You are these doodles last chance! Please help them!

Posted by Kris King in Resources

Hi,
For the past year, I have been trying to place the special needs doodles at my sanctuary or find sponsors for them so that I can continue taking care of them. Unfortunately, only one doodle, Bubbles, has a sponsor and the rest are facing losing their lives because I am out of money and cannot continue to pay to take care of them. Doob the Goldendoodle has seizures. Brock and Baxter, both Labradoodles, are wonderful dogs but bit children. Mercedes the Labradoodle was returned for intimidating her owner. However, all are sweet, lovely, happy dogs who deserve a chance to live. If you can take one of them, please let me know. If you can't take one of them, please consider sponsoring one of them. They have a wonderful life here, and shouldn't have to die because I am broke after years of doing this. Will be happy to provide references of those who have been here, including my neighbor who has been here numerous times. People who have visited call it "dog paradise" and it is.

If you can donate any amount, please either send money through paypal to rescuerehab@earthlink.net or
snail mail a check to

Marilyn Henthorne
PO Box 567
Canon City, CO 81215

Marilyn lives in town and can make sure the money gets into The Last Resort / The Poodle Preserve account as soon as possible. Just be sure to put "The Last Resort" on the check.

Another option is to pay for dog food directly at City Market in Canon City 719 275 1595. Simply explain that you are buying dog food for The Last Resort.
Thanks for your time. Please help me help these dogs.
There is $40 left in the sanctuary account.

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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on April 9, 2011 at 7:26am

Awh, Kris, you know our "collective" hearts go out to you and are with you. I will highlight in today's newsletter and we'll work up another campaign on Facebook to try to help. Have you tried writing to some of the dog food companies for help? I know many of them donate food to shelters, maybe we can target some of them to help. Let us know if you think of anything else and we will do our best to help. Sending hugs.

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Permalink Reply by 0n9n8b61r3s1f on April 11, 2011 at 4:44pm

Hi Kris,

What wonderful work you do! I commend you for taking in the doodles and giving them a great opportunity.

I have some ideas for you to raise money.

There are grants that you might consider applying for. I did a fast google search and found these and some tips to apply. http://www.squidoo.com/animal-grants It won't be an immediate solution to funding but you might consider getting the applications in for consideration.

You might also wish to apply for non-profit status. There is a fee for this, however, that too can become a charitable request in your grant. http://www.ehow.com/how_5093009_apply-nonprofit-status.html

Another more immediate option is to create a Facebook business page through a personal profile. If you send out updates to your followers about the dogs you currently help, and provide a link back to a webpage to make donations, you may very well build a nice fan base. On this FB page you can run contests, post videos, add photos and engage your fans with content that would be of interest. (Look at some of the Humane Society FB pages for ideas.)

Create a website...if you can't afford to buy the domain and hosting, you can use a free site builder such as Weebly or Microsoft Office Live. They are fairly easy to use and you can insert your FB badge there to get people to 'like' your FB page. Create a donation page with all the information needed and use that link in your FB status posts and Twitter posts to direct people to your site.

Create a Twitter page and link your FB posts to your Twitter statuses but not the other way around. People don't like to receive Tweets in FB. :)

Create flyers and pass them around to pet supply stores such as PetSmart or similar. Ask them if you can leave a nicely decorated coffee can where people can donate loose change. Every little bit helps. If you cannot afford the supplies for flyers, often Staples or Office Depot will donate 50 or so copies if you ask the manager. Just have the text ready for them on DVD or printed on another paper. If you don't have a computer, use the one at the local library and make a copy there for 15 cents and then take that to the stationary store to make copies.

Consider setting up a table outside a supermarket with a list of items you need to care for the doodles. Have a clear donation can and make a nice table sign. If you have a dog that would suitable for strangers, consider bringing the pooch with you for a few hours as these attract people easily. If you don't have a dog that would be good with strangers, have a photo album available so people can see the good work that you do. I cannot tell you how many bags of dog food and treats I have purchased when local shelters do this outside the supermarkets.

Try to align your organization with others in your area that do similar work. Consider cross promoting...place an ad on their website and hold garage sales and swap meets together to raise money.

Think about promoting your work publicly to organizations or even in dog parks. Talk about how to care for pets and why shelters like yours are important. Have a donation can ready.

Write about your activities...if you have news, create a press release and ask your local paper to print the release. It may get you an interview (it has happened to me) on TV or with the publication itself.

Sign onto other people's blogs who write about dogs, doodles, pet care and comment these posts with valuable information. Leave your website and FB addresses so people can find you. (Google keywords, 'dog blogs' and similar to find good posts to comment.)

Create your own blog and start a journal about what you know best. Wordpress.com is free and easy but you wont' get the SEO (search engine optimization) but it is a good start. Blogger.com is another. Eventually if you buy a domain and pay for hosting (domain is $10 per year and hosting is about $8.00 per month) you can transfer the blog to the new website and get the SEO that helps get you website 'hits'. People love video and pictures. Provide links in blog posts back to your website address and FB page. Everything leads back to a place where people will do something, which is called a 'call to action'...that leads me to my last suggestion...

Go onto Mail Chimp (www.MailChimp.com) and create a free account. Add the sign up box (where people sign up for your newsletter) to your website. So when they go to your site, they 'do something'...they leave their email address or they 'like' your FB page. You can have 500 email addressses on Mail Chimp. Start collecting email addresses to be used to send out updates about your work in an email. You can set a funding goal and give people updates on how much you have raised. Provide photos and video.

If you do have video...create a YouTube channel with your organization name. Comment other people's dog shelter videos and watch your own viewership grow! You can use the YT links on FB and in your blog posts.

Best,

Janine - Feel free to post any questions on my FB page www.Facebook.com/YourVirtualWizard . I'll be happy to respond.

PS I don't know if you use social media (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn) or have a website. I made suggestions in the event you did not utilize these avenues.

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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on April 11, 2011 at 5:35pm

That's a bunch of great suggestions, Janine. I have actually posted for Kris on my personal and our site group page. When I did a plea a few months ago, we did get about $300 for these pups. Kris does have a FB page, but has 79 friends listed and on mine, the pleas reach more people and more rescue people. I also put this plea in our weekly newsletter here and that reaches about 1800 people. So, we will keep it up and if Kris can do some of these other ideas, maybe we can keep some funds coming into the sanctuary.