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Roll
out the red carpet. Bring in the wide-screen TV. Serve up the
appetizers and stage your very own Oscar Party, Super Bowl etc.
Mini Golf Tournament (instead of the traditional gold outing):
could be geared at schools, families etc.
Website auctions
Shakespeare in “our” park. San Francisco has an
annual event in a local park. People could bring a blanket and a
picnic lunch and their doggie friends and have a wonderful Saturday
or Sunday afternoon in the park! A theatre school could get enlisted
for the project or it could be an interactive play involving people
with their dogs.
Bikers Ride: We have a bikers group that does a ride every
year with a "pet-stop" at our shelter. We just provide
volunteers and some refreshments, plus they can tour the shelter
when we are still closed to the public
Aluminum recycling: we have set up a spot at our shelter
where people can drop off their aluminum cans in plastic bags. We
have a volunteer that brings them to the recycling center on a regular
basis.
In-kind donations/drives: Girl scout troops etc. are always
looking for ways to help animals. We have some troops that do on
a regular basis collections of gently used towels, blankets etc.
and are tremendously successful.
Sand Sculpture Contest
Dog Poo Bingo: a large grassy area (football field) sectioned
off in a large grid and 3 dogs. We would sell a grid square at 10$
per square or 3 for 25$. The dogs would wear harnesses with a 1,2,or
3. And all we would have to do is wait. When and where #1 poops
will dictate the first place winner.
Tag days at street corners: Standing at street corners when
the traffic light is red and going up to the cars for donations.
Thanksgiving Table: people are encouraged to bring in-kind
donations (whatever your organization needs, from food to paper
towel etc)
Grocery coupons: we get 3 times a year (dates are predetermined
and never during a holiday week) a grocery coupon valid Monday-Wednesday.
When people do their shopping, they just need to present the coupon,
the store fills it out and we get 1% of all purchases done.
I have many photography related books that I no longer needed. I
also belong to a listserve devoted to photographers. I held an on-line
auction for the photography books, asking for monetary donations
or donations of toys for the cats and dogs in exchange for the books
(the person who donated the most, won the particular book on which
they were bidding). I
did quite well, but even improved on what I collected. When the
auction ended, I went to a local Wal Mart and asked them
if I spent the money I'd collected for the pets at their store,
would they match the amount I spent there. They agreed to
do this (we are so grateful to Wal Mart). Rescue volunteers/workers
could do this with almost any items - even the proceeds of a garage
or yard sale.
Rummage
Sale: find a great location (we chose the parking lot of a vacant
super market), have everyone bring in stuff (hopefully already priced),
then sell - sell - sell! Last year the one day event raised over
$3000, and we are poised to do better than that this year based
on the amount of stuff collected.
Wine
and Dine event: We had this at a local restaurant in a small
town. The chef got one of his wine distributors to come for the
evening and serve wine that would complement the menu that he drew
up. The dinner was $50.00 per head of which we made only $13.00,
but the silent auction that went on throughout the evening was the
big draw. All items had to be worth at least $50.00 (some small
but nice items were combined). Get all types of donations: eye exams,
scuba diving class, golf certificates, wine baskets, spa treatments,
animal things. This event made almost $4000.
Animal
Place, a sanctuary in California, has put together a wonderful booklet
called "Food for Thought: Adopting an Animal Friendly Menu
for Your Shelter's Events, which you may want to take look at. It
is not about requiring everyone to become vegetarian, but about
sending a consistent message to the community about your organization's
lifesaving work. To get a copy of the booklet contact Animal Place.
e-mail: :info@animalplace.org
You
could also have dogs paint.
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