Do you have a pet? If so, you probably know how expensive they can be. Pets require food, toys, vet care, and much more.
This is why animal shelters are so important. They are a vital part of our communities, and they play an important role in helping find loving homes for animals.
But how do animal shelters make money? After all, these organizations exist to help animals in need, so how do they turn a profit? And do they?
In this article, we will review some of the main sources of funding that animal shelters rely on to be able to help animals in need and find caring homes for them.
Hopefully, this article will shed light on how difficult it is for animal shelters to stay afloat and what we can all do to help them continue their important work.
How Do Animal Shelters Make Money?
Animal shelters have lots of heavy expenses like food, building maintenance, utilities, insurance, and staff salaries. They also need to provide vaccinations, spay/neuter services, and medical care for the animals in their care.
Most animal shelters are chronically low on cash and are barely able to make ends meet. The only reason they stay afloat is because of the passion of those running the shelter and the support they get from volunteers and donors who believe in the cause.
An animal shelter is truly a labor of love and those who work there deserve our complete respect.
So how do animal shelters make money?
The truth is most don’t. What they do, however, is raise money and use it for their operations. When they run out, they raise money again and keep going. Rinse and repeat.
Here are the 10 most common ways animal shelters raise funds for their operations:
- Local Government Funding
- Fundraisers / Donations
- Adoption Fees
- Volunteer Programs
- Corporate Sponsorships
- In-Kind Donations
- Events and Bingo Nights
- Raffles and Auctions
- Branded Merchandise
- Crowdfunding for specific projects
Let’s take a closer look at each of these sources of funds.
1. Local Government Funding
Some animal shelters are lucky enough to receive funding from their local government. This is usually in the form of a contract where the government agrees to pay the shelter a certain amount of money per year to help with their operating expenses.
However, in most countries and certainly in the United States local government funding is far from adequate to cover an animal shelter’s costs if they want to take good care of their animals and pay those who work there a basic living wage.
2. Fundraisers / Donations
By far, the largest cash inflow that most animal shelters get is from donations and fundraisers. Animal shelters rely heavily on donations from individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations.
These can be one-time donations or ongoing monthly donations. Many shelters will run an annual fundraiser and try and raise enough funds for most of the year. Often they will tap into people who have a passion for animals and get them to donate or hold their own fundraiser on the shelter’s behalf.
They will also ask people who have previously adopted a pet from them to chip in on a regular basis to help support the shelter’s activities. Usually, a shelter will find a sympathetic ear within this group of people as they have benefited from the shelter’s activities and are likely enjoying their’s pet’s company as a result.
3. Adoption Fees
Most animal shelters will confirm that adoption fees while important, barely cover the cost of the vet, the grooming, the feeding, the walking and just the basics that shelters need to do to take care of an animal.
Adoption fees which mostly are in the few hundreds of dollars simply cover the costs already borne by the shelter and then not even that. They are also a nice filter to find owners who are really committed to adopting the animal. As the saying goes – “If it’s free, it has no value”.
4. Volunteer Programs
Volunteer programs are an indirect way of making money in the sense that they help reduce costs. Having volunteers assist with activities like cleaning, feeding, and walking the animals, frees up staff to do other tasks like fundraising, marketing, or administrative work.
In some cases, the shelter may even offer internships for students who want to gain experience in the animal welfare field. These programs are beneficial for both the shelter and the student as it helps to offset some of the costs associated with running the shelter while also providing valuable hands-on experience for those interested in working with animals.
5. Corporate Sponsorships
Many animal shelters will seek out corporate sponsorships from businesses that are willing to donate money or supplies to help with the shelter’s operations. This is a great way for the shelter to get much-needed supplies at a discounted rate or even for free.
Corporate sponsorships can come from large companies in the community that wants to get some positive PR. But they can also come from smaller businesses in the same niche.
For example, a dog walking service may offer to walk the animals in the shelter in exchange for some free advertising or promotion.
Similarly, a dog grooming service could offer free grooming in exchange for a mention on the shelter’s website or in exchange for promoting the grooming business to those who have adopted from the shelter before.
6. In-Kind Donations
In-kind donations are donations of goods or services that can be used by the animal shelter. These can be things like food, bedding, toys, or even professional services like accounting or legal services.
In-kind donations are a great way for businesses to support the shelter without giving money directly. It’s also a great way for people to donate items that they may not have use for but that the shelter can put to good use.
7. Events and Bingo Nights
Animal shelters will often hold special events to help raise funds. This can be anything from a gala dinner to a pet-themed party or even a bingo night. These events are usually great fun and help to raise much-needed funds for the shelter.
Sometimes shelters can convince a pet-related business to donate a prize for the event which helps to attract more people and thus more funds. Other times it can get a local band to play for free in exchange for some exposure.
There are many creative ways to hold an event and each one can be tailored to the shelter’s needs. The important thing is to get people involved and excited about supporting the shelter’s cause.
8. Raffles and Auctions
Another popular way to raise funds for animal shelters is through raffles and auctions. These can be anything from a simple raffle to a more complex auction.
Raffles are usually pretty easy to set up and run and can be a great way to raise funds. All you need is a prize (or multiple prizes) and some tickets. People can then buy tickets for a chance to win the prize.
Auctions are a bit more complex but can be very successful if done right. You will need to get some donated items to auction off and then find an audience who is willing to bid on those items.
One popular way to do this is to hold an online auction. This makes it easy for people to participate from anywhere in the world and can help to attract more bidders. Of course, you will need to figure out how to get the auctioned item to the highest bidder.
9. Branded Merchandise
Many animal shelters will sell merchandise to help raise funds. This can be anything from t-shirts and hats to mugs and keychains. The important thing is to find a product that people will want to buy and that represents the shelter in a positive light.
A branded t-shirt is a great way to both raise funds and build awareness for the cause. These shirts can be sold online or at the shelter itself. They are usually relatively cheap to produce and can be a great way to get people involved with the shelter.
People love showing their support for a cause by wearing a t-shirt and it’s a great way for the shelter to get its name out there.
10. Crowdfunding for specific projects
Finally, crowdfunding is a great way for animal shelters to raise funds. Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and GoFundMe make it easy for people to donate money to a cause they care about.
Animal shelters can use these platforms to raise money for specific projects or needs. For example, a shelter could start a campaign to raise money to build a new dog park.
Crowdfunding is also a great way to engage the community and get people involved with the shelter. You can use it to raise funds for specific projects that may be outside of the shelter’s usual budget. People love supporting precise projects and knowing exactly how their money will be spent.
Summary
As you can see there are many different ways for animal shelters to raise funds. The important thing is to find a method (or multiple methods) that works for the shelter and that helps achieve their fund-raising target.
What’s important to remember when we ask the question – “how do animal shelters make money?”, is that what we really mean is – “how do animal shelters raise funds to stay afloat?”
This is an important distinction because most shelters don’t really make money but rather try to go from one year to the next providing a valuable service and staying in business on passion and grit.
Having said that there are numerous ways to raise funds and by using a combination of these methods, animal shelters can ensure they have the funds necessary to care for their animals and continue their important work.
