Why give on Giving Tuesday? – Impact the Future of our Rescue
I want to thank Sarah White for writing this plea, explaining how much Giving Tuesday means to us this year.  She has taken the time to explain exactly what your volunteering and donations mean to us.  The truth is, we have always appreciated all of you, your time, prayers, and generosity, this year we are depending on your like never before. Rescue is an expensive process, I believe that we will find a way, and with your help, we will not close our doors.  We can do this!  ~ Gisele
Written by Sarah White:
Before we get in to the article, I want to take a moment to thank quite a few important people. First, to all of our volunteers, whether you work from a computer like our social media and database volunteers or are more hands on like our fosters, transporters, and event coordinators, we appreciate all you do and all the ways you make rescue happen!
I would also like to thank our donors, because you make what we all do possible. This year your dollars went toward last minute pulls from shelters, the excellent medical care all of our dogs receive, the food in their bowl, their preventative meds, ongoing medical care for special cases like all of our sweet pups who had skin conditions, special diet needs, and all those dogs who were heart worm positive.
We try to say “thank you” often, but somehow thank you just isn’t enough to express the gratitude we hold for you all.
Now, Why am I writing? Well right after Cyber Monday is a special day in our rescue and for non-profits around the country. It is called Giving Tuesday and by now you have probably seen a few of our posts on Facebook about it. For those who haven’t heard about it, here is what it is all about:
“We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Giving Tuesday, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.
It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity.”
So now you know what Giving Tuesday means, but do you know what it means to us?
The funds we raise on this one day are a safety net for the rescue. It provides a fund to go to if a highly adoptable dog on death row suddenly appears in our inbox on the evening before he is supposed to be euthanized, or if we get a “healthy” litter of puppies who
show up with parvo. Our Adoption fees are designed to help us cover that dog’s medical expenses and the next dog’s pull with just a little extra for running costs, like the phone, ink, paper, and website. The adoption fees are a huge help, but when you get dogs who have conditions, or who take a while to be adopted, (or even scarier, both!) the fees add up and soon it will take 2 or more adoption fees to break even.
We consistantly have some hard blows: Kennel cough, skin conditions, mange, parvo, heartworm, are just a few. As painful as it is, sometimes we lose a dog or puppy. Like with sweet Yogi who required a lot of medical care, and sadly, in the end we couldn’t save… each time we have bounced back, often only because of generous donors who contribute to the medical care of these sweet and very deserving dogs. We also face increasing veterinary costs, like in fall of 2016 when our rate at the vet doubled. Things were already tight, but when prices double, the number of dogs we can care for is cut in half. This makes your support all that more important.
This year Giving Tuesday is our lifeline. As many of you know Gisele is not only our president, but our main foster, trainer, point of contact, transport coordinator, and our rescue-guru. She gives her all to keep TDL up, open, and running, so that dogs in need will still have a place to go. As amazing as Gisele is, she can not do it alone. Your donations this Giving Tuesday will allow us to get through December and prepare for another awesome year of rescue, but we won’t be able to do it without you.
So here is what you can do to help.
1. Share the Link to our Giving Tuesday page and tell your friends why you support us. Did you get your best friend from us? Volunteer with us? Just love our Facebook posts? Everyone has a reason why they are reading this. Ask them to share too! Here is that link again for easy copy-paste: http://givingtuesday.razoo.com/story/Dog-Liberator
2. Donate if you can – I recognize not everyone is able. Christmas is a tight time of year, so if you can’t do Giving Tuesday, consider signing up for our Promise program. You can commit to give monthly in increments as small as $5. If you can donate you can do so on our Giving Tuesday page or, just click the PayPal button at the bottom of the post.
3. Volunteer – We always need reliable volunteers. If you want to foster for us, transport, work on a computer, or have a great idea for a unique way you might be able to help, just email us.
4. Shop – Whether it is getting your dog a special gift like a Pack Pack, or just doing your holiday shopping through Fundinco or Amazon Smile, you can support rescue. In fact shopping through Fundinco and Amazon Smile on Amazon is like a free donation. it costs nothing extra to you and a percentage of your purchase goes to rescue. There are lots of ways you can shop and support rescue!
So often we say “we can’t do it without you” but now, more than ever, it is true. We have helped over 1000 dogs find their forever homes, and we can’t wait to break 1000! Please, help us pave the way.
