WWLDO August 2023 Newsletter: FALL AUCTION SOON

From Summer Tour to Fall Auction

August 2023

August Co-Founder's Note:

The Shelter Overpopulation Crisis

Our shelter tour this month took us to shelters in three states – West Virginia, Kentucky, and Mississippi. You can read the wrap of it on the website here.

We are VERY excited that after a successful pilot program, our Instagrant program will continue! Thanks to one generous rescue advocate and another grant-to-regrant from the ASPCA, we will be able to continue assisting shelters and rescues within our network with immediate resources, bypassing complicated grant-application processes to give help where it is most needed.

In order to connect with more shelters, we’ve added an additional short shelter tour in October in the state of Virginia. We’ll also be traveling to Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas (with possible stops in Kentucky and West Virginia). If you know of a shelter in any of those states that could benefit from connecting with us, please email [email protected].

The fact that our nation’s shelters are overwhelmed was as evident on this tour as it has been during all of shelter visits this year. We are committed to doing everything we can to support their life-saving work—which means sharing more stories and looking for more solutions. We’ve continued to add ideas/resources/opportunities for shelters and rescues in our FREE Resource Guide found on the website. We’re urgently looking for new ideas to help address this unprecedented crisis. It is heartbreaking to see the number of dogs euthanized continuing to go up, and the length of stay for many dogs also growing. With shelters packed and rescues not pulling, we are in a very hard place.

Obviously, fostering is one solution that could really make a difference right now. But that isn't enough - we’ve got to try other ideas, like the Tiny Shelter idea you can read about in a recent blog post. Turning the moment around will require that everyone consider new ideas and collaborations. I continue to believe that together, we can let the dogs out.

Until Each One Has A Home,

Cara Achterberg

COMING UP:

Second Annual Fall Auction

September 24, 2023-October 1, 2023

WWLDO is pleased to announce our second annual Fall Online Auction! We have a TON of great items for you to bid on. There's a little bit of everything, including gift cards, vacation rentals, experiences, dog and cat items, and so much more! Grab a gift for the upcoming holiday season for a loved one or your dog, and while you're at it get some nice things for yourself too! Almost everything is available to be shipped across the US.

Don't miss out on some awesome items and please share with your friends and family! Every dollar we raise will go back towards our mission of raising awareness, providing resources to homeless dogs and the heroes who fight for them, and helping us to provide Instagrants to shelters in need. Items are still being added almost daily, so keep checking back in.

CLICK HERE to See Our Auction

We Are Now on WOOFTRAX!

Support our work just by walking your dog. Download the app today!

To learn more about partnering your organization with WoofTrax Click Here!

Share Your Story:

Help Us Get Top-Rated!

If you love our work then tell the world! Stories about us from people like you will help us make an even bigger impact in our community. GreatNonprofits – the #1 source of nonprofit stories and feedback – is honoring highly regarded nonprofits with their 2023 Top-Rated List. Won’t you help us raise visibility for our work by posting a brief story of your experience with us? All content will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! The deadline is October 31st.

Click here to get started!

RESOURCE GUIDE HIGHLIGHT:

New Resource Guide Entries!

We are continually adding to the WWLDO Resource Guide to help shelters, animal rescue professionals and volunteers as they work hard to save lives. Here are a few of our most recent entries:

Community Outreach - Connecting with local Scout Troops is a great way for shelters to get young people involved in animal welfare. Shelters can partner with local troops as a place where scouts can earn service badges. Additionally, Eagle Scouts and GS Silver/Gold Award Scouts can complete projects such as making cat perches, building walking trails, or designing and making enrichment toys for shelter pets.

Fundraising - Shelters can’t operate without adequate funds and that means constant fundraising. It’s not easy to have to keep asking supporters for help but Social Media does offer some creative solutions. Some shelters run Dollar Donation Wednesdays asking followers to donate just one dollar every Wednesday. These funds quickly build up for shelters with a large following.

Facebook Birthday Fundraisers are another great way to support animal welfare. Shelters can encourage supporters, donors, friends, and family members to celebrate their birthdays online by hosting a shelter fundraiser. Facebook doesn’t take fees for nonprofit fundraising, so 100% of donations goes to helping animals.

Marketing Dogs - Asking adopters to post photos of their newest family members on social media is a great way to encourage pet adoptions. Photos and stories that show how well rescue dogs are settling into their new homes can inspire others to visit their local shelter when looking for a new dog rather than purchasing from a breeder.

CHECK OUT OUR RESOURCE GUIDE HERE

Shelter Stories:

A Dog's Day Out at Daviess County Animal Care, KY

With shelters at record high population numbers, Daviess County Animal Care and Control has come up with a creative way to get dogs out for a fun-filled day! Volunteers are allowed to take a dog out for a day at the park, a drive or a treat. This gives the dog an opportunity to come out of their shell and forget the stress of being in a shelter. It also provides the shelter an opportunity to get kennels clean and tidy for their return. Once returned, volunteers share pics and information about their activities with the shelter for their social media, bringing attention to the dog and hopefully aiding in its adoption. This has been a very successful program for them and we hope to see more shelters implement it in the future!

Learn More Here

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!

Shelter Liaison:

A Crucial Role

Shelter Liaisons are one of our most important volunteer roles at WWLDO. They are crucial in connecting us to our shelter partners. Each liaison is assigned several shelters and they keep us updated on their news and needs. These updates are necessary for providing Instagrants to those shelters in need. Shelter Liaisons are also responsible for a lot of the fundraising ideas, programs, and practices in WWLDO’s resource guide. We currently have over 100 shelter partners; without our Shelter Liaisons we wouldn’t be able to keep up with every shelters' updates. The great thing about this position is that it can be done remotely from the convenience of your own home.

Learn more her e or please reach out to [email protected]!

GRANT OPPORTUNITY

The Rachel Ray Foundation & Best Friends Animal Society

One of the most competitive, yet generous, grant opportunities available to our animal rescue community is offered through the Rachael Ray Foundation and Best Friends Animal Society. These grants are worth considering, but they require work, and registration as a Best Friends Network Partner is necessary. The Foundation recently announced that this year they are launching a new phase in the grant cycle – the collection of Letters of

Intent (LOI). This new LOI phase will open for submissions on September 1, 2023 and remain open through September 29, 2023 at 7:00 pm EST.

What is an LOI? For the Rachael Ray grants available (the “Save Them All” and “No-Kill Excellence” grants), the required LOI is a short form you submit online. The form includes questions such as a 1-sentence description of your overall project goal, the amount requested, and the number of animals directly impacted by your grant project. If your LOI is approved, you’ll be invited to submit a full application for funding consideration.

The website below includes valuable information about these opportunities, including a menu of options walking you through the process. From “Grant Introduction – Start Here” to “How to

Apply,” please set aside some time to go through all the information to help you determine if your organization is eligible.

Learn More About the Grant Here

Please contact WWLDO’s grants

advisor, Nicole Sandler [email protected]

if you have questions. Good luck!