10 Ways You Can Help Animal Charities in Ireland
Animal charities are undeniably unsung heroes, dedicating their time to care for the abandoned, mistreated and neglected animals who need love the most. Every day, employees and volunteers work tirelessly to feed, house, and care for our furry friends, who return the favour with love and enthusiastic tail wags. Unfortunately, we know that love and support are often not enough. It takes money to run a successful animal charity and help animals find the homes and hearts they need.
So, what can we do to help?
Donating, volunteering and fundraising through crowdfunding are all powerful methods to show your support. Let’s take a look at ten creative ways you can help animal charities in Ireland and how fundraising online with GoFundMe can amplify your impact.
How to choose an animal charity to support
Deciding to donate to charity is easy. It’s choosing which charity to support that’s the hard part. Selecting the right animal charity for your fundraiser can feel a little overwhelming, especially with many deserving causes simultaneously battling for our attention and support. Here are our top 3 tips to help you narrow down your search:
- Do your research: It’s essential to do your homework to ensure that the animal charity you choose is the right fit for your fundraiser. Is the charity registered? What is their mission? Do their policies and procedures align with your values? How will your donation be allocated?
- Visit their facilities: This isn’t always possible but visiting the animal charity’s headquarters to see how they house and care for their animals is an excellent way to assess their overall efforts. Are they using resources efficiently? How engaged are their volunteers? How are the animals treated?
Best practices for setting up an animal fundraiser
Raising money for an animal charity seems like a sure bet, right? After all, who wouldn’t want to support adorable puppies and kittens? But if you speak to an animal shelter or animal welfare charity, they’ll tell you that it’s easier said than done. Taking care of animals requires substantial and ongoing overhead and comes with its fair share of challenges, as with other nonprofits.
With this in mind, fundraisers should be optimised to reach the largest audience possible with the potential to spark ongoing support from donors.
To give your fundraiser the best chance for success, here are our top animal fundraising tips:
Share visuals
Visuals are an excellent way to document a fundraiser and connect with your donors. You could have “photo journeys” on your GoFundMe fundraiser detailing specific milestones or images of the animals you hope to support with the donations raised for an animal welfare organisation.
Tell a story
One of the key components of a successful fundraiser is connecting with people on an emotional level. The best way to do this is by telling a story. Help your fundraiser stand out by telling your donors the why behind the crowdfunding. Show how your cause can help animals in need and what their support can specifically do.
Give updates
Many donors might become invested in your fundraiser and will be interested to hear how their donations will be allocated. Keep supporters informed & share little victories throughout and after your fundraiser. Updates can be in the form of images, videos or text. We see the best success when fundraisers utilise a blend of all media formats.
Get social
Expand your reach by sharing your fundraiser on social media. Targeted hashtags, powerful images and video content can significantly impact your GoFundMe and increase your chances of reaching new and larger audiences. Link your GoFundMe page to your Instagram or Facebook accounts so that potential donors can easily access your fundraiser and share with others.
9 creative ways you can help
Pet photoshoot: Paws and poses at the ready! Enlist the help of a local photographer and set up a pop-up photo booth for owners to get a portrait of their pet in exchange for a donation.
Dog washing: Think of it as a car wash, but for the four-legged, not the four-wheeled! Instead of a parking lot, take over your local park and offer dog washes for donations. You can coordinate with local pet stores and groomers to sponsor the event by donating supplies and expertise.
Pet-friendly bake sale: Host a pet-friendly event where the treats on sale are for the pets, not the owners. Encourage supporters to bring along pet-friendly treats, and the proceeds from the sale can go to your animal charity of choice.
Dog walkathon (or Cat Napathon): Take the leash and walk some paws for a cause. A walkathon is a flexible event that can be easily customised depending on the group and has mass appeal as most people can get involved.
Pat talent show: Every owner likes to show off their pet’s tricks. Why not capitalise on that desire and plan a pet talent show! Showcase your furry friends’ hidden talents, charge an admission fee, raffle off sponsored prizes and dish out themed awards like “Best Tail Wag” or “Fluffiest Coat”.
Petsitting services: When pet owners go out of town or have a busy work schedule, they want to know that their pet is cared for. You can charge these owners to take their dogs out for walks, feed their birds, and clean their cats’ litter.
Doggie date auction: Take a fun twist on a traditional date auction by including dogs in the mix! Partner with a local shelter and set up online dating profiles for each dog to help match them with a potential owner. This is a fun way to raise donations and help animals find their forever home in the process.
Howl-o-ween ball: With the spooky season coming up, why not use the time to dress up your pets and trick or treat for charity. Take a tour of your neighbourhood and ask for donations in exchange for a trick or picture with your costumed pet.
Host a virtual “Yappy Hour”: Invite all of your animal-loving friends for a pet-friendly “Yappy Hour”. This can be hosted offline or virtually, and you can charge an admission price. During the night, you can create challenges to generate even more donations.
Thirsty for further inspiration? Check out our list of top fundraising ideas for animal charities or our blog on 12 powerful ways to help animals in need.
Here’s how others are helping animal charities in Ireland
Thousands of people choose GoFundMe every single day as their fundraising platform of choice. Why? Because we make fundraising a breeze for you and your donors. Considering us for your next animal fundraiser? Here are three GoFundMe animal fundraising fundraisers guaranteed to give you paws for thought.
Help Wild Ireland Grow
Wild Ireland is an Irish charity on a mission to rescue wild animals across Europe near extinction. They have set up a fundraiser with a target of €100,000, which they hope to use to expand their wildlife park in Co. Donegal. They connect with potential donors on their fundraising page through multimedia, sharing the story behind the charity and what they hope to achieve with their fundraising.
Rebuilding Dogs Aid Sanctuary
Dogs Aid set up a GoFundMe page to raise €10,000 to revamp their sanctuary, including new kennels, fencing and an improved drainage system. One of the great things about this fundraiser is the story they tell on their GoFundMe page. They give a background to the charity and also outline where donations will be specifically allocated. This helps donors feel involved and connected to the cause.
Veterinary Fees for Shelter Dogs
PAWS, an Irish animal rescue charity, set up a €20,000 fundraiser to help them cover staggering ongoing veterinary fees. Their passionate messaging paired with a heartbreaking image of one of their rescue dogs is guaranteed to tug on the hearts of any potential donor.
Start helping animal charities today
Ready to unleash the power of animal fundraising with GoFundMe?
Fundraising through GoFundMe means your favourite animal charity will get the most out of every donation. Create a beautiful charity fundraiser for your pet or favourite animal-related cause with simple tools to upload images and videos. Tell your story and help more people connect to your cause or project. And the best bit? It takes just minutes to set up! You can be up and running in minutes and accepting donations almost instantly.