Service Dogs
Medical Alert
Dog Training |
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Dog Training Services
Obedience Dog Training
Sit, down, stay
Heel
Come / Recall
Leave it
Fetch & retrieve
Housebreaking
Counter surfing
Extended down stay
Hand signals
Leash training
Dog Behavior Training
Place
Housebreaking
Chewing
Running away
Food aggression
Biting or nipping
Jumping up on people
Dog to dog aggression
Dog to people aggression
Digging
Separation anxiety
Hyperactive dogs
Excessive barking
Charging the door
In Home Dog Training
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Service Dog Fundraising
How to Raise Money for a Service Dog
& Ideas for Service Dog Fundraising
Service dog fundraising can seem a little overwhelming and coming up with ideas can be difficult. With any type of fundraising, it takes time and energy but with devotion, dedication, creative thinking and planning, anyone can fundraise for a service dog.
Canines 4 Hope’s goal is to provide some guidance for anyone who may need to set up a service dog fundraiser and offer some ideas,
tips and suggestions that can make your fundraising efforts for a service dog successful and fun.
Steps for starting a Service Dog Fundraising Campaign
- Tell Your Story
Difficult as it may be, it’s important to tell your story. This allows your reader to feel connected and take interest. When writing your story, be yourself. Write in a way that you communicate on a daily basis because your initial donors will most likely be family, friends, coworkers, neighbors and your community.
They already know you and how you communicate. So be
yourself. You can also convey your story with
compelling pictures and video. There will be
opportunity for you to use all three during your
fundraising campaign so take advantage of all
mediums available. If at all possible, get a picture
of the service dog that will be trained. People love
to share pictures of dogs.
- Set a goal and share it!
Services dogs don’t come without costs. Because of their specialized training, initial costs of obtaining a service dog can often cost thousands of dollars not including the ongoing cost of care including vet bills. This can become a financial strain. Be specific and upfront about the figure you need to raise for your service dog
and feel free to share your goal. People who
contribute like to keep track of your campaign and
how close you are to meeting or exceeding your goal.
- Social
Networking
Facebook and twitter are powerful tools. Canines 4 Hope suggests at the very least, setting
up a Facebook account for your service dog fundraiser.
Have fun with it, tell your story, post frequently,
giving updates on your campaign. You can even set up
events via your facebook page! Give updates about your efforts to raise the funds for a service dog and how you expect your dog to help you. Post pictures of yourself with your service dog on your blog and on Facebook. Pictures allow people to put a face to the story.
Again if you don't have pictures, contact your
service dog trainer and request a few pictures.
- Set Up A
Service Dog
Fundraiser Champaign Online
Now that you have your story in writing, your
goal set and your social media page for your service
dog set up, it's time to make it easy for people to
donate to your service dog fundraiser.
In a few simple steps, you can create a service dog fundraising campaign online that allows
people and groups to make a direct donation to your
service dog fundraiser.
There are plenty of Crowdfunding sites online. We
might suggest"
YouCaring.com,
GoFundMe.com
or
FundRazr.com.
This is where you tell your story. Upload your
pictures and hook up your social media pages that
you just set up. These sites make this super easy!
Just follow their step by step instructions and
you'll be set up to raise funds in just a few short
minutes! Be sure to update your progress often on
the fundraising site. People like to see how their
donations are benefiting your cause. Let them know
how your campaign is going and how specifically
their funds are helping you reach your goal!
Service
Dog Fundraising Tips
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Look to your Local Community!
You'd be surprised how quickly your local community
will come out to support your fundraising efforts.
Reach out to your local churches, civic
organizations such as, your local Boys/Girls Scout
troops, local lodges and other service-based groups.
Many churches and lodges often provide some financial
assistance for medical needs to members of the local community.
Keep in mind, you don't necessarily have to be a member of a church
or lodge in order for them to help you. Also, have
family and friends reach out to their churches,
lodges and employers. When contacting organizations, explain why you need a trained service dog
and ask if they have funds available that can assist you
in any way. They may ask you to provide letter from
your doctor verifying that you are in medical need
of a service dog and/or a letter from the company
that is training your service dog verifying the cost.
They may even offer the opportunity to host a
fundraising event on your behalf and offer ideas on
fundraising for your service dog.
- Reach out to Organizations Who Raise
Awareness
Look to the organizations that raise awareness about
your special need. For example, Diabetes Foundation,
PTSD organizations, Autism Awareness groups and so
on. They all have facebook pages. Don't be afraid
connect and reach out to them to request they share
your story, ask them for suggestions on what you can
do to help set up fundraising events that would
benefit you while raising awareness about your
special needs while promoting their organization at
the same time. Many will be more than willing to
send you several copies of their brochures which is
a great tool to have at your fundraiser events and
these organizations may offer additional ideas and
suggestions for fundraising events. Tap into their
years of experience and knowledge.
- Fundraising Events
Now that you've tapped into your local community and
reached out to awareness organizations you've probably gathered
enough information on how to go about setting up
additional fundraising events. Quite possibly, you
may have had offers from your local community
organizations to set up fundraiser events with
donations going to you for your service dog. You may
have even had offers from organizations or groups who may be willing or able to assist you plan, host or advertise for events
such as a
car wash fundraising event sponsored by your local Boy
Scouts or local church Youth Group.
- Reach out to
Local Businesses
Reach out to your local restaurant owners, even the
chain restaurants in your area, to see if they'd
sponsor a fundraiser day with a portion of their
day's sales to help with your fund raising event.
Ask if you can set out collection jars at local
businesses. Some businesses may prefer to donate merchandise or services rather than cash.
Use those donations to hold raffles and silent
auctions at your event.
- T-Shirts,
Support Bracelets and other items customizable
fundraising items
Look online to design fundraiser t-shirts and
support bracelets. You can design them and
sell them at your events and promote online. This is a great
way to allow someone to really get involved in
selling items that can continually be purchased even
after the event is over and it makes it easy for
people wearing your awareness items to help spread
the word as it will becomes a topic of conversation.
The more you speak with
your local community about your efforts, the more
fundraising ideas and offers will come your way. Most
importantly, have fun!
Service
Dog Fundraising Ideas
Canines 4 Hope has
compiled a list of fundraising event ideas to help get
those creative juices flowing. You can use many of these
event suggestions in one fundraiser, hold multiple
fundraisers or direct your friends and family here to
this site to help give them ideas on how they can help
organize a fundraising event with suggestions and tips
to help make it a successful one!
Baby and Kids’
Clothes Resale Sale
Bakeoff
Bake Sale
Barbecue Contest
Basketball Tournament
Battle of the Bands
Birthday Party
Beach Cleanup
Board Game Tournament
Book Club Fundraiser
Bowling Event
Bonfire Cookout Party
Cake Walk
Car Detailing
Car Wash
Card Tournament
Carnival
Chili Cook-Off
Chili Dinner
Darts Tournament
Dodgeball Tournament
Dog Bakery
Dog or Cat Sitting
Dog Walking
Dog Wash
Dunk Tank
Face Painting
Fish Fry
Football Tournament
Fundraising Walk
Garage Sale
Golf Outings
Golf Tournament
Hayrack Rides |
Haunted House
Hog Roast
Holiday Party
Hole-in-One Tournament
Horseshoe Tournament
Ice Cream Social
Karaoke Night
Kickball Tournament
Movie Night
Music Festival
Pancake Breakfast
Pizza Party
Pool Tournament
Raffles
Rake Leaves
Recycle Drive
Restaurant Event (Restaurant donates portion of proceeds on specific date)
Scrapbook Party
Scavenger Hunt
Shovel Snow
Skate Party
Silent Auction
Spaghetti Dinner
Soccer Tournament
Softball Tournament
Talent Contest
Theme Dinner Party
Treasure Hunt
Trivia Night
Walk-a-Thon
Yard Sale
Youth Lock-In |
Don't forget to
sell tickets to your event or party. Raffle away
your donated items. Have a 50/50 draw. Make it fun
and have fun!
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