Gearing Up for #GivingTuesday: 10 Ways to Give to Animals
#GivingTuesday is exactly one week from today! For those of you who haven’t heard of #GivingTuesday, it is a global day of giving that starts the season of giving back. It’s a time to make a difference by supporting and creating awareness for the causes that you are passionate about. Here at Sitting for a Cause, our passion is helping animals!
#GivingTuesday isn’t all about monetary donations. If you love animals and want to make a difference in the lives of homeless pets on #GivingTuesday, here are 10 ways you can give back without making a monetary donation:
- Volunteer – Animal shelter and rescues are always in need of volunteers to help socialize, exercise, and even transport the animals in their care! All you have to do is attend an orientation to learn the ropes, then you can help care for animals in need as they wait for their furever homes.
- Download Apps – If you are going to walk your dog (or even just go for a walk on your own), why not ensure it helps animals in need? Download The Walk for a Dog app or the ResQwalk app to log your miles each time you walk your dog and have donations made to your favorite animal-related charity.
- Shop at Animal-Supporting Companies – When the opportunity presents itself, opt to shop or use businesses that support animal-related causes. For example, instead of BarkBox, opt for RescueBox to ensure that every box you spoil your dog with provides food and vaccines for shelter animals! Or (shameless self-promotion) when you hire a pet sitter, do it through Sitting for a Cause to ensure part of the money you spend on your pet’s care goes to help animals in need.
Give Your Expertise – Are you purrfect at photography? Superb at social media? A master at writing? Offer to take pictures of pets at your local shelter or rescue, teach them how to better use social media to network their animals, or offer to contribute to their blog or write descriptions of their pets for their site. By giving of your expertise, you can help your local shelters or rescues spread the word and better network the animals in their care, helping even more pets find their tail-wagging ending.- Donate Items – Do you have old blankets or towels sitting around your home? What about gently used dog beds, bowls, or leashes? Shelters are always in need of extra supplies for the animals in their care so contact your local animal shelter to see what they are in need of the next time you decide to clean out your house.
- Educate – Take the time to talk to people about the importance of spaying/neutering pets as well as how vital it is to adopt instead of shop. By educating people about how many animals could be saved each year if people spayed/neutered and opted to adopt, you can help rescues and shelters save more lives.
- Share – Social media is a great medium to network and share animals in need. If you know of a pet in need (or see one pop up in your Facebook news feed), share it with your network. You never know when someone you know will see one of your posts of a pet in need and decide to give him or her a home.
- Use AmazonSmile – Chances are you shop on Amazon from time to time, so the next time you go to make a purchase on Amazon, opt to use AmazonSmile! You can select a charity of your choice and have .5% of your purchases go to that charity!
- Foster – If you have the time and emotional stamina, consider fostering an animal in need. Many homeless pets don’t do well in a shelter environment, so by giving them a safe place to wait while they find their new furever home, you are eliminating the stress they would experience by being in a shelter. Additionally, rescue groups are always looking for fosters so they can save more animals from shelters, so by stepping up and agreeing to open up your home to a dog or cat temporarily, you are helping them save lives.
- Adopt – One of the best ways to give back? To adopt a pet in need. Every time you adopt from a rescue or shelter, not only are you saving the life of the pet you adopt but you are also saving the life of another animal by making space at the shelter or rescue to take on another pet in need. Always opt to adopt instead of shop!
Be sure to check back with us on Giving Tuesday when we kick off our holiday giving spree to learn how you can help us give back even more during the month of December!