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The holidays are a time for giving and as such many charities depend on donations this time of year. In fact, for many charities, the holiday season is the time where they will get most of their operating revenue. This makes the holiday a “do or die” situation for many charitable organizations.
Animal charities are no exception during the holiday. Many of them will be getting a huge portion of their annual revenue during this time. As a dog lover, we hope you take the opportunity to give to one of these charities this season. Here are a few ways to do just that.
1) Adopt Don’t Buy
This is the very best thing that you can do this holiday season if you want to support a dog related charity. Adopting is a great way to support a charity and welcome home a new family member at the same time. Plus, if you investigate prices, you will see that it is a whole lot cheaper than buying from a breeder. Breeder prices have gotten so out of control that many people are turning to online sources to get puppy financing just to afford the purchase price. Don’t do this! Instead of financing, skip the breeder and support the shelter.
Adopting does two great things. You give an animal a new chance at life and give the shelter a reasonable donation that helps them keep the lights on. Most adoption fees are just a few hundred dollars which is just a small portion of the thousands of dollars that breeders often charge. The entire transaction is a win-win for everyone involved.
2) Give A Bag of Food
If you cannot afford to adopt or you just do not need another puppy at the moment, consider donating a bag of kibble to a dog shelter. Shelters go through dozens and dozens of bags of food a week and every donation is greatly appreciated.
Other items in need at shelters are leashes, dog bedding, blankets, old towels, cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper and office supplies. Shelters need anything and everything related to dogs, as well as all the supplies that the volunteers will use. If in doubt, call your local shelter and ask them what they need the most.
3) Donate Your Time
People travel during the holiday season, and some of those people are shelter volunteers. This means that labor shortages may be a real problem for your local animal charity.
If you are short on cash this holiday, give your time instead. Go walk some dogs, clean some kennels or just spend some of your energy playing with the pups. Who knows, you might enjoy volunteering so much that you make it a regular occurrence during the rest of the year.
4) Write A Check
As the saying goes, cash is king. If you really want to help a dog charity or shelter this holiday season, let your checkbook do the talking.
By giving your charity a check, they can use the money as they see fit and where it is needed most. Donating this time of year also gives the shelter or charity an idea of their next year revenue, so budgets can be set. Food donations are great, but if a charity is to grow and do some good, they need this cold hard cash.
As an additional benefit to you, your cash donation to a shelter should be tax deductible, so make sure that you get a receipt.
5) Give Instead of Getting
Instead of asking for gifts this year, why not ask or donations to your favorite canine charity. Make a blanket statement to friends and family that you do not need anything this year, but if they would like to give you a gift, please donate to your favorite charity.
The benefit of this approach is that your charity will get attention from people who may not have ever known that it existed. Plus, you get to look like a selfless superhero. Who wouldn’t want that?
6) Spread The Word
One last way that you can help is to simply spread the word. Hopefully you will do this in addition to one of the ways to donate listed above, but if not, every charity mention that you make will help.
Post links to dog charity websites on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and whatever other social media services that you use. If you participate in internet forums, add a link to the charity on your signature. If you are really devoted, you could even use some shoe polish to write the charity name on your rear windshield. There are dozens of different ways to spread the word about your charity of choice.
To Sum Things Up
The holiday is about giving, and as dog owners, animal charities are depending on us this time of year. This holiday season, do your part by donating a little time, some money or by inviting a new family member into your home. Feel good about yourself and help the canines.