My Humane Society needs ideas

[morph's mom]

Most of you know I just moved back to BFE and we have a small humane society here.  Well we live in the poorest county in the state and therefore our Humane society is really small and just barely makes it through each month.  They were hit really hard by the petfood recalls also cause it was most of the cheaper brands that were recalled.  They put out a call on the radio for dog food donations yesterday and by 10 am this morning they had over 2,000 lbs of dog food brought in.  The people in this county will give but you just have to ask them.  So I was wondering what does everyone else's humane societys do in order to raise money?? 

They do a really good job with what they have and I just want to help them out.  Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks
Carrie

[schelmischekitty]

ours does a "dirty dog wash" in town where it's all done on donations, but has a $10 minimum donation.  i've also heard of them getting "NIB" donations and then auctioning them off, or having a flea market type thing but do it as a silent auction.

[Nina]

Ours does a pets in the park day. Where everyone can bring their pets, they have a walk and run that raises money. Also this is where pet business set up booths and they pay a fee to do so(which goes to the humane society) they also set up fly ball and agility demos. And you can enter your pet into training competitions. They also use this oportunity to showcase the pets they have up for adoption.

Tim and I go every year, it is super fun.

Nina

[Anakalia]

Our H.S. does the flea market thing but a friend of mine just started helping out too!  She's a photographer, she'll have a day where she goes to the H.S. and she'll take amazing profesional photos of pets and their families and donates a % to the H.S.  I think it's all a matter of asking around in your area.  A lot of businesses LOVE donating money to the H.S. because it's such a good cause.

[morph's mom]

bump... any more ideas out there?

[stryder]

We hold a Bingo game twice a week. It generates considerable cash but does take a volunteer staff and someone who knows bingo.
PM me for specific questions.
THoM

[schelmischekitty]

i found a website with some great ideas.  here are some of them.  you'd need to advertise, obviously, but maybe some of the local news / radio stations would donate that!

3-on-3 basketball tournament - Charge a team of 3-4 players $40 for entrance and ask local businesses for prize donations. If you provide tee shirts for the event, you could raise the entrance fee.  also, you could ask for advertising help from local radio stations and tell school basket ball teams.

Spring yard work to local community members - One soccer team offered to rake yards and spread compost at a bargain rate. They had 10 players working 3 ½ days each and each boy made $240.00. Customers were asked to give a donation for the work and everyone exceeded expectations.

Community job fair - In an urban area, a school could host a job fair. Ask local companies to rent a booth space for a fee and solicit free advertisements from local radio stations or newspapers. One school held a job fair, charged $4 for admission and made $24,000 in the two years they’ve held the fair.

“Halloween Insurance” - One organization sold insurance for $1 and guaranteed to clean up any soaped windows, cars, etc. the day after Halloween. They had 6 clean-up calls and everyone tipped them, despite purchasing the insurance. A group of 7 members made over $1,000.

Plant sale - Ask parents/citizens to donate plants for a sale. They can divide their perrenials and share them with other families. A garden club makes about $1,000-2,000 each year from a sale like this.

this one would be a great idea if you put a new "path" or something up to raise money!
"Pave a Path for Paws" Buy A Brick Sponsorship
Sponsor a brick as we Pave a Path for Paws. Your brick will be attractively placed at our new shelter facility. This is a great way to honor a loved one, make a memorial, or to give as a gift. Bricks are $100 each. In addition, we also have “Room to Run” sponsorships in which you can sponsor a room or cage in our new shelter.   

maybe they could even run a doggy day care / OR boarding for a slightly lower cost than local businesses.  don't know if you could do this, BUT it would be a good source of money!

[schelmischekitty]

also, you could do like the ASPCA does, and do "pledges" or sponsorships, where you give people the option to sponsor specific animals for a set amount per month.  the cost would cover food, grooming, etc, for a specific animal and then just send them a quick picture and update on that animal every so often!  or do it where it's not a specific animal, but once a month they get a picture of the animal they helped and they get a "sponsored by..." sticker on the animal's cage.

our humane society here also does a "pet of the week" on the local news.  they show an animal, talk about it for a few minutes, and then tell everyone where it's located and also say "OR if you can't adopt right now, you can also donate to help homeless animals JUST like this!"

[Mojo1269]

Here in Minnesota:


MAKE AN ONLINE
DONATION
TO THE WALK

 
 
 Get Your Pledge Forms Here!

It’s time for the 33rd annual Walk for Animals!
This year join the fun with TWO walks—West Walk in Golden Valley and East Walk in St. Paul. Walk with your pets! Walk with your friends! Walk with thousands of animal lovers at the Walk for Animals (the country’s largest!) on Saturday, May 5, 2007.

Now you can collect pledges online - it's easy!
OR
Link here to a standard, printable Early Bird Pledge Form


   Celebrate the human-animal bond and help us raise funds for the newly-merged humane society and our locations in Buffalo, Coon Rapids, Golden Valley, Saint Paul and Woodbury. The funds you raise will help us care for the more than 35,000 animals that come through our doors annually—and aid our efforts with animal overpopulation, animal cruelty investigations, educational programs and placing thousands of animals in loving homes.

   You’ll be helping a great cause but you’ll also have a great time people and animal-watching – with dogs and cats, as well as the occasional bunny, ferret, goat, snake, and guinea pig! Plus there’s musical entertainment, fun and games for you and your pooch, free eats, prize giveaways, and more.

    The West Walk begins at the Golden Valley facility, and is a circular walk through Theodore Wirth Park and back to our shelter.
    The East Walk takes place at the Como Park East Picnic Area and is a walk around the lake, then back to the starting point.
 

[Nicole]

Our HS also does a black-tie event. Its kinda pricey, but it raises a ton of money. Also, they have a silent auction where local artists auction off their stuff. The stuff is all done specifically for the event, and it is all themed. Its usually really great art.

Also, they get some type of tax that goes to them...hmm...t hey sell Burn's dog food...and of course the donation they request when you relinquish your pet.