|
Marketing Shelter Cats
- 1. Marketing Cat Adoption: Creative Campaigns
- 2. Marketing Cat Adoption: 'Cats Around Town' and 'Mommy and Me'
- 3. Marketing Cat Adoption: Senior Cat Adoptions and 'There's a Cat for That' Ad Campaign
- 4. Marketing Cat Adoption: Mobile Resource Center and Free Cat Adoptions
- 5. Marketing Cat Adoption: Black Cat Specials and Clicker Training for Cats
- 6. Marketing Cat Adoption: 'Pick Your Price,' '6/60' and 'Project Purrrfect'
- 7. Marketing Cat Adoption: Adopting Out Cats at Pet Shops and 35th Anniversary
- 8. Marketing Cat Adoption: 'My Furry Valentine' and 'Flabulous Felines' Promotion
- 9. Marketing Cat Adoption: 'Feline Friends' and 'Lonely Hearts Club' Programs
Marketing Cat Adoption: 'My Furry Valentine' and 'Flabulous Felines' Promotion
The following is from the Summer 2010 issue of Protecting Animals, American Humane's quarterly journal for animal welfare professionals. Used by permission. To learn more, visit www.AmericanHumane.org.
My Furry Valentine/Saint Catrick's Day Promotions
Katherine McGowan, Vice President, Asheville Humane Society, Asheville, NC
My Furry Valentine was the first of several adoption
promotions the Asheville Humane Society is holding
this year. We have found that holidays and special events
help call attention to adoptable animals and get us a lot
of publicity. As part of these promotions, we are always
looking for sponsors to help us maintain the momentum
of successful fee-reduced and fee-waived adoptions.
For February's My Furry Valentine, our shelter stayed
open all weekend and offered fee-waived adoptions of
cats/kittens, thanks to a grant from the ASPCA. In three
days, we adopted out 45 cats and kittens, the majority of
which were over 1 year old, and every available cat was
adopted (with the exception of three cats placed up for
adoption on Sunday). In addition, 18 dogs and puppies
were adopted out that weekend.
During the one-day Saint Catrick's Day event, adoption
fees for the first 17 cat/kitten adoptions were waived, all
cat/kitten adopters were registered to win a year's supply
of Science Diet cat or kitten food, and both cat and dog
adopters were entered to win a gift bag from a local Irish
pub. A grant from the ASPCA covered our lost revenue,
and our partner, the Humane Alliance, covered spay/
neuter costs for those kittens who had not already been
altered. We adopted out 19 kittens and 11 dogs for a total
of 30 pets in seven hours! This was terrific, because we
normally adopt out about 50 animals per week.
'Flabulous Felines' Promotion
Leilani Vierra, CEO, Placer SPCA, Roseville, CA
In order to encourage adoptions of overweight cats (and
ensure they didn't spend too long confined without
exercise in cages), we offered "Flabulous Felines Free to a
Good Home" during February 2008. Local author Martha
Garvey donated several signed copies of her book, My
Fat Cat: Ten Simple Steps to Help Your Pet Lose Weight for
a Long and Happy Life, which were given to the first few
adopters, and all adopters received special counseling
to understand the needs of their new plus-size pets.
As
a result, 11 of the 12 hard-to-adopt overweight cats were
adopted during the promotion, with the 12th going home
a few weeks later.
Other monthly cat specials at Placer SPCA have included
Kitties at the End of the Rainbow in March (green-eyed
cats), Celebrate Mothers in May (spayed female cats),
Paws for Your Pa in June (neutered male cats), The Color
of Independence in July (tortoiseshell and calico cats),
Go for the Gold in August (yellow-eyed cats), and Fall
Fashions: Everything Goes With Black in September
(black cats and kittens).
Next in
For Shelters: Marketing Shelter Cats:
Marketing Cat Adoption: 'Feline Friends' and 'Lonely Hearts Club' Programs
EMAIL
SHARE
