THE CHALLENGE
In March 2020, COVID-19 presented a challenge unlike any before. Economic uncertainty, postponed fundraisers, social distancing, and rapidly changing best practices for shelters meant Ark had to get even more creative to keep funding their lifesaving operations.
Sabine Stull founded Animal Ark Rescue in 2011, when this long time animal advocate learned about the high euthanasia rates of animals in her community. With no facility, no money and a few volunteers, Animal Ark made an immediate lifesaving impact by partnering with the local municipal shelter for mobile adoption events. “Every weekend, come sun or rain, we were at the corner on one of the busiest streets in Columbus adopting out dogs and cats.”
Fast forward to today and the community of Columbus, Georgia has achieved a greater than 90% lifesaving rate while still serving at-risk pet populations like seniors, the sick (the challenging FIV+, ringworm, and parvo, among them), injured animals, and community cats. Animal Ark Rescue was at the center of this lifesaving work and as of 2019, has grown to adopting out 2000 pets to loving homes each year. It was this growth that influenced Animal Ark to switch software systems to Shelterluv in 2019. Previously using a system that required “too many clicks and having to hand count” to produce basic reports, Shelterluv gave Animal Ark the instant ability to process mobile adoptions, create reports, introduce digital recordkeeping, and capture donations at adoption.
THE SOLUTION
For years Shelterluv has enabled customers to increase donations — having now raised over $1.5 million by capturing donations more efficiently in the checkout process. In March 2020, Shelterluv released a new feature — the Donation Boost Widget, that would bring the same fundraising power to other areas of a customer’s operations — like fostering, applications, email lists, and web pages.
When Sabine read about Shelterluv’s new Donation Boost Widget, she knew this was a tool she had to add right away. After just a few minutes of set-up, anyone who visited the Animal Ark website could see a quick, easy way to contribute to the organization.
Within a week, Ark had tripled their average daily donations!
Why does Animal Ark Rescue recommend the Donation Boost Widget to their peers?
- It’s easy: “Whatever is easy for donors to use is best. This is simple. People just want to click and have it done.“
- It’s timely: “I like the way the link displays when people click on it. It makes a big difference that the text tells them why it’s important to donate now.”
It’s budget-friendly: “This gives us a professional look and results — no expensive consultant needed!”
