Thank You!
We love that you want to host an event to benefit our pets! CCHS is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and we do not receive any government funding or funds from national animal welfare nonprofits. The pets we shelter depend on caring individuals, like you! As a fundraiser, your effort will make a real difference in the lives of homeless pets, waiting for families.
If your event is not a fundraiser, and you are seeking Champaign County Humane Society participation in an educational or community event, please click here to see our information on inviting a Humane Educator, or email our Event Coordinator with questions.
Please tell us all about your planned fundraiser below! We always want to know about your efforts so we can:
- Share resources to help you succeed
- Avoid scheduling conflicts with other events or commitments
- Help you promote the fundraiser to our friends
- Thank you and your donors properly!
We also want to make sure you have everything you need to represent CCHS ethically and transparently. Before using our name or logo in any promotion, you'll be asked to review and agree to a few simple guidelines. These guidelines help ensure compliance with laws and ordinances, fairness to other fundraisers, and importantly, transparency to donors.
What You Need to Know
Using the form below does not commit you to upholding the guidelines at this time, it just lets us know that you have a great idea to help out our pets! When we hear from you, we'll reach out to talk about a few things to keep in mind while fundraising.
Depending on the size and nature of your event, we may want to formalize these guidelines with an agreement, but most groups and individuals just need a quick review of best practices and requirements:
🐾 CCHS can't provide funding to get you started.
🐾 While we love attending your events when we can, our staff and volunteers cannot guarantee their time to your project! There's a place in the form below to discuss what you might need from us, and we'll help if we can.
🐾 Be transparent in marketing. It's important to be clear about the portion or percentage of revenue which will benefit CCHS. We are so grateful for all time, effort, and funding to support the shelter. And donors are grateful to know how much they're giving directly to pets!
🐾Laws about tax deductibility will vary by how your fundraiser is set up. We'll talk one-on-one about the right approach for your event.
🐾Please don't use collected cash to buy supplies for the shelter. Even during a supply drive, some people choose to give money. Let us use our tools and partnerships to help every dollar go further!
If open to public participation, fundraisers which follow these guidelines will be added to the CCHS online event calendar. However, promoting eligible third-party fundraisers through any other official CCHS platforms is at the discretion of our staff.
Bringing Animals to Your Event
We carefully consider all requests for animals to attend offsite community events or fundraisers, and can only confirm visits on a near-term, case-by-case basis. We love when our pets can join in the fun, but their welfare comes first! Many of our pets are adopted quickly, which we celebrate. But that does mean that we don't always know which of our pets will be happy to be out and about, and which will be stressed, so we might not always be able to clear animals for travel. Thank you for understanding!
Humane Education experiences are central to our mission, and we do not request donations or fees when scheduling. However, for pets at the shelter, public events are very different from private educational groups. To support the additional time, materials, and animal care that makes offsite visits possible, we reserve public animal appearances for fundraising events that commit to raising and/or donating at least $500.
Thinking about an Adoption Drive?
We truly believe your direct action can help pets find homes, and it's important for us to be transparent about the most effective ways to support adoption. Our commitment to animal safety (including our animal handler training and thorough adoption review process) can make off-site adoption events challenging to coordinate. If you would like to share an adoption drive opportunity, or brainstorm other ways you can promote adoption at CCHS, please reach out.
We would also encourage you to consider partnering with a foster-based nonprofit at your event. We are grateful to have a fully operational animal shelter open to the public, where adopters can always meet their new pets; an event with you might give fosters a chance to shine! We all know every loving adoption is a "win", and however you can help the pets of our community: we are grateful!
Submitting This Form Gets You Started
It is not a commitment to uphold the best practices and guidelines! Please share your event information even if you have remaining questions about policies, and we will connect. However, please wait to begin advertising until you are granted permission to use our name or logo. That will include confirming these guidelines, and, depending on your plans, may require formally acknowledging them with an agreement. We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for fundraising!
From all the pets and people at CCHS: thank you!
Events and fundraisers help spread the word about our mission to make the pets of this community healthy and in happy homes.
Fundraisers who do not comply with these guidelines do not have permission to use our name and logo in promotion. If previously granted, permission to publish our organization's name and logo is immediately revoked if a fundraiser has violated any of the agreed upon guidelines. We are grateful for everyone's desire to support homeless pets with a fundraiser or service project, and we strive to provide the tools and information to do so effectively and ethically!
Send questions to our event coordinator, Elizabeth Young, elizabeth@cuhumane.org.
Resources for Fundraising and Service Projects
We try to set you up for success! Here are some of the ways that we can support your generous efforts for our pets at CCHS:
Our Logos
A folder of CCHS logos will be provided after our fundraising best practices and guidelines have been reviewed together.
Online Fundraising and Accepting Electronic Payments
We have multiple ways for you to accept electronic payments, and send donations directly to our pets. Ask about our Venmo profile and QR code, or a link to our general donation form.
Or, we can set up your Personal Fundraising Page! In addition to providing an easy way for donors to pay electronically, personal pages give you the space to share why you're fundraising, why pets are important to you, and more, with your own words, images, and video. Every gift through your personal fundraising page is automatically credited to your honor, and you receive notifications of every gift, to properly thank your donors. Pages can also be an excellent way to collect electronic donations for event tickets or sales, if those are part of your service or fundraising plan.
Fundraising Tips and Encouragement
Whether you're a fundraising and volunteering pro looking for new ideas, or if you aren't sure where to start, we are here to help. After you connect with us about your plans, we would be happy to answer your questions, schedule check ins, and share resources as we can.
Start here, with our Fundraise Like a Pro sheet!
Wish Lists
For supply drives, we have posted our complete shelter wish list with items we can and cannot accept. All items on the wish list further our mission, however when you reach out about your event, we can also guide you towards any items that we might have a specific need for at that time. Please keep in mind that any monetary donations to your supply drive should not be used to purchase additional supplies!
Advertising and Promotion
We love making sure people know how they can best support pets! If your fundraiser or event is open to the public, it may be featured some of our platforms. Details are above. Platforms such as our website, calendar, email newsletter, social media, and more, are managed at the sole discretion of CCHS.
Group Volunteering
Our dedication to animal safety means we cannot offer group volunteering opportunities to work directly with our pets. There are still ways to get your group together and help the cats, dogs, and critters in a tangible way. Many of our group volunteering projects do have an element of fundraising or collection, in order for you to get all the materials needed. Learn more from our event coordinator.