Rescue group fund raising ideas?

[Lorien]

Little Hecate's illness and passing has inspired me to work harder at coming up with fund raising ideas for our rescue. Ideally, I would love for every foster home to be equipped with the medicines and knowledge needed to address life threatening illnesses before they get out of hand. We also need general funds for spay/neuter, transportation, food, etc. I saw a "my kid eats bugs" sticker on the back of a truck in a parking lot recently. It was from a Texas humane society, and the photo of the kitten on it was a nondescript stock image. So I did my own version last night:




Maybe you all can come up with some slogans for a puppy sticker; "My child has toilet breath" or maybe one with a puppy and kitten that reads "my children lick themselves"?

A calendar of kitten photos was also suggested (thanks Patiod!), but I think that my photos alone might be a bit dull, as I only have the one locale to take them in (the "kitten room"). Maybe some other DUers have kittens pics that are "calendar worthy?

I've also thought of doing an "Oberon and Puck" Calender, maybe adding some clever, "Shakespearian" borders here and there. They may be purebred cats, but they've done fund raisers for homeless pets before (benefit cat shows-Obie raised about $600)! And Oberon simply adores being a foster "sitter". There must be some other way that I can put them to work as fund raisers.

Oberon LOVES "his" kittens;



Nim looks like she's saying "help me", but she's actually eating it up!

[superconnected]

1. Lorien, on another site, about a week ago a guy posted

that he had to take his two adult male cats to the pound a week earlier. He couldn't care for them anymore for some reason. He was not old or sick so apparently it was financial or inconvience. It was a kill shelter.

I posted back that in most cases they were put down 2 days after they got there, 3 tops. And that dogs live around a week longer. And that people go to shelters to adopt dogs mostly and not cats.

He didn't know that and wouldn't have done it if he had.

So my idea - since I've always wanted to save the animals at the shelters, is to go to 5 sites(message boards) a day or week,and post a small paragraph to inform people. I was thinking I should try and get others to do it too.

The paragraph would say something like:

"In city shelters where they are not, "no-kill", cats are allowed to live an average of 2.5 days, dogs a week longer. Most people will go to city shelters to adopt dogs, not cats. In most cases, turning an animal over to the Human Society is a death sentence. To help stop this spay/neuter your animals.(could say click here to go to a link instead)

Anyway. If you are trying to increase awareness on shots and get donations, and I'm trying to make my community service to visit boards all the time- I could add a link to your info. Your stuff could maybe have a page on kill-shelters, rescue centers, shots, and ask for donations.

Asking for donation outright for your rescue group may get messages deleted as solicitation. Me putting up the message I intended anyway may get it through, if it's an attached link on my post.

hey the link they click on could start with what people can do - ie.

1. spay/neuter their pets
2. make a real attempt to find homes for them
3. donate to animal rescue groups (buy a calender etc.)

Anyway, if you would consider it. It would be free advertising.

Kelly

[Lorien]

5. Actually, this thread is for ideas for raising funds

not an outright request for donations. Cute bumper sticker ideas, clever event ideas, products that we could offer through CafePress, etc. Our rescue group already visits the kill shelters regularly to pick up animals on "death row", we do a regular cable TV adoption show and a radio spot to make people aware of the need to spay, neuter, vaccinate and microchip (a pet without a collar or microchip is likely to get euthanized by animal control). Our greatest need now is for foster homes , but potential volunteers are usually too afraid of getting attached of bringing illness into their homes to give it a try. That's one reason why I want to try to come up for great ideas for fund raisers for these first aid kits. If fosters are educated about potential hazards and how to treat them, maybe the prospect of facing them won't be so daunting.

[superconnected]

11. okay then list my idea as a fundrasing idea

To restate what I just said - I am not asking for donations. I don't need any.

I'm only going to post awareness messages. If anyone want me to post a link with them, where they ask for donations - ie a rescue group, thats fine. I'd add it to my awareness message.

[Lorien]

16. OK

(I thought that you thought that it was I who was asking for donations. I didn't think that you were...on well, failure to communicate).

My local group is www.petrescuebyjudy.com

Thanks!

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. That Obie!

What a sweetheart!

FSC

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. I think the calendar is a GREAT idea!

Hee's some newer Molly pix:





And some of the old favorites:





My dearly departed Pooh (Oreo) with my brother.



FSC

[Beaverhausen]

8. Molly looks so much like my dear departed Carmine

I swear they could be twins.

[fudge stripe cookays]

12. Awwwww!

Did Carmine have the little fuzzy gray britches which were a much lighter gray than the rest of him? That's the really cute part.

FSC

[Beaverhausen]

14. Its eerie how similarly they are colored

even the pattern on her tummy is the same as his.

In the winter he would get really furry - especially his ears!!!

I miss Carmine :cry:

Moral of the story - DON'T BRING LILIES INTO A HOME WITH CATS. ESPECIALLY CATS WHO AREN'T SMART ENOUGH NOT TO EAT THEM.

:cry:

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. Ooh! Beav I'm so sorry!

we have to be very careful too. Molly will eat absolutely ANYTHING.
reprehensor likes to surprise me with flowers from time to time.

The only place safe from her is on top of the refrigerator. We also keep Fargo's dog treats there, because he can reach everywhere else in the house!

I'm so sorry about little Carmine. I miss our Pooh too. Molly is not half as affectionate as the Pooh. I never get head butts or snuggles anymore. But I do get lots of bites and scratches. Little shit.

FSC

[Lorien]

9. It would be cute if we could come up with some great

quotes to go with the pics, a la "mycathatesyou.com". Maybe asking for submissions in the lounge would be a good place to start?

[fudge stripe cookays]

13. I'd say that's a capital suggestion!

:-)

FSC

[superconnected]

4. I only have a few online

Vanilla


Sasha


Mischief - 3 months ago but still my favorite pic of her

[Lorien]

6. That Vanilla sure is anything but

"plain vanilla"!

[superconnected]

21. he was white the first few months. I didn't realize siamese got their

colors later. He's the only boy in my 5 cat household. He's one of the kittens the pregnant cat I adopted had. At 6 months he's twice the size of his sisters. He's just big. Anyway, he's quite the mommas boy. Screetches if he gets locked out, expects special attention etc. You're right, he's not plain. And he refuses to be ignored.

[Beaverhausen]

7. Must have pics of Nikko and Jesse

There are so many great pics here on this thread we could use.

I hope to have a few of my own girls soon. They too are rescues.

[Lorien]

10. Newsguy's pics are great!

definitely deserve calendar pages of their own. Bug and Maggie's pics come to mind too, along with Quinn and Althea, naturally.

[MamaBear]

17. That is priceless.

You keep outdoing yourself. Thank you for all the smiles you give me; I am currently fir-childless (and will have to stay that way for a while, I'm afraid).

[regnaD kciN]

18. I'm in on the calendar idea...

...but please let me know if you're going to go ahead with this, since most of my good cat photos are on film rather than digital, and I'll need to scan them in.

Meanwhile, here are some of the digital ones I have. Most of you have seen these before.

Andrew



Simon Peter



Pumpkin (and Lizzie)



Tari (R.I.P. -- obviously, I'd want to find a photo with her face showing instead)



Panda (R.I.P.)

[Lorien]

20. I LOVE the photo of Pumpkin and Lizzy

it's just too sweet!

[roguevalley]

27. If you do this, I'll buy one. You might gather cat quotes to put on

the corners and maybe dates to disperse through the months, say January 10th was the day________________ became the house cat of Queen Victoria.
May 1st was Puss in Boots birthday. List literary cat quotations, like the Cheshire. That will entrance cat people. :)

[paisley]

29. Here's another photo of Andrew

[regnaD kciN]

30. Personally, I prefer paisley's photo of Andrew to mine

[auburngrad82]

19. I like "my dog is smarter than your honor student" nt

[Patiod]

22. Pics you've posted from the Cute Kitten Factory haven't been dull

No one cares about the backgrounds, folks do love to look at little kitten faces! Those last three Maine Coon kittens had amazing little faces (RIP Hecate) Glad to see little Nim looking happy and healthy.

Also, as you mentioned, pictures of annoyed or pissy-looking cats are also fun. One year we sent out one of our cat with Santa (she looked FURIOUS) and people LOVED it - not because it was cute, but because you could just see the absolute fury and hatred seething in that little walnut-sized brain. The folks here could come up with both pissy cats and captions if that were the way to go.

[Lorien]

23. You mean like these?

This was my card last Christmas:





This was on the back, with "bah humbug press" and my address below it:

[ralps]

24. Hi Lorien, I'm sorry to here about Hecate, and I hope your other kitties

are getting better. I would be up for putting together a pet calender. Here are some photos of Norman


and Crook


:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo:

[Beaverhausen]

25. Cuties!! We may need a weekly calendar- we surely have at least...

...52 pictures of cuteness!

[superconnected]

35. Is that second to last picture, a cat on top of a door?

[ralps]

36. Yes, when Crook was a little younger he was able to jump on top

of a door near a cat stand/scratching post that I have. Here's a photo of him on top of my refrigerator.

:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo:

[superconnected]

41. that looks like a cheshire cat pose.

What a great cat.

[CC]

26. You have a great idea

and more it looks like. The calender idea is great, I know a ferret shelter that has people send in photos of their ferrets to put in the calender. Last year they had enough for two calenders. One advantage there was that anyone that had their ferret in a calender bought at least one if not two or more. They ask for photos through their website. Also if you are thinking of cafepress do not forget the keepsake/ornaments, specially around Xmas. They are well made and a lot of them are sold. Same rescue charged 9.99 per ornament ($4.00 profit)and did very well. That is less than most store bought keepsake ornaments. Cafepress now offers them year round so you could do different holidays and none holiday ones.

[Eurobabe]

28. My best friend, a petsitter actually uses her Golden

Sammy and dresses him up in silly costumes themed for the month. On July 4th he was Uncle SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM! Complete with a goofy hat. His picture was on the front of her daily newspaper, she has quite a following. She's had him in a superman costume for Halloween, sitting at a desk with apples for September back to school. On Santa's lap, etc. Sam is hysterical!

The funny part of the story is, another ex-friend of mine, (a typical Repube) bought Sammy when she was pregnant, and then dumped him after the baby came because the nanny couldn't handle Sam. So she brought him up to PA, and I had K. come over to see him, it was love at first sight. K. adopted him on the spot. That was 5 yrs. ago. And my poor friend has had her hands full $$$, with Sammy's poor lineage, allergies, thyroid probs. bless her for even taking him in, she loves him to death. My other ex-friend is a millionaire, but K. who is going through a bad divorce has a heart of gold, and she's the one whose been there for Sam. Life seems so unfair sometimes. Sam has brought her alot of joy though...

Maybe we could try to dress up our animals and have a contest on here (kinda like Calendar girls) then find someone to print it and sell for proceeds to go to rescue organization?

Just an idea... -48

[Robeson]

31. Lorien, we have 3 little furballs, and you are welcome to any pictures...

...we have. I've often thought that we need to pool these for helping the other kitties. If you want some of them, just let me know. I'd be happy to forward them to you.

[Lorien]

34. Thanks Robeson

:loveya:

[ehrnst]

32. There's also a Yahoo Group for shelter/rescue fundraising ideas:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShelterFundraising/

[Lorien]

33. Thanks for the link!

I usually avoid Yahoogroups because they seem to be frustratingly slow, but I'll look into this one. :thumbsup:

[SiouxJ]

37. My local group actually has a resale shop

I always donate items to them and even some of my merchandise (from my business). That takes a lot of work and also, a physical property. You could have rummage sales though; bake sales too.

I'm assuming you already have donation jars at local businesses? My group has them everywhere and I can never resist putting my change (and then some) in them.

And btw, that top photo of Oberon and Nim is definitely calendar worthy!!! OMG! How CUTE!

[Lorien]

38. Where do they place their jars, aside from pet related shops?

I admit, we haven't really thought of placing the jars in any other type of retail area.

Obie seems to be saying "Kittens! I loves me KITTENS! Soft, fluffy, adorable KITTENS!!!" You can almost see him saying "awwww.." when he gets a glimpse of one. He's banished from the kitten room while he has his URI. He just sits by the french doors and whimpers, poor boy!

[SiouxJ]

39. I've seen them everywhere from the local bagel shop

to auto-repair places. All you have to do is ask and I guess figure out if you trust 'em. I would say more businesses have them than don't.

That's so sweet that Obie has a kitten fetish!

[Lorien]

40. Hey, as long as it's not a Micheal Jackson type of kitten fetish

;-)

I'll ask around and see if there's other shops that will allow me to place a jar near the register. Thanks so much for the tip!

:hi:

[Mutley]

42. I love the calendar idea.

Here's some pics of my parent's kitties.

Magic Crashed


Mr. Scruffy, a rescue who looks a little scruffy after getting the mats cut out of his fur.


From the back: Magic, Clarence, and Funky

[BrklynLiberal]

43. We will definitely need a Kitten-a-week calendar! So many adorable

fur-babies.
I have sent my check to the Hecate Tribute fund(at Pet Rescue by Judy) ...and hope that her memory will serve to save many thousands of lives.

Here is 2 week old Murphy sleeping in my landlady's hands


Look how big Murphy has gotten!


and he is fascinated with these canaries...


How about this kitten looking IN my window?


How about a kitten and a puppy looking out a window?