I never, NEVER would have expected this, but it would seem that fund raising for humans is WAY HARDER than fund raising for dogs.
WHAT? How can that be?
I really think it’s true, unfortunately. Cases in point:
- NYCSR currently has a foster dog who needed major surgery. We raised over $6,000 in two weeks, just with email and social marketing. She’s had her surgery and she’s recuperating.
- In 2007, I threw the first Canine Cocktail Pawty, had a great time and raised a couple thousand dollars for Animal Haven Shelter. I planned and promoted it in less than two months. 80+ tickets sold like hotcakes.
- In 2009, Snickers raised $1,000 for NYCSR for his birthday in barely a month, simply using FirstGiving, Twitter and facebook.
A month or two ago, my dad, Snickers and I met up with Troy Yocum of Hike for Our Heroes, his wife Mareike and their two dogs Emmie and Harley when they were walking in Alabama. Troy is a great guy. Listening to him talk about why he’s hiking, the trials and tribulations during the walk and what he’s accomplished so far really made me want to help them reach their goals and help as many families in need as possible.
I was helping a little by hooking them up with some contacts in NYC and then one day I realized Emmie’s birthday will be while they are in NYC. Taking advantage of that and throwing another Canine Cocktail Pawty seemed like a GREAT idea. Knowing that (1) it’s a unique and fun event which had been successful in the past, (2) NYC dog people love to take their dogs with them when they go out and (3) so many people would want to support such a worthy cause, I assumed it was a slam dunk to be a success. Who doesn’t want to support military families AND have a good time in the process?
Well, apparently, not many people really do. 🙁 Tickets have been on sale now for 6 days and we’ve only sold 7 tickets. There are only a dozen people RSVP’d “yes” on the facebook event and some of them haven’t actually bought tickets.
Getting sponsorships has been MUCH harder than I expected as well. I’ve had a half dozen volunteers working to call and email companies, looking for monetary and supply donations and it’s been like pulling teeth. We have one Bronze Sponsor and some decorations so far and that’s it.
So, I have a dilemma. I know a lot of you guys are involved in charity and fund raising as well. so give me opinions on what to do. If ticket sales don’t hit 75 people, I have to cancel the event and refund the tickets, donations and sponsorships (cz it’s not like I can actually pay for it out of my pocket if the sales don’t cover expenses). Sales close in 15 days. Should I just cut my losses and cancel now? The downside for canceling is knowing that it MIGHT have been a huge success if I’d given it a little more time. The upside is that I don’t have to apologize to as many people and refund as many things if I do it now as opposed to later.
I have this awesome press release and no big sponsor to list as hosting the event.
Oh, and my friend Kelly Vivar is painting awesome paintings to auction off at the event! I suppose Snick could auction them off online if we cancel the event, but still… it sucks!
My gut tells me to hold out, but I can’t afford to cover expenses if it doesn’t work out.
The thing that I REALLY can’t understand is WHY PEOPLE AREN’T BUYING TICKETS. If the tickets would just sell, everything would be fine.
OK, hit me. What would you do?!?!?
i’m taking to twitter. i’ll see if i can help get the word out!
Thanks for the help Taro. We need all the help we can get!
I just used Shiba Mind control to have my human blog about it. Try to hold out. I know a lot of fun people who would probably love to come. We’ll try our best to spread the word!
Thanks for the post!
Could it be timing? Your last event was in March when there are not a lot of things to do. End of May and June are typically big vacation months. What other events are going on the same time?
hmmm… I hadn’t thought of that. I guess timing could be part of it. But, of course, this is the only weekend Troy, Mareike, Emmie and Harley will be in NYC, so I can’t exactly change the date. If timing is the problem, I guess I’m SOL. 🙁
Hi Jenna – I think you are a victim of the times right now. My day job is marketing and I see it everyday. The economy isn’t doing well for most of the country. We see it in big companies (like HP, Cisco, Microsoft) taking huge hits and people frantic about jobs. Housing is dropping still and people are nervous. Add to it that, there have been a lot of natural disasters already this year and people who may have a set budget for charity have probably already given what they can. We also work with a local non-profit and for some of the charities our group helps out we have become their ONLY source of funding. For example, we provide the budget for the entire art department at one school + the scholarships that get the kids there. They have lost all other funding over the past two years.
Your heart is in the right place, but I suspect people just don’t have it in them anymore.
One other note: double check your date. This one got us once: is there a huge ballgame or major event in the city that day? 😉 Opening day for the SF Giants = horrible day for an event for us.
Zuko’s Mom, I wondered about the recession and such being a problem, but that $6,000+ we raised so quickly for Jasmine’s surgery was just a few weeks ago! I was just chatting with a friend though and she made a good point about that… a lot of people made small donations. Small donations add up to a large amount. With this event, the tickets are $50, so they may be too expensive for some people. Benefit parties are usually at LEAST that much in NYC, but I guess it could be too much these days.
Another thing pointed out by the same best friend was (and I quote) "it’s a VERY tricky thing to promote in NYC being so liberal and against the war."
I’d thought about that before planning the event… most of my friends in NYC are very liberal Dems and not big supporters of the military in general and definitely not in support of the current war. I thought I had two things going for me in that regard though. (1) The party is FUN whether you support the cause or not, especially for dog people, and (2) Troy’s mission is to help the families of military members who are in financial straits because of our gov’t and this war!
I’m surprised you’re surprised. Man’s inhumanity to man is unparalleled. We have never been willing to support our soldiers and their families in need, let alone those considered less “sympathetic”. We humans seem to take more joy with every passing day in tearing each other down. One of my biggest gripes with many in animal rescue is that they seem to feel the need to denigrate and tear down humans in the process.
As to the soldiers and their families, it takes very special people to work for nominal wages while standing in front of guns aimed at them; more so to do so without the support of those they stand to protect. Whether we agree with wars or not, we should actively support those who stand between us and harm. I personally am vehemently against the current “wars” (which, legally, they aren’t even and that is part of my opposition). I also come from a military family and my son is in the Army Reserves, back from active duty. Many in the military also oppose the wars but they go where WE tell them to go, do what we would not. Please support them whether you support the war or not.
Jenna, my absolute best wishes for your event. Like you, given how much is given for animal aid even in this economy, I don’t think the economy is what you’ve come up against.
PJ, I read your comment as I was walking out to go to dinner earlier this evening and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I think you’re probably right to some degree. The economy probably does have some effect on how willing people are to part with their money, but it really does seem a like soldiers and their families are way far down the list compared to cute, fuzzy doggies. As much as I love the fuzzy doggies, it seems wrong to me that it’s so much harder to raise money for people than it is for the dogs.
Everything that everyone has said today on this post and in emails and fb messages has made me decide to "soldier on" (pun intended) for the next few days, promote the hell out of this thing and then decide on Tuesday if there’s enough interest to keep going.
I’ll probably get skewered by your “liberal” friends, but by not supporting military families because of your views on the war seems uneducated. The men and women in our military (at least these ones we are speaking of, the ones on the line) do not choose where they are going to fight. They are trained to follow orders for the simple reason that if need be, they can stand the lines without flinching, showing courage and bravery that most of only dream of. They are not given the choice to vote on where they are sent or which war to fight.
I wonder how many of these people who do not support the TROOPS out of a sense of right and wrong over the war would stand on the line if the bullets and bombs came to our country? These are the men and women who will take that chance, a chance they may never see their family again, so that, if need be, their families can live on in the freedom we enjoy in this country. So many of our men and women do not make it back to their families, which is heartbreaking. And now, we have soldiers returning home after fighting a war (yes, even some of them didn’t agree with being over there) after signing up to fight for the freedom of their country (they signed up to protect us remember!) and come home to find their homes in foreclosure, no jobs. After all they have been through, things they have seen, friends they have lost, to come home to see their families suffering, it is appalling.
I, for one, have no doubt that if the bullets and bombs came to our country, would be thankful for these men and women who bravely fight. I ask again, how many of these people enjoying the freedoms our country gives would stand on those lines to risk their lives for it?
Hmm..wait uneducated isn’t the right word to use. (Ironic right!)
perhaps, unrealistic (the country wouldn’t survive without a military) or unfair would be a better description
Info about the party posted on the Shiba Forum (Brad Anderson’s). Know that the Forum has some members in New York.
Maybe people can give tickets to the Pawty for graduation presents, Father’s Day, or Birthdays????