Raising funds to rescue furry friends

Through investment in technology, the support of a pet loving community and an ambitious goal to help rescue organisations succeed, one little button has been doing a big job behind the scenes for national animal welfare charity PetRescue.

In 2018, PetRescue made a decision to invest in technology and implement a feature on their website to enable rescue organisations to be able to directly fundraise and collect donations online. 

“We can put more of our time, energy and efforts into rescuing dogs in need and putting the money toward paying off vet bills, rather than doing 15 sausage sizzles to raise the same amount.” – Ruth King

Fast forward only three years, the feature has already proven to be a huge success reaching the milestone of fundraising $A100,000 to help 61 rescue groups directly with critical expenses including vet bills, medication and pet food. 

The $A100,000 raised will help cover the cost of desexing more than 330 female and 400 male dogs or microchipping at least 2,000 cats and dogs. 

Owing to its unique position on pet listings, the donate button gives rescue organisations the opportunity to fundraise virtually while advertising available pets to the 30,000 users who visit PetRescue every day. This was particularly beneficial during lockdowns when organisations couldn’t host physical fundraising events and relied on virtual donations to care for their pets. 

Starting Over Dog Rescue received the highest donations to-date via the button and are already reaping the benefits.

“Physical fundraising events are a huge output for our team, yet this is where a huge portion of our fundraising and donations tend to come from,” explains Starting Over Dog Rescue Treasurer and Northern Coordinator Ruth King. “Now we can put more of our time, energy and efforts into rescuing dogs in need and putting the money toward paying off vet bills, rather than doing 15 sausage sizzles to raise the same amount.”

PetRescue Managing Director Patima Tantiprasut says creating a long-lasting positive impact for pets and supporting the rescue community is what drives the organisation’s mission.

“We couldn’t be prouder of how quickly this initiative has succeeded in enabling much-needed financial support for rescue groups and will continue to do so into the future,” she says.

Since implementation, the feature has already paid for itself more than three times over.

“It’s always a big and bold decision to invest large funds into an area. This is a great example where the reward is definitely worth the (calculated) risk because it can result in a bigger difference,” Patima explains.