Guest Post: Paws for a Cause from Kay Eskridge

The earlier blog on being involved in your community brought out a whole bunch of great ideas, but this one from Kay Eskridge, is especially detailed and the basics for success are universal, no matter what the charitable cause!

“We just finished our second ‘Paws for a Cause’ pet program and it was a HUGE success. We were motivated by a program the Taufers offer and found a way to tweak it for us. It’s easy to do and very rewarding.

Here’s the scoop . . .

We partnered with PACC911 (Phoenix Animal Care Coalition) who unites the local pet rescue community.    They  helped us with distributing information about the campaign.  We set aside a full Saturday and scheduled sessions every 10 minutes. The owners get the session and one 5×7 print for FREE in exchange for either a 10lb unopened bag of dog or cat food, blankets, towels, carpet squares, toys, etc. (you’ll find they all bring in way more than the minimum!!!).

We posted the images for their selection on our website (this allows them to see all of the other types of photography we offer) and provided a variety of special print packages, albums and Wall portrait options, Pet Stationery (yes – it sells!!), jewelry, etc.  We’ve found many will purchase beyond their freebie, simply because pet owners are nuts about their ‘babies’.   At the end of the day we contacted PACC911 to come and distribute the donations to the shelters that need the most help.

We’ve found many upsides to this campaign . . . a chance to be exposed to new clients, an opportunity to help the little furry friends who can’t help themselves, a great supportive relationship with the charity and wonderful media exposure for our efforts. We’ve sold out both times and already have a waiting list for the next one. We’ve also created the Yappy Hour Lounge that I’ll save for another blog.

Here are  a few ‘tips’ that might help insure success for your programs:

-Post the event on your website, email newsletter, blog, twitter, facebook and linkedin (we booked the first half of the day right after we posted it on Facebook - it went VIRAL immediately!!)
-Urge the charity you’ve partnered with to help you get the word out in their newsletters, email blasts, etc – it only benefits them MORE if they help start a buzz in the pet community.
-When calling to confirm sessions find out if their pet ‘plays well with others’ and if not, have them keep Fido in their car until the prior session leaves.  Don’t forget to remind them how important it is for them to come ON TIME for their scheduled session (this is HUGE to keep you on schedule for the day)

 -Keep bowls of water, paper towels, poop bags, noise makers, toys and treats handy at all times (remind owners to bring their own treats as well, since the pets are used to their own treats/toys and will respond better)
-Contact local media well in advance so they can plan to feature you before the event, as well as during (we got bumped last time because of coverage of a triple homicide – who would have “thunk”?) Don’t wait until the last minute, because they slot their features way in advance.
-Offer one or two background options ONLY and have them both ‘shoot ready’ – at our first event we offered too many and it took too long to change in between. The second time we offered only TWO and they were both ready for shooting so there was no last minute background changes in between – it kept us on schedule all day.”

Kay & Co. Photography - Nice job you guys!