WWLDO September 2023 Newsletter - OUR SECOND ANNUAL FALL AUCTION

Our Second Annual Fall Online Auction

September 2023

September Co-Founder's Note:

Our Fall Auction is LIVE!

Hey friends –

Do you want to support the work we do? Do you like a good deal? Here is your chance to do both! Our online auction is happening RIGHT NOW and ends on Sunday, 10/1 at 7pm EST.

Click here to visit the auction site.

The auction will not only fund our shelter tours, but also help boost our Instagrant program so we can offer direct, concrete help to shelters who often are too busy and/or don’t have the ability to apply to traditional grant programs.

This week our Instagrant coordinator is working with one small shelter to secure the supplies and medications needed to treat parvo in-house (they don’t have access to local, affordable veterinary care to treat parvo), and with another new rescue operation that needs kuranda beds for their kennels.

Next month, we are headed to the Northern Neck of Virginia for a mini-fall tour. We’ll stop in Glen Allen, Virginia on our way over there and I’ll do a presentation on 100 Dogs & Counting and about all that we’ve learned about shelters and rescues. If you’re in the Richmond area, and want to join us, click here for more information.

We’re busy planning for a Shelter tour in December that will take us to TN, AL, MS, and possibly LA (for the first time!). If you know of shelters/rescues in those states who would benefit from connecting with us, please let us know at WhoWillLettheDogsOut@gmail.com.

And now, go visit the auction site and grab a deal/support our work! (and please share the site with others!)

Until Each One Has A Home,

Cara Achterberg

LIVE NOW:

WWLDO Second Annual Fall Online Auction

Our WWLDO Fall Online Auction is live and open to bidders! Please visit our auction site here and sign up to bid! The auction will close on Sunday, October 1st at 7:00pm EST.

We have so many awesome items for you to bid on this year and are overwhelmed by the support of our donors to this auction. We have gift cards, vacation rentals, experiences, gift baskets, dog and pet items, and so much more. There really is something for everyone!

All proceeds raised from this auction will go directly towards our mission of raising awareness and resources for homeless dogs and the heroes who fight for them! Help us by sharing this auction link, the more money raised, the more we can make a difference for these dogs!

Visit the Auction here!

THANK YOU!!

Just after the start of our second annual auction, the WWLDO Auction Team extends gratitude to our hundreds of donors for their generous donations. We are so excited about the terrific and varied goods and services available for bid this year! All auction proceeds will go toward visits to under-resourced shelters, supplies for them, raising awareness, and replenish our shelter Instagrant Fund.

Thanks to our awesome donors and bidders, many dogs tails will be happily wagging and shelter heroes smiling when WWLDO visits.

Our Latest Post

New Ideas to Solve Old Problems

It’s been said that you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it. Traci never wanted to be the director of the McCracken Humane Society, KY when she decided to leave her job as a social worker to scoop poop in the cat area. Her plan was to cuddle kitties and go home; she wanted a job that was less stressful and still produced a paycheck (if a significantly smaller one).

Two years later, she was running the place. Now it’s been another two years, and clearly, Traci was meant to do this job.

Read More HERE

RESOURCE GUIDE HIGHLIGHT:

Online Auctions Make Great Fundraisers

Online auctions have the potential to be huge fundraisers for animal shelters, especially those that have an active base of supporters who will share and bid. These fundraisers are also a great marketing tool for businesses that donate items.

Although it is a lot of work, auctions can be run simply and for free on a shelter’s Facebook page. This is a good way to test the waters. For the first auction, you should offer only a few items as things can get confusing quickly if you don’t have solid, clear rules. Just google “how to run a silent auction on Facebook” to find lots of guidance.

Using a host service will enable you to make much more money. The Franklin County Humane Society, Missouri combined its online auction hosted by RallyUp with a 50/50 Raffle and raised $72,628 to benefit homeless animals. When a shelter’s auction is being hosted it frees up staff and volunteers to focus on collecting donated items. Ideas for auction donations include gift cards, vacation rentals, baskets of like items (these seem to do well but require local pickups or expensive shipping), business donations (these are great if you can get the companies to ship items to the winners), pet services (such as dog grooming, obedience training, pet sitting or dog walking), and people services (such as nail salons, tax preparation, and massage), handmade items, and experiences such as wine tasting or kayaking trips.

Following are just a few popular host services:

Givebutter.com offers free auction software for nonprofits. The software allows supporters to easily browse and track items and bidding takes just one click.

Networkforgood.com offers an auction service as part of its nonprofit fundraising package.

BetterWorld.org is a free service for nonprofit fundraising that can host online events like auctions.

There are lots of other services and it’s important to pay attention to the details. Most offer free demonstrations. Be sure to ask lots of questions before making a decision on which one would work best for your shelter.

The Healthy Paws Foundation

This month, we're choosing to highlight the Healthy Paws Foundation. They offer a relatively easy application for a grant covering "life-saving vaccines, spay/neuter surgeries, medical treatments, food, housing and other needs of homeless pets in [shelter] care." The only requirements an applicant must meet are (1) you must be a 501(c)3 organization; (2) you must serve primarily dogs and cats; (3) you must be a no-kill shelter. The online form can be found here.

To our shelter partners, please remember we offer an updated list of grant opportunities in WWLDO’s online Resource Guide. Scroll down the Guide and you’ll find the Grants section. If you have any questions about any of these grant opportunities or could use some grants guidance, reach out to WWLDO grants advisor, Nicole Sandler:

nicolemiasandler@gmail.com

Volunteer Opportunity

Virtual Volunteering in a Post-Pandemic World

COVID taught us a lot of lessons and one of those was how to work virtually. Since then almost all of our volunteer positions are done virtually. Shelter Liaisons, internet researchers, website maintenance and many more all all done from the comfort of our volunteers' own homes. This opens up great opportunities for someone looking to volunteer but who just doesn't have the time to do it in person. So if you or someone you know is looking for an opportunity to volunteer virtually, please visit our website and click the “Get Involved” link. We would love for you to join our team!

Get Involved HERE

HOW CAN I HELP?

Get Involved

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