Many people think of animal shelters as a sad place—a death row for animals.
The truth is our nation’s animal shelters have reached a tipping point as an increasing number of public and private shelters are instituting proactive programs that save and protect animals’ lives.
Unfortunately, the public’s perception of these facilities is not changing as quickly.
Photographers For Animals, Paws PR and The Jackson Galaxy Foundation are joining forces to help speed things up.
The three groups have worked on other projects in the past with one another – their similar goals and missions made it an easy fit.
“Many shelters understandably spend the vast majority of their time providing direct care to their animals,” says Jackson Galaxy, founder of the Jackson Galaxy Foundation and star of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell. “Picture Me @ Home provides animal shelter staff with turn-key marketing campaigns—including templates for materials—designed to increase foot traffic and adoptions.”
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Photographers for Animals, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, developed the Picture Me @ Home campaign to help shelters correct common misperceptions—and increase animal adoptions. In conjunction with Paws PR, a New York City based marketing and strategy firm that primarily provides services to nonprofit animal protection organizations and the pet industry, Photographers for Animals launched www.PictureMeAtHome.org with a series of winter holiday campaigns.
“If an animal shelter wants help from their community, they need to be part of the community,” says Elizabeth Putsche, Executive Director of Photographers for Animals. “We encourage shelters to hold events that bring people into the shelter—so the public can experience the shelter as a positive place, with an atmosphere of love for animals. The public will remember the shelter when they are ready to adopt—and shelters may find a few new volunteers along the way!”
Winter Holiday Campaigns Include:
“Twas the Night Before Christmas” invites children of all ages to read their favorite holiday stories to the shelter animals. Reading aloud can help improve children’s reading skills, and helps calm the animals, who are in unfamiliar surroundings.
“Photos with Santa Paws & Mrs. Claws” invites the community (and their pets!) to the animal shelter for portraits with Santa and a chance for children to share their wish list.
“Black Friday Sale” appeals to the bargain hunter in all of us by offering discounts on all black animal adoption fees and additional ‘doorbuster’ incentives the day after Thanksgiving.
Each campaign includes clear actions steps, templates for press releases/media advisories, social media sharegraphics, flyers, and more.
To track their results, Putsche is working with Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Virginia to carry out some of these plans this holiday season.
“We want to be able to show tangible, trackable, increases in adoptions – so that we can show proof of concept on the site,” she explains to iHeartDogs.com “We’re also adding a “tracking” section of the website, so shelters know how to set baselines and what to track to show the impact of their own campaigns.”
Future Campaigns
Counting on their success, the team is already coming up with future campaigns – some like “seniors for seniors” are usable anytime, and others are centered around other holidays or seasons.
To learn about these programs for your local shelters, visit www.PictureMeAtHome.org.
Toledo, United States.
