Fundraising and Financial Aid Factsheet

A short guide on fundraising: ideas and resources [download pdf]

Fundraising & Financial Help for Ontario Animal Orgs

 

A short guide on fundraising: ideas and resources

So you want to learn about fundraising and financial assistance! Scroll down to find information on grants, fundraisers, contests, services and programs that are available to you! Some may only be available if you are registered as a nonprofit or charity. These ideas have been collected from my own experiences and some research online, so I can’t promise that they’ll work. I’ve also referenced some helpful websites but I can’t guarantee that they are always working or that they are secure. Please let me know if you have any problems with resources that I’ve referenced. I hope to continue to update this guide, so please note that new versions will be posted!

 

 

Online Donations

A great way to allow people to donate is through Canada Helps. It allows people to make a secure donation online. You must be a registered charity in order to have an account. Other similar resources are Paypal and ChipIn.

http://www.canadahelps.org/Info/5/ss

https://www.paypal.ca/ca/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_home

http://www.chipin.com/overview

http://fundrazr.com/

https://www.justgiving.com/en/fundraising

 

Affiliate/Referral Programs

 

Blink Bunny (online) – This online website that has rabbit care items for sale has an affiliate program. Fill out the form to become an ‘affiliate’ and once you’re approved you will get a 7% referral commission for every item a person you have referred buys. Sounds pretty cool right?

https://www.binkybunny.com/AffiliateProgram/tabid/143/Default.aspx

 

Chewy.com – online pet supplier also has an affiliate program specifically to help rescues and shelters. You get $20 for every person you refer that places an order. http://www.chewy.com/ci/partners/rescue-referral.html

 

Amazon – Amazon.ca has an affiliate program that gives you 8.5% in referrals! They provide you with the button on your website and then people simply need to click and start shopping! You can also integrate your own items for sale, highlight favourite things for sale and you get a daily tracking report.

https://associates.amazon.ca/

 

 

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Donor Letters

 

A pdf version of How to Write a Donor Letter. [download pdf]

 

How to: Donor Letters

Presented by Ralph Basset Associates Inc. at the Guelph Fundraising Fair

 

The following information is to help your organization write a donor letter. A donor letter is usually written as a sponsorship proposal to a business. You may want them to donate goods or services or to help fund your event or project. There are two main things to think about; the actual letter and the list of potential businesses you want to contact. All of the information outlined below was presented at the Fundraising Fair in Guelph by Ralph Basset Associates Inc.

 

The very first step - Answer important questions about your organization

1. Who are we?

2. What's your cause?

3. Why do we do what we do?

The Letter

- Who (your organization name)

- What (what are you doing)

- When (when is it happening)

- Where (city location & event location)

- Why (why is the event happening)

 

 

Do: determine contact name, committee or department and use Dear Friends if contact is unknown

Don’t: to whom it may concern or dear valued sponsor/partner

 

More tips

- List key elements (5ws)

- Organization name, event, event date in opening paragraph

- Background in second paragraph (why history, context… how much money has it raised in before, is this an anniversary of your organization… mission statement in one sentence)

- Third paragraph includes the ask – clear and concise (how donation will be used, also mention how they will be recognized or refer them to info about sponsorship program… like gold silver and platinum levels)

- Closing includes lots of ‘thank yous’ and a call to action (looking forward to speaking with them, answering any questions, working with them in the future, if you want to follow up in a certain time frame mention it here)

 

*Remember*

- Every word counts, normally between 250-300 words)

- Strategy: share your passion (refer back to - why we do what we do)

- White space and aesthetics

- Letterhead

 

- Closing use sincerely, warmest regards or best regards

- Being unique is even better

- Sign with name of person, position, signature and registration number

 

 

Creating The List

• Building the list is a lot of research
• Online resources (municipal websites, business improvement areas (BIA), chamber of commerce, individual company website)
• Paper resources (phone book)
• Capture important contact information in an excel spreadsheet (contact name, department/committee name, phone number/email)
• Verify contact info
• Phone to verify mailing address (unless it states otherwise)
• Organize contacts
• Follow up with requests (call or email)

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Ideas for User Friendly Websites

A short guide on user friendly websites [download pdf]

 

Ideas for User Friendly Websites

 

Below I’ve listed ways to make your rescue/shelter’s page as user friendly and accessible as possible. The main goal of any animal group is to rescue animals and then place them in safe environments. You may be wondering if it really matters how good your website is, when what you care about is rescuing animals. I wouldn’t devote a lot of funds or unnecessary time on creating the perfect website. However there are a few steps you can take to help increase the likelihood your animals will be adopted. After all, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to find out what you do, why you do it and the animals you have for adoption! I would also like to note here that I do not know very much about making websites. The following information is written from my own experiences as a website user and helping to create the SHC website as well as what I think makes for a great user friendly website. Suggestions and comments are always welcome so drop us a line through the ‘contact’ page.

 

1. Make the animals number one! Novel buttons and quirky graphics can be a great edition to your website, but if people don’t recognize them as a portal to another page then they aren’t very useful. Try and have a main page button directing people to look at your animals. Use as many resources you can to advertise your animals. If possible remind people on a couple of different pages (with a simple button or link) to your adoption page. Give extra focus to one or two animals every once and awhile to draw more attention to them. Have an easy way of sorting through animals by using categories like species, colour, breed or age.

 

2. Promote any way you can. Try and promote your website, animals and ideas in any way you can. Connect with other organizations, write a blog, create a facebook page or twitter account. Anything to draw attention to your organization can make a big difference! So many people use social media that it’s a great way to connect with your supporters. People are genuinely interested in what you have to say and what’s new, so make it easy for them to find out what’s going on! You can also link your website with Facebook so that users can re-post content from your website (like one of your pets that needs a new home!) In this you not only connect with them, but all of the friends that they post to. This can also be accomplished through Twitter, Stumble Upon and many more.

 

3. Navigation is key. Do you have buttons that disappear when you travel to a new page? Giving users options at all times is very important! If they constantly have to backtrack through their previous steps they may become frustrated and unable to find the page they want. Try and put important navigation buttons on all pages so they are always accessible to people (this could include a home, contact and adoption button for example).

 

4. Communication. Always keep the lines of communication open! Giving people the ability to share information, thoughts and questions with you is so important. It keeps you in contact with your supporters and can also benefit you when they want to donate something or make a suggestion! Try and give them as many ways to contact you as possible including contact forms, email, phone number, mailing address and social media sites. If you know how long it normally takes you to respond put this on the contact page so people will be patient. This also ensures that you are not getting repeat communications from people who are impatient or unsure if you got their initial message (If possible it’s great to have some sort of acknowledgment of their message so they know that you did indeed receive it!)

 

5. Keep it simple. While the appearance of your website is not crucial to usability, it can make for a more positive user experience. Try and avoid flashing graphics, pages that take a million years to load, big patterned backgrounds and 100’s of colours all competing for attention. I know that I like cute dancing puppies probably more than the next person, but let's try and limit them to a reasonable number! Pick a cohesive colour scheme and complementary images or videos to make your site engaging. You want people to focus on the rescued animals not on the overwhelming design elements.

 

 

 

 

 

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Advertising

A pdf version of the Advertising Factsheet. [download pdf]

(Last updated November 2012)

Advertising: Version 2

A Short Guide on Advertising for Animal Non-profits

Table of Contents:

 

 

 

1. Places to list your organization online

2. Places to list just your adoptable animals online (mostly classifieds)

3. Places to list your organization and animals online

4. Places to list your organization online to encourage volunteers

5. Ideas to help you advertise and present your organization

6. Events in Ontario you should try to attend

7. World holidays/events your organization could celebrate or acknowledge

8. Social media and networks, directly communicate with your supporters

9. Social media How-to’s

So you want to learn about Advertising!

 

 

 

So you want to learn about advertising for your organization! I have included many different advertising resources. In the first section you will find websites that you can list your organization. This will help you increase awareness of your non-profit and potentially increase adoptions, donations and volunteers. In the second section I have advertising ideas that take a little more work than just listing your organization. These ideas are directed at interactions between you and the public. Take a look in both sections, as both will hopefully be useful! These ideas have been collected from my own experiences and some research online, so I can’t promise that they’ll work. I’ve referenced many helpful websites but I can’t guarantee that they are always working or that they are secure. Please let me know if you have any problems with resources that I’ve referenced. I hope to continue to update this guide, so please note that new versions will be posted!

 

 

Section 1

 

This section includes several places where you can list your non-profit animal organization. This is a really useful way to spread the word without doing very much work! Normally all that is required is an email detailing certain information about your organization. After that unless your information changes you don’t have to do anything! I like this form of advertising because it allows people to find out about your organization easily and efficiently.

 

 

Places to list your organization online

(I’ve grouped ‘only dog rescues’ at the top, followed by cat orgs, small animal/exotic orgs and then places to list all organizations, some require a specific location or non-profit status)

Dogs in Canada – Website allows you to list dog rescues for Canada.

http://www.dogsincanada.com/rescue

 

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Pet Names to Win hearts

A short guide on pet names to help shelters/rescues find cute/unusual names [download pdf]

 

Pet Names to Win Hearts

The animals at your rescue/shelter are sure to be the most amazing pets there ever was. How do I know this? Because every single animal I have met has something amazing and special about them. They just need to find the right person to connect with and share their specialness! That is where you come in! There are so many ways to increase the adoptability of your animals. From medical care, training, advertising, hair cuts, awesome photos, videos and events you can help your animals find their perfect family. I’ve found that there is another small albeit powerful way to help animals and people connect, picking an amazing name for them! This doesn’t cost you anything and can increase attention upon animals in your care.

Note: Same names may overlap in different sections

 

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