spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
And although it might be tempting to include Santa, make sure the dogs are comfortable around strangers, especially if Santa isn\u2019t experienced with handling animals, Adam says.<\/p>\n Raise money and awareness for your cause through an apparel campaign. Bonfire, an online apparel fundraiser platform, provides design templates, custom design assistance, retail price suggestions and other tips for launching a seamless animal rescue campaign. The company even prints and ships the T-shirts to all your supporters and navigates the proceeds to your charity.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can get a campaign going as fast as in 5 minutes,\u201d says David Adley, Bonfire director of outbound sales.<\/p>\n The more specific and timely your campaign, the more it will emotionally resonate with your audience, says David. For example, Old Friends Dog Sanctuary created a presidential campaign for one of its adoptable dogs, Mildred, during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very topical event \u2026 and they created a great story around it and a cute, fun design,\u201d David says.<\/p>\n Organizing a Secret Santa event for the foster dogs in your community or for the adoptable dogs at a local shelter can help offset some costs for foster parents, while giving kids a fun and actionable way to raise money.<\/p>\n Most shelters will already have a wish list, says Tricia McAuley, fundraising coordinator for New Hope Dog Rescue in central Canada, which hosts a Secret Santa event for its foster dogs on its website.<\/p>\n Often, the most needed items aren\u2019t toys.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun picking out toys and food, but sometimes some of the biggest needs are invisible ones,\u201d says Tricia, of the high costs to cover medical needs that need to be treated before a dog goes up for adoption. Other popular gifts are laundry detergent for fosterers caring for puppies and special diet dog food.<\/p>\n Creating a virtual Secret Santa group on Facebook can widen your outreach by sharing pictures, wish lists and encouraging people to participate if they aren\u2019t local.<\/p>\n After writing this month\u2019s column, I learned that some of the most powerful fundraisers can be started solo. I also learned how I could make an impact without being affiliated with a larger rescue group or shelter. Let us know your DIY holiday fundraising ideas or events you’ve done by emailing us at dogstermag@belvoir.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n What else can YOU do?<\/strong><\/p>\n The post DIY Holiday Fundraising<\/a> by Lauren Katims<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post DIY Holiday Fundraising<\/a> by Lauren Katims<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n This holiday season, I wanted to do something meaningful for my dogs. Sure, they seem to always love their presents, but how many Hanukkah sweaters are really appropriate for California weather? With a creative idea and a wide social media outreach, you can make a significant impact on the lives of our furry friends \u2014 many who don\u2019t have a family to give them unnecessary sweaters. First, choose a charity or shelter to support and confirm your plans, making sure the organization is on board. Then it\u2019s time to get the creative juices flowing. Here are a few ideas to get you started.<\/p>\n Hire a professional photographer to host a photo shoot and donate a portion of the proceeds to your charity of choice. Adam Goldberg of AGoldPhoto Pet Photography says he and his wife, Mary, raised about $270,000 traveling around the country, taking portraits of dogs and partnering with local animal shelters.<\/p>\n Choose a location that\u2019s dog friendly and free of charge, says Adam, who typically shoots in breweries. Disclose details about other dogs who will be in the shooting vicinity, so people can plan ahead for anxious pups.<\/p>\n \u201cBook early,\u201d advises Adam, so the prints will be ready by the holidays. \u201cSeptember or October is your sweet spot.\u201d<\/p>\n And although it might be tempting to include Santa, make sure the dogs are comfortable around strangers, especially if Santa isn\u2019t experienced with handling animals, Adam says.<\/p>\n Raise money and awareness for your cause through an apparel campaign. Bonfire, an online apparel fundraiser platform, provides design templates, custom design assistance, retail price suggestions and other tips for launching a seamless animal rescue campaign. The company even prints and ships the T-shirts to all your supporters and navigates the proceeds to your charity.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can get a campaign going as fast as in 5 minutes,\u201d says David Adley, Bonfire director of outbound sales.<\/p>\n The more specific and timely your campaign, the more it will emotionally resonate with your audience, says David. For example, Old Friends Dog Sanctuary created a presidential campaign for one of its adoptable dogs, Mildred, during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very topical event \u2026 and they created a great story around it and a cute, fun design,\u201d David says.<\/p>\n Organizing a Secret Santa event for the foster dogs in your community or for the adoptable dogs at a local shelter can help offset some costs for foster parents, while giving kids a fun and actionable way to raise money.<\/p>\n Most shelters will already have a wish list, says Tricia McAuley, fundraising coordinator for New Hope Dog Rescue in central Canada, which hosts a Secret Santa event for its foster dogs on its website.<\/p>\n Often, the most needed items aren\u2019t toys.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun picking out toys and food, but sometimes some of the biggest needs are invisible ones,\u201d says Tricia, of the high costs to cover medical needs that need to be treated before a dog goes up for adoption. Other popular gifts are laundry detergent for fosterers caring for puppies and special diet dog food.<\/p>\n Creating a virtual Secret Santa group on Facebook can widen your outreach by sharing pictures, wish lists and encouraging people to participate if they aren\u2019t local.<\/p>\n After writing this month\u2019s column, I learned that some of the most powerful fundraisers can be started solo. I also learned how I could make an impact without being affiliated with a larger rescue group or shelter. Let us know your DIY holiday fundraising ideas or events you’ve done by emailing us at dogstermag@belvoir.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n What else can YOU do?<\/strong><\/p>\n The post DIY Holiday Fundraising<\/a> by Lauren Katims<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cuties2-600x458.png\")
Create a T-shirt campaign<\/h3>\n
Host a Secret Santa event<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cuties3-462x600.png\")
#PawsForThisCause<\/h3>\n
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Set up a pet photo shoot<\/h3>\n
Create a T-shirt campaign<\/h3>\n
Host a Secret Santa event<\/h3>\n
#PawsForThisCause<\/h3>\n
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