Dog shelters are inherently good causes, and good causes never run out of support. That’s the good news. The challenge lies in finding means that will help you achieve fund raising goals for your dog shelter. The beginnings are difficult, but with persistence and closely adhering to these steps, you will surely find your success. There are so many ways with which you can raise funds for a dog shelter.
- Appeal to Emotion. The most tried and tested efficient way in getting a decent fundraising effort for your dog shelter is by means of appealing to human emotion. This involves getting visuals and catchy taglines that will make your cause popular and well-loved by people. Word of mouth marketing is still the best strategy. Take the best and cutest photos of your dogs and place them in your flyers for greater emotional impact.
- Linking or Joint Ventures. The best way to strengthen your fund raising effort is by means of linking up with other agencies or movements that have a similar end. Hotels with pet-friendly facilities, pet hospitals or salons and other places frequented by animal enthusiasts may just be some of the best places where you can engage in joint ventures. Joint events with established animal lover clubs and the like will give you synergy in promoting your cause and theirs.
- Pet-Specific Sponsorships. Giving identity to the distinct characters of your dog shelter may also work to your advantage. Your best dogs may actually help you out in getting the necessary funds by linking sponsorships directly to individual dogs in your shelter. The most lovable ones will definitely get the nice donations, although they are not really the most stable means of getting funds for your shelter.
- Traditional Means. There are many traditionally sound practices in raising funds. Bake sales (in the shape of dogs, for added promotion), concerts, car wash and many other types of fund raising activities are all viable. You can do them all simultaneously if you are fully manned and with willing volunteers in your midst. You can also do them every week or every month. The important thing is to stay visible and consistent to your target market.
- Online Help. Websites such as Step by Step Fund Raising and Animal Shelter Tips are rich in ideas that will help you raise funds the right way. These online helps will surely help you achieve your goals, and they often assist you with concrete steps on how to implement the fundraising activities that they are suggesting you to do.
The fund raising efforts are just hard at the beginning, but later on
you can be assured of getting a steady supply of financial help. Also,
it will be very helpful if you have a financial report of sorts
estimating how much you really need every month to keep the dog shelter
in top operating shape. This way, you will be able to tailor-fit your
goals and available resources to whatever activities you have in mind
for raising funds.