Brand awareness refers to how familiar those outside of your animal nonprofit are with its work and mission. If many people know your organization’s name, have heard about its work, and understand its mission, you have achieved high brand awareness.
But while it’s easy to understand brand awareness, it’s much more difficult to build it. To do so, your animal shelter or humane society must put in the legwork to launch compelling marketing campaigns, recruit passionate volunteers, partner with local businesses like dog daycares and groomers that share your values, and host engaging community events.
In this guide, we’ll explore four memorable, animal-centric community events that are sure to make a lasting impression and even raise money to support your cause.
1. Pet Walk-a-thons or Fun Runs
Charity races are tried-and-true fundraising events that just work. Simply charge supporters a small fee to participate in the race or, if you want to maximize funding, incorporate other activities like a raffle, auction, peer-to-peer campaign, or concession stand.
With a few small adjustments, you can put together a charity race that families, pet owners, and other members of your community will be excited to join in on. Participating in these events or just cheering on participants from the sidelines inspires a sense of collective effervescence that your community will associate with your nonprofit.
To turn a charity race pet-friendly, consider hosting a:
- Walk-a-thon: As 99Pledges explains, walk-a-thons are most often peer-to-peer fundraising events in which participants collect pledged donations from their friends and family based on how far they walk. For instance, if a donor pledges $5 per mile and the participant walks three miles, they’ll receive $15 from that donor. Make this idea pet-friendly by allowing participants to bring their leashed pets (or push particularly spoiled animals in strollers).
- Fun run: A fun run is similar to a 5K race—but with a fun twist of some kind. You might blow bubbles, toss colored powder, or encourage pets and owners to dress up according to a certain theme. For example, set a “Dynamic Duos” theme and have pets and owners dress up like iconic pop culture character pairings such as Glinda and Elphaba or Lilo and Stitch.
To boost brand awareness, have plenty of signage around the event that features your organization’s name and logo and clearly explains your mission. Consider setting up an information booth where attendees can learn more.
2. Meet-and-Greet Adoption Events
If your shelter is like many across the country, you may be struggling with overcrowding in your facilities. To ensure you can continue helping animals in need, you have to find forever homes for the animals in your care now. The best way to do this while cementing your brand in community members’ minds is by holding regular adoption events.
Here are some tips to make these events a success:
- Promote them well in advance. Set and promote a regular schedule for the events, such as once a week or month, across digital communication platforms. Share posts about each upcoming event on social media, reference it in emails and newsletters, and make sure it is included in your organization’s online event calendar.
- Infuse storytelling into the event. Tell each pet’s story at the adoption event. Create information sheets for each cage or kennel that list the animal’s name, age, and background, including the story of how they came into your care. This is a great way to subtly educate the community about your work.
- Partner with a local pet business. Reach out to businesses that share your core values, like pet stores, dog daycares and kennels, and groomers, to see if they would be interested in forming a corporate partnership. For example, rather than selling cats and dogs in their stores, PetSmart partners with local shelters to help pets find loving homes through its in-store adoption program.
While the primary goal of adoption events isn’t to raise funds, you should still make it easy for willing supporters to contribute. Set out a donation jar for cash contributions and a sheet with a QR code linking to your donation form for those who prefer to give online.
3. Pet Fashion Shows
Consider a fancy pet fashion show if you’re looking for a more formal event idea. Sell tickets to attendees and have pet owners pay to register their contestants. To provide an excellent experience for everyone involved , be sure to optimize the event check-in process. Avoid slowdowns by setting up separate check-in desks for spectators and participants and offering mobile check-in kiosks.
Next, you’ll need to plan the fashion show itself. Determine whether you want to enforce some kind of theme or just let pet owners get creative with the costumes. If you’ll have winners, appoint a judges panel and draft criteria for scoring contestants. Be sure to recruit a charismatic host and a DJ to play music during the fashion show.
As you promote the event, clearly illustrate how your work supports the community at large. For example, you could promote other local nonprofits on event signage. Gingr’s guide to digital marketing for pet-focused organizations recommends stewarding your community and its institutions, collaborating with local businesses and similar organizations, and engaging with your supporters online. Weaving your organization into the fabric of your local community will cultivate long-lasting awareness.
4. Community Pet Fairs
Market days are popular weekend events in many communities, and you can tap into this interest by creating your own pet-themed market with booths for various vendors and organizations. This is a great way to form new connections with pet-focused businesses, reach a pet-owner audience, and cement your nonprofit’s name in their minds.
You might feature the following in your pet fair:
- Vendor booths where pet-specific small businesses can promote and sell their products or services (e.g., an art studio might create custom pet portraits)
- A mini adoption event where attendees can meet some of your adoptable animals
- A dog daycare manned by volunteers where owners can drop off their pets while they browse the fair
- Service stations for grooming or training sessions
- Demonstrations of specialized products or skills (e.g., a veterinarian might share tips for trimming pets’ nails or administering medications)
To offset the costs of this event, charge each vendor a fee to secure their booth and see if they are interested in sponsoring the event. Incentivize sponsorships by featuring their logo on your signs and digital promotions.
Events are a great way to fundraise, but they can do so much more for your animal shelter. When you provide positive experiences and clearly communicate the tangible difference your organization makes, your name will stick in attendees’ minds. The long-term impacts of high brand awareness will drive more revenue, help you acquire new supporters, enhance donor loyalty, and ultimately allow you to help more pets in need.
