A $15,000 winner in the 2008 Maddie's Fund Marketing Competition, submitted by Animal Welfare Association (AWA), Voorhees, N.J.

Biscuit wasnt a special dog. Biscuit hadnt been the victim of abuse. She had all of her limbs and eyes and, although she wasnt keen on other dogs, she wasnt particularly behaviorally challenged. Biscuits problem was that she had been at the shelter, plain, large, ordinary, adult, brown dog that she was, for almost a year. All efforts at promoting her on television and special events got her no leads until Biscuits plight became the focus of the Animal Welfare Associations (AWA) bi-weekly enewsletter with studio quality photos, followed up with an email link to a short video featured on our Web site. Her adoption fee was reduced and she was made available for sleepovers. While many AWA email newsletters are filled with stories of desperate cases and their happy endings, we emphasized that Biscuits case was the most pressing at the shelter with plain, honest language and an attached flyer that our supporters could print out and distribute to help Biscuit get adopted.

The email was one of the most successful emails in our recent history with more than 200 people accessing Biscuits flyer in less than 24 hours. Biscuit was adopted on her second Sleepover. The email and the support Biscuit received represented a dramatic change in adoption strategy for AWA. Through comprehensive, multi-faceted outreach to potential adopters, AWA saw a 31% increase in dog and cat adoptions in less than one years time. Whereas AWA used to send out an occasional email about a specific event, emails are now sent out on a schedule and feature a special animal. The emails have pictures, often taken by volunteer, aspiring professional photographers and even YouTube.com videos, such as a short one we created about Bobbles, a puppy with a neurological condition that impaired his motor skills.

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