One of the best ways to ensure that your shelter has all the supplies that it needs is to hold a drive. Just about anyone can participate in a drive and it really serves to unite the community for a good cause in animal welfare. .
The first thing to do is determine exactly what the shelter needs. Shelters typically need toys, food, animal beds, office supplies and much more. If there is a specific need for food and towels, list those on the shelter’s website along with information about the upcoming drive. It’ll raise awareness so that the public knows that the shelter is in need and a simple donation can really make a difference. By pointing out exactly what is needed, it will motivate more people to donate excess supplies.
Once you’ve determined what the shelter needs, pinpoint a date for the drive. The most successful shelter drives are often scheduled simultaneously with another event or even a holiday. People are in a festive mood around holidays and out and about, shopping and partaking in events, so they’ll be more likely to stop by the shelter with a donation.
Make it easy for the public to donate items by establishing multiple local drop off locations. Ideal drop off spots include pet stores, churches, community centers and supermarkets. Set up boxes at each location that will be large enough to hold sizable donations without any overflow. Just make sure that the managers or owners of the drop off location are on board with having large boxes set up on their property.
Aside from putting a notice on your shelter’s website about the need for certain items, raise awareness in other avenues as well. Go out of your way to promote the drive and make it clear as to what items are most needed. Create large, colorful posters that show the drive’s drop off locations, date, the shelter name and desired supplies. Place these posters around town and have friends and family spread the word as well. You can even promote the drive by contacting local media outlets like newspapers and radio stations.
Once the drive has been promoted, reach out to local media outlets to provide live coverage at drop off points. This will encourage the public to show up with supplies in hand to this year’s drive as well as those that the shelter holds in the future.
