Today I’d like to share a special girl with you. Her name is Nyla.
On the surface, Nyla’s story is like so many other dogs in today’s society. She comes from a home with a human mom and dad, human siblings, a dog sister (who has gone to the bridge) and a cat brother.
Like so many dogs in today’s society, her owners are moving and their new residence doesn’t take dogs. Her owner intended on euthanizing Nyla, but had a last minute change of heart and desperately began calling around looking for a rescue to take her.
Thankfully her owner found Little Feet, Big Heart Rescue, and the loving heart of Jen Wemmell.
Vet records however, tell a different story. Nyla had not been kept up to date on her vaccinations and she’d been repeatedly bred. Nyla was a breeding a machine.
Little Feet, Big Heart Rescue took Nyla in on August 10th, this beautiful little girl was adopted out almost immediately and then within two weeks she was returned. Her new owner felt they didn’t have the time to give to Nyla, so according to the rescue’s contract, Nyla was returned. Jen has since found a foster home for Nyla, but this confused little girl needs a forever home.
Nyla is a 5 year old female Blue Nose Pit Bull, Champagne in color. She is spayed, and up to date on all her vaccinations. She has lived with small children, other dogs and cats. She seems to be a well-rounded, happy dog despite the curves life has thrown at her.
About two weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with Jen Wemmell about Little Feet, Big Heart Rescue.
Jen is no stranger to rescue, she’s been rescuing and re-homing dogs for years. She’s never had a problem re-homing a dog, until she started asking for a fee. And believe me, compared to some rescues her fee is very minimal – about $200, even though some of her dogs need treatments that cost much more than that.
Little Feet, Big Heart Rescue has filed for 501 (C)(3) status which is currently pending. In the meantime all of the care and expense for these dogs come out of Jen’s own pocket or from donations.
We talked about ways of fund-raising for rescue and while I had a couple of suggestions for her, I’m woefully lacking in terms of how rescues solicit funds. BUT I did tell Jen that I had some awesome readers that are far savvyer than I am. I’m hoping some of you might have some ideas you could share, that could help this newly founded, but destined for great things rescue get some much needed donations.
In the meantime, today is the day I ask you to share this post, in hopes of finding Nyla her forever home.
Today is Tuesday’s Tails Blog Hop, the brain child of Lisa from Dogs N Pawz. Thank you Lisa! Together we can make a difference!
Fundraising is way beyond my pay grade, but I’m sure there is a home for the beautiful Nyla.
Shared — I have a few rescue folks on my FB friends list. Hopefully, they will see my share of your blog post and get in touch with Jen to share their info with her.
Gosh, she is beautiful! Sharing in hopes of helping out a bit. Hope she finds the loving and caring furever home she deserves.
Glad to hear there are people like Jen. 🙂
Good luck Nyla, you deserve better. As for Little Feet, Big Heart Rescue, may they go from strength to strength.
I hold fundraisers by sharing my income from selling products online on facebook. I set up an event and the shelter/rescue/any animal savers invite their friends and blog followers. They are generally very successful and the amount I donate can depend on the success of the event. I have donated 100%.
If she, or anyone, wants to talk to me about it, they can email me at the address shown.
I am a rescue dog mommy and I share animals all day long that are in risk of losing their lives. I am especially fond of and advocate for pits.
Hi Ann:
Would love to chat!!!!!
Nyla is adorable. Wish we could take every buddy home
Benny & Lily
She’s absolutely darling. The poor girl deserves a forever home! I hope she finds one soon!
A few fundraising ideas we’ve had some success with: an online auction for items donated by businesses/artists/service providers, sell T-shirts (generic messages do better than specific messages), set up a First Giving or similar and solicit businesses to match donations, digital raffle… Fundraising is not easy. Individual donations are great, but partnering with business or corporate sponsors can be even more lucrative. Just a few off-the-top thoughts. Best of luck!!!
Poor Nyla and we really hope she finds a home with some nice people like she deserves. Her story makes us angry. Have a terrific Tuesday.
Best wishes Molly
She’s so beautiful. I hope she finds the right home soon. Good luck, Nyla.
Nyla is so beautiful, and deserves a happy, permanent home. Sharing.
Wow Jodi…first I thought, how awful that her family was considering putting her down cause they were moving…but then when the truth was revealed, it made more sense.
How sad for Nyla…I do hope she finds the home she deserves. Off to share her now.
As for donations, sigh, I am no good at that either apparently….but I bet once she has her 501(c)(3) people will look at her in a new light. How wonderful of her to be footing the bill all this time to help dogs in need. And you’re right, 200.00 is pretty low considering.
Many rescues I know print calendars. Well not the rescues. What a rescue needs is sponsors that plan fund raising. I also know some put on events where they find raise. I think the most successful rescues fund raise for most of their costs and charge a minimal adoption fee.
Hopefully Nyla finds a good home. Stinks that the people lied about her history.
Poor Nyla. Her original owner actually considered putting her to sleep rather than rehoming her? … When there is not even anything wrong with her? Crazy! Any home has got to be better than that. It sounds like you’re in good hands now Nyla.
We hope this beautiful girl finds a loving home soon. Our Lady says she would never move anywhere we couldn’t go. It would be a deal breaker, but she guesses other people make other decisions and she is trying not to judge them. Lee and Phod
There are so many ways rescues can raise funds. I’ve seen dinners planned, calendars sold, online Scentsy parties and auctions and, well, the sky is the limit. The main thing is having people who will buy what you’re selling and volunteer to help!
She’s beautiful. Hope she finds her forever home real soon. Sharing.
Nyla is lovely! So glad she’s in rescue. Sharing.
There is yahoo group email list called Humane Fundraising that is really great for ideas. The list founder also made a website with a ton of fundraising ideas-http://humanefundraising.com/
Poor Nyla! She’s been through a lot! Terrible that her owners lied about her history and used her as a breeding machine, but I’m glad they changed their minds about euthanizing her. Bless her heart, she obviously has a really sweet disposition despite the challenges she’s face. Will definitely share her.
As far as fundraising, I think it’s definitely easier once you have your 501(c)(3) status in place. I’m no fundraiser extraordinaire, mostly because I’m terrible about asking for anything at any time.
But I can say two things 1) Don’t be above any fundraising method, as long as it’s ethical (meaning don’t be above garage sales or cookie sales or whatever). 2) Be as transparent as possible about exactly what the money is going to. Being specific helps. Like instead of “Please donate to such-and-such rescue because you know, we rescue dogs and that gets very expensive”, make it about the individual dogs and keep your readers updated!
I follow a LOT of Dachshund rescues, and the most successful ones do a lot of fundraising via eBay auctions. The items are donated from followers/supporters/rescue volunteers, and often end up being sold back to followers/supporters. The rescues post all their auctions on their Facebook page and usually include a note about which dog(s) the auctions are benefiting (this dog’s heartworm treatment or that dog’s back surgery or whatever). This information is often also included on the auction listing itself. They also just post a lot in general, giving constant updates about the dogs in their care, including the good news updates of every adoption that takes place. People want info… they want to see the turn-around… the mangy, scruffy, tumor-filled, mouth-full-of-bad-teeth dog that nobody wanted pulled from a kill shelter and given all the vet care it needs and all the love it can handle in its foster home; and then adopted by a family who’s going to cherish it from here on out. People want those stories and the photos that tell the story! And the more a rescue posts of them, the more I see the donations roll in. People offer to help without being asked. “Where can I donate to help this little guy?” I see it a lot. Breed-specific rescues probably have the easiest time, because they can gain a lot of followers who have a love for x breed. They have to beg for foster homes a lot more than they beg for money. Another rescue states their specific needs and has an Amazon wish list set up for people to buy and send the specific items that they need, that way people know EXACTLY where their money is going. Vet care is the most expensive part of rescue, and people can’t buy that on Amazon… but it’s a lot easier to afford vet care with other funds when people are sending food, flea/tick meds, and all kinds of other supplies.
I think transparency is KEY. I know it is for me. The more I know about how the money is spent, the more likely I am to donate.
Okay, that was MUCH longer than I intended. But that’s what I would tell your friend. Have a Facebook page for the rescue, keep everyone in the know about the dogs in her care, post as often as possible (easier if you have volunteers to help with all of this), be transparent, be specific, and don’t be afraid.
Thank you, Pam!!!! We don’t have many volunteers at this moment. We are trying our best to raise money for the dogs in care.
Thanks for a lot of great ideas, and advice.
Greatly Appreciated.
Sharing ASAP!! Thank you so much for helping this amazing rescue with your post! Crossing my fingers that their 501 (c) (3) application is approved!
Nyla sounds wonderful and that rescue is literally a life-saver. I am rooting for both.
Cant believe what people do…hope she finds a great home..poor thing deserves at least that much…i cry for these dogs…its so very sad…
SHARED