Fundraising Kit

Thank you for registering to walk and helping to raise funds for Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption!

Contents

Thank you letter from the Committee

Getting Over the Asking Hurdle

Fundraising Ideas

Donations Chart

Sample Letter

Using Social Media to Fundraise

Inspiration

Dear Walkers,

Thank you so much for registering to walk in Paws in the Park. We are thrilled to have your participation, and with your help you can make our 2nd annual dog walk the most successful yet.

We realize the task of fundraising can be a daunting task and first we want to thank you for taking it on. Each animal that enters our facility typically costs us $300 to fully vet, care for, and get ready for adoption. We ask that be your initial fundraising goal. This packet is full of tips on how to help you meet your goals easily.

With your help, we can save more lives and make a greater impact saving animals in Atlanta.

Sincerely,The Paws in the Park Committee

• APRA’s largest annual fundraiser raised $150,000 in it’s first year.

• Charity dog walk also supports other rescue organizations.

• Community event that helps spread information about responsible pet ownership.

• It’s a wonderful day to bring the whole family to the park!

Getting over the hurdle of asking for money:

• Remember why you are fundraising for the animals; we are their voice.

• Set a goal! You will be surprised what you can achieve with a clear idea in mind.

• Make a list potential donors, who you want to contact and start to talk to these people in your life about Paws in the Park.

• Ask for your first donation: over the phone, in person, via email.

• Use Firstgiving to create a personalized website to tell your story.

• Share your story with your circle of friends, tell them your goals, and ask them for help.

• Don’t be afraid to tell people about the cause you are passionate about.

• Follow up with those you have already asked donations from.

• Thank your donors!

APRA takes dogs from Before:

To After:

Fundraising Ideas

• After you register as a walker, complete your personalized website. Add pictures, tell your rescue story, tell why you are walking and your fundraising goal.

• Post the link to your website on your Facebook status, then make sure to do thank you status updates to those who donate.

• Check to see if your company has a corporate matching program.

• Write a fundraising letter and mail it to your contacts. Ask at church, book club, supper club or any organization you participate in for donations.

• Add a line in the signature of your emails with your personalized link.

• Send an email to your contacts asking for support.

• Ask your boss if your company will match your fundraising.

• Do what you do best, if it’s baking, then have a bake sale. If you’re a great car washer, hold a car wash. Maybe you are an amazing guitar player, so put a sign out saying where the proceeds are going to, then stand in a busy area and rock on!

• Have fun, be creative, be competitive, and think outside of the box!

Donations Chart

Name Phone/ Address Amount Donated

Paid

Sample Letter for Fundraising

Dear Animal Lovers!

It is almost time for the second annual "Paws in The Park" Dog Walk & Expo to benefit Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption. Last year we raised almost $150,000 thanks to your generous donations! This year's eventis once again at Centennial Olympic Park on Sunday, September 23, 2012, from noon-5pm.

Since last year, we have begun renovations and have recently moved into a much larger facility in Smyrna, GA. We continue to rescue and rehabilitate dogs and cats so they can be adopted into safe and lovingforever homes. Since 2000, we have saved over 15,000 cats and dogs from euthanasia, cruelty and abandonment. For more information on ourorganization, go to our website at www.atlantapetrescue.org.

I am asking you to please sponsor me for the Dog Walk at Paws in the Park 2012 and know that your kind gifts will directly benefit the animals themselves in our efforts to continue building and completing our new space.

Thank you for thinking of Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption throughout the year with your generous donations, and for your time for those of you who tirelessly volunteer with us. We could not save the thousands ofdogs and cats that we do without your time and financial support.

Donating through this website is simple, fast, and totally secure. We are a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization and your donations are 100% tax deductible.

Here is the link for donations:http://www.firstgiving.com/pawsintheparkatlanta/paws-in-the-park-2012/fundraisersThank you so much for your thoughtfulness. Please forward this note onto anyone else who you think may want to support the ongoing efforts of Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption.

Best Regards,

Your name

Using Social Media to help Fundraise

• Use your status updates to ask for donations.

• Make sure to thank who ever donated, by tagging them in another status update.

Thank you for all you do to help animals

Inspiration

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated... I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of human kind.”— Gandhi

“Living with animals can be a wonderful experience, especially if we choose to learn the valuable lessons animals teach through their natural enthusiasm, grace, resourcefulness, affection and forgiveness.”— Richard H. Pitcairn

“I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.” (Reply to friends who chided him for delaying them by stopping to return a fledgling to its nest.)— Abraham Lincoln

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”— Josh Billings

“I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul.”- Jean Cocteau

“Love of animals is a universal impulse, a common ground on which all of us may meet. By loving and understanding animals, perhaps we humans shall come to understand each other.”— Dr. Louis J. Camuti

“No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.”— Louis Sabin

“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity.”— George Bernard Shaw