Presented at the American Pets Alive No-Kill Conference 2014.

1. Fundraising 1.0: Grass Roots

2. Who are we?
Lindy and Katy are both long term volunteers of San Antonio Pets Alive!
SAPA! was formed in January 2012 and granted nonprofit, 501(c)3 status in April,
2012. Our mission is to save every adoptable dog and cat in danger of euthanasia at
the City Shelter through adoption, foster care, baby bottle-feeding, the provision of
alternatives to pet surrender, and the involvement of citizens and businesses in
order to make San Antonio a No-Kill city.
While many APA practices were leveraged, there was less than a month between the
initial informational meeting about SAPA and their first save!
Team had to raise money and supporters quickly w/o any budget or background in
fundraising! Here are tips on what we did, what worked and what didn’t.

3. Fundraising
• Online Fundraising: Easy and can be large pay off, can do often
• Grants/Foundations: Time consuming, few and far between but
large pay off
• Events: Extremely Time and Resource consuming, medium pay off
• Donation Drives and Boxes: After process set up, easy money!
• Merchandise sales
• Direct Mail: Costly and time consuming for initial creation – but very
successful
• Thank yous and Recognition! 12%
16%
33%4%
2%
32%
Events
Direct Mail
Online Donations
Medical Chipins
Merch Sales
Grants

4. Online Fundraising
Select your online donation tool – look at fees, features, and ease
of use: Ex: Paypal, Razoo, Network for Good, Cause, Firstgiving, YouCaring
adoptashelter.com is where you can select a shelter and then shop at
Amazon or other stores with part of proceeds going to charity.
Online Auctions: Example: V-day Theme basket auction. Use 32
Auctions
Encourage supporters to set up their own fundraisers for
Birthdays, Graduations, etc.
• Team Fundraiser/contests: ex Mutt Milers raised almost $5000!
Create clever online campaigns and seek matching gift donations –
held one at end of year and raised over $30k in 72hrs.

5. Example
Chipin
People like giving to a specific purpose or animal. For instance, if there is an
animal with a medical need – rather than absorbing the costs in your general budget –
look for donations.
Example: Poor Miracle was hit by a train and needed substantial medical
care & surgery to amputate tail and leg. The team worked together and
raised $2500 in 3 days from almost 100 individual donations:
• Set up a Donation page with pictures /video and story.
• Post online & ask supporters to share. Provide updates on progress.
• If appropriate, send out a Press release. Maybe it will go no where, but often it will
be picked up on a slow news day! Include a open-ended donation link so there is
no limit to donations! See Press release in next slide:
KEY: Thank the donors and make them feel appreciated and as
though they have made a tangible difference. Send picture of
animal looking healthy and happy – letting them know THEY
helped make this happen!

6. Press Release for Miracle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Taryn or Gabrielle 512-994-9116
DOG HIT BY TRAIN: NEEDS LEG AND TAIL AMPUTATION
This dog was believed to have been hit by a train today. She was brought to
Animal Care Services after being found by railroad tracks with a severed leg and
tail. San Antonio Pets Alive pulled her from euthanasia, evaluated her and
determined she can be treated and live a rich life full of belly rubs and love. SAPA
“pulled” the dog and has begun medical treatment. Most of the pets we save
have treatable illnesses and injuries, and this doesn’t stop SAPA from its lifesaving
work. This dog needs urgent surgery and a foster home for after care.
Please make donations at our website: www.sanantoniopetsalive.org/donate to foster
please email foster@sanantoniopetsalive.org

7. Grants
• Google! Look for grants, foundations via Google, look at
other animals shelters to see who’s supporting them.
• Guidestar Research: Review Foundations 990’s to see who
they have given to in the past and what amount.
• Just do it! If you don’t apply, you will lose 100% of the time.
• Reach out! If there is a contact listed, reach out to pitch your
idea, gain insight and create personal connection to your
application.
• Compile a Grant folder with commonly requested items:
501c3 Determination, Board List, Budget, Financials so you can
quickly compile the generic stuff and focus on the story telling
and content. Create a basic case study with key content on your
mission, program and accomplishments.

8. Events
• Assess each event idea realistically. Often events are
incredibly time and resource consuming yet result in small profits.
• Third party events are the best! No work aside from mktg but
charity gets profits. EZs, 54th St, local charities provide a % of the
nights revenue to the org. Ex. A local restaurant add a special drink
“Pawmagranate Margarita” and chose an entrée to give us a % all
month – calling it Puppy Love month.
• Recruit an events team. Encourage supporters to come with
door prizes and a fun time!
• Maximize other events already occurring. Get a whiteboard
with a Wish List for Adoption events at stores.
• Sell Merchandise – T-shirt etc. Just need to manage inventory so they don’t
walk off.
• Event ideas: Golf Tournament, Dog Wash at local
Groomer, Gala, Luncheon/Breakfast

9. Donation
Drives & Boxes
• Donation Boxes: Approach local businesses to put a donation box
near their register. Include a QR code to your online donation page for
folks that don’t carry cash. Groomers, restaurants, Local Pet
Stores, any friend!
• Donation Boxes: $9.63 per box at displays2go.com
• Recommend a lock –keep honest people honest.
• $1.48 ea / keyed the same at taylorsecurity.com
• Donation Drives: Reach out to schools, churches, scout troops to host
donation drives for supplies and donations! Clayton’s Bday party was a hit!
• In Kind Donations: Work with Costco, Walmart, local Pet supply
houses, linen/laundry businesses to donate dented/ripped dog food or used
linens.

10. Merchandise
• T-shirts! Niceshirt.org or Zazzle takes away up
front costs, inventory mgmt and distribution…but cuts
into profit.
• Christmas Stockings for pets: Make braided
toys, get donations from stores, buy $1 items to make a
Pet Stocking to sell!
• Good old fashioned Bake sales!
• Fiesta Medals or your city’s equivalent
• First Pet Package

11. Direct Mail
December Direct Mail 17,500 pieces
• Printing costs $5009.00 ($0.286)
Envelope $2138.00
Card $1796.00
Inserts $1075.00
• Mailing cost (match mailing) $962.00
• Postage $1730.11 ($.098)
Total costs: $7564.11 ($.432)
Donations received: $18579.00
Profit: $11014.89

12. Quality Data
Your outreach by email or mail will only be as
good as the quality of your data.
• Collect name, address, email and phone number of every supporter
and contact at every opportunity.
• Add them to your database with a classification of adopter, foster or
donor.
• Track donations by each campaign with an annual total per donor.
• When doing a direct mail have your data run through NCOA
(National Change of Address). Determine if you will continue to
mail to those on your list that have moved based on:
1. Have the donated before?
2. When did they donate last?
3. Did they move out of the area?

13. Data Management
Update NCOA changes to your data after each
mailing.
Keep your data backed up in several locations.
• Your data is an asset that will appreciate over time so
treat it that way
Have staff and volunteers that have data access
sign a confidentiality agreement to make sure
your data doesn’t leave if they do.

14. THANK, THANK, THANK
Proper Appreciation: Ensure your supporters feel appreciated and like
they are making a difference. Provide updates on an animal/campaign:
Set up a protocol for donor recognition: Ex.
– $1-$25 receive an email thank you
– $26+ receive a hand written thank you
– $250 are contacted by Exec Dir
– $500 are invited for a tour
Donor DB: Collect and Track all donors for more effective and targeted
campaigns in future – dog lovers vs cat lovers; S/N
Gifts for Givers: Provide little thank yous here and there. Request
donated tickets to an event and offer them to key donors as a thank you w/o
an ask attached. They will answer the phone the next time and likely
donate!

15. Know your supporters!

16. Use Facebook and Web Analytics to get
smarter at when/how to
engage/communicate

17. Work with your Marketing Team to
engage your supporters!

18. Handy Links
www.razoo.com: For medical chip ins
www.adoptashelter.com: People can shop at
Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. A
percentage of the sales will be donated to your
shelter.
www.guidestar.org: Get your rescue on there
and search foundations for their 990s.
www.32auctions.com

19. San Antonio Pets Alive!
Contacts
Fundraising Team
• Lindy.hardin@sanantoniopetsalive.org
Marketing and Direct Mail Team
• Katy.bryant@sanantoniopetsalive.org