The Impact of Fundraising on Animal Rights Advocacy
From the destruction of natural habitats due to environmental reasons to animal cruelty within the beauty industry, there are so many reasons why the animal kingdom needs a little helping hand from us humans.
Thankfully, the world is home to countless animal rights advocacy charities whose invaluable work is bettering the lives of millions of wildlife, pets and working animals. Fundraising is absolutely essential to support these organisations’ running costs and specific projects.
Here, we’ll take you through some tried and tested fundraising options for animal rights advocacy groups. We’ll also share tips on how to use technology to maximise donations, including encouraging your supporters to shop through easyfundraising.
Creative Fundraising Ideas for Animal Rights Organisations
Stuck on where to start with your fundraising efforts? Let’s take a look at a few innovative ways to raise money for animals in need:
Animal-Themed Charity Run/Walk
A sponsored walk or run is a popular fundraising pick – regardless of the type of charity you work for. As well as promoting fitness and being outdoors, they’re also very sociable for those who choose to take part.
If you want to make your charity run/walk specific to your organisation, why not give it a theme? You could get participants to dress up as their favourite animal or an animal that’s relevant to your animal rights advocacy campaign.
Vegan Cooking Class
If you’re an animal rights advocacy group that promotes plant-based living, this fundraising idea might be for you. A cooking class is a brilliantly creative option, and it couldn’t be simpler to make it vegan.
Find a local chef or caterer who is willing to run the class for free or for a small fee, and then get selling tickets. You could host it as a one-off event or a series of classes, so lots of people can join in the fun. If you want to make it more campaign focused, why not give a short talk before or after the class about what your advocacy group does?
Virtual Animal Adoption Event
Even if your animal rights advocacy charity doesn’t support pets in need, you could still run an adoption event.
Get in touch with some animal charities or shelters that look after animals in need. You could then plan a virtual event where the public can sign up to ‘adopt’ one of the animals. This could involve a one-off donation for a specific medication it might need or be a long-term adoption where they pay a small amount every month to contribute towards its ongoing care.
A virtual event can be run via numerous online platforms, from crowdfunding sites like JustGiving to video conference apps. You’ll also have plenty of opportunities to promote your organisation’s good work via follow-up emails and social media.
Pet Photo Contest
It’s common knowledge that over half of UK households own a pet, so why not get them involved with your fundraiser? A pet photo contest is always a fun idea – and there are plenty of ways to run it.
Ask participants to pay a small fee (either in cash or online) to enter photos of their pets and then set up a panel from your organisation to judge them. You could have multiple categories – from cutest pet to best-dressed pet – and get local businesses to donate items as prizes. Even better if they’re for the pets themselves!
Traditional Fundraising Methods That Work
As well as adopting some creative fundraising into your charity’s annual campaign plan, why not give these more traditional methods a go:
Direct Mail and Email Campaigns
Getting the word out about a good cause can be done in multiple ways. Posting fliers directly through peoples’ letterboxes is a good way to gain new donors/followers. Although, make sure you’re not just spamming people – don’t overdo it with too many fliers and make sure you keep your message simple and to the point.
Emailing is another way to keep people up to date with the work you’re doing. It’s a sensible idea to send out regular, engaging newsletter-style emails to donors and followers in your database. They’ll like to be kept in the loop about your good work and it might just encourage them to donate again.
Hosting Fundraising Events
A surefire way to raise a decent chunk of money for your cause is to organise a larger fundraising event. This could be something a little more high-end such as a gala dinner where you get sponsorship from local companies for the venue, food and drinks. Guests will then buy a ticket to attend and have the option of donating further funds on the night.
You could additionally plan a charity auction or incorporate one into a gala. Approach some businesses to see if they’d like to donate an item or an experience that you can then auction off – the more animal-related, the better! The money you make could then go to your own campaigning efforts or be donated to an animal shelter or sanctuary of your choice.
Harnessing the Power of Digital Fundraising
In the 21st century, digital platforms play a key role in securing funding for charitable organisations. You can make the most of them by:
Crowdfunding for Animal Rights
Crowdfunding is a no-brainer when it comes to animal rights fundraising. It’s essentially a way to raise funds online using a platform such as JustGiving, Crowdfunder or GoFundMe.
You could create a long-term crowdfunding page to raise regular donations or set up a one-off fundraiser for a specific campaign – whether that’s to support a certain animal that’s experiencing cruelty or to support research efforts to save a species from becoming extinct.
Using Social Media for Fundraising
Harnessing social media to promote your fundraising is always recommended. Social media allows you to reach a huge audience of potential followers and donors all around the globe. You can use it to post updates on your organisation’s work, to show how existing donations have been used and even to advertise specific fundraising events.
Engaging Corporate Partnerships for Fundraising
Securing one or more corporate partnerships is a fantastic way to instantly maximise your fundraising efforts.
Securing Corporate Sponsorships
Many companies across the UK (and, indeed, the world) are keen to partner up with charitable causes. Why not approach some like-minded companies to see if they’d like to assist you with your fundraiser?
This could be something simple like asking them to donate items/experiences for an auction you’re planning. They might also want to donate a proportion of their profits to your cause, set up a gift donation program or send their employees as volunteers to help out at any events you run.
The Power of Innovative Fundraising for Animal Rights Advocacy
Promoting animal rights advocacy fundraising is essential for ensuring the world’s most vulnerable animals get the future they deserve. There are so many creative and traditional ways to raise money too, from organising themed events to harnessing social media and emails to promote your cause.
Another way to instantly increase the donations is with easyfundraising. Simply register your unique cause on our site. You’ll then be able to share it with your followers and ask them to shop online via easyfundraising. We’ve partnered up with thousands of different online retailers, each of which will donate a small percentage of any sale your followers make directly into your registered charity pot. It’s really that simple!