Fundraising for Our Service Dog

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TIWhen we are out and about in public with our Goldendoodle service dog, I am often stopped and asked questions. Ned is nearly a hundred pounds and attracts a lot of attention. If my daughter can tolerate the inquiries, I am happy to oblige and refer families to our agency 4 Paws for Ability. The most frequently asked question is how much does it cost for a service dog. Here is how we accomplished fundraising for our service dog.

4 Paws for Ability utilizes a partial payment-for-service funding model. The agency fundraises for part of the cost and families provide payment. It costs between $40,000-$60,000 to raise, medically care for, and train a service dog. Families usually fundraise for their portion of the fee. At the time this post was published the fee was $17,000.

Other agencies may have different policies and fees. Don’t let that number scare you from proceeding. 4 Paws provides fundraising ideas. 4 Paws families also offer suggestions and support through their private Facebook group.

How My Family Fundraised

Once our application for a service dog for my daughter was approved the work began. In addition to the $17,000 for the dog, there are also expenses to travel to Xenia, Ohio. Families attend twelve days of training. Over a thousand families from all over the world have successfully received service dogs from 4 Paws. For the sake of your child, you will figure it out. Our service dogs have been life-changing and worth the hard work.

Write a Child Biography

4 Paws will suggest that you write a biography for your child. This biography will be published on the 4 Paws website. They have donors that read them and make donations directed to a specific child. Families also seek assistance from their local media outlets. This is a personal decision. Exposing your family can be stressful but it can also lead to generous funding sources. You never know who is watching your local news such as a non-profit, church group, or civic group.

Fundraising Letters

I used the information from our biography to write letters that I sent to three different audiences. My letter included a photo of my daughter and a picture that she drew of her future dog.

My audiences:

1. Friends and Family
2. Work Colleagues
3. Local businesses

Friends and Family

Letters were mailed to friends and family all over the country. A return envelope was included for convenience. In addition to explaining our fundraising endeavor, the letters explained how to make a credit card donation online specifically for my daughter. This was the most used method for our donations. Points and miles can also be earned for using a credit card.

Work Colleagues

I am fortunate to have worked for UCLA in a department with family-friendly and supportive management. They granted permission to put my letter in the staff mailboxes. The generosity of my colleagues was overwhelming. Donations that averaged $20 added up quickly.

Local Businesses

The third letter introduced our fundraising activities to local businesses. We requested food and raffle donations in our local community. My friend Judy visited every grocery store, pet store, and several specialty shops in our area. She presented the letter. Several food stores donated gift cards that we used to purchase ingredients for our spaghetti dinner. Pavilions, Smart and Final, and Costco made generous donations.

How We Fundraised for our Service Dog — Judy

Petco and Pet Smart donated merchandise and gift cards that we used for the raffle. My friend Linda is an expert raffle basket designer and her talent was put to work. Several of my friends donated items such as a Razor Scooter and small electronics for the raffle. Our raffle table looked amazing and was full of great stuff.

Spaghetti Dinner Fundraising

Linda secured the use of her church’s commercial kitchen and hall at no cost. On the morning of the dinner Linda, my sister, and my daughter set up a table at the church for the after-service crowd. They displayed several raffle items and sold tickets for the dinner and raffles. This pre-sale was a great way to increase attendance. I also posted a notice on my daughter’s school Facebook page and my personal page.

My friend Deb volunteered to work the check-in table and sell tickets for the raffles. We were required to keep track of all diner sales and raffle ticket purchases on a sign-in sheet. Deb kept the records in order and ready to be sent to 4 Paws.

Buffet Style

Making spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and purchasing ready-made dessert was an easy meal to prepare for a lot of diners. Linda’s mom made delicious meat and vegetarian sauces (we advertised that vegetarian was available). The sauce was made ahead and frozen.

We set up a self-serve buffet line and had volunteers serve the spaghetti and sauce. Diners were welcome to a second helping. We used slow cookers to keep the pasta and sauce warm. We served ready-made salad in a bag that we set out in bowls on the buffet table. The garlic bread was set out in baskets with tongs and diners helped themselves.

At the end of the line, we had a condiment table with salad dressings, parmesan cheese, hot pepper, napkins, and utensils. We had a drink table and dessert table in another part of the room. Lemonade, fruit-flavored water, and plain water in pretty glass dispensers were available. We offered a variety of bakery-made cookies for dessert. We decorated with red and white checked table cloths on the dining tables for an Italian touch. Several of my friend’s teens bussed the tables.

Raffle

Usually, raffle tickets are purchased and placed in one pot and one ticket is pulled for each item at random. We changed it up. Each basket or item had its own small ticket container. Raffle participants chose what they wanted to try and win. I was glad we did it this way. The children especially loved choosing where to put their tickets.

Participants who really wanted a particular item went crazy buying tickets and stuffing the container. Miss Bee pulled the winning tickets after dinner. Most winners stuck around since their winning odds were better which made it easy to distribute their prizes. The rest were delivered. The raffles raised more funds than dinner.

Fundraising Event Leftovers

The church provides dinner on Monday nights for food-insecure families and individuals in our community. The timing worked out great. I donated all of our unused food (boxes of spaghetti, loaves of french bread, sticks of butter, several bags of frozen sauce, cookies, unopened salad) and condiments to this program. Thanks to the generous donations and volunteers, our fundraiser meal fed two groups.

The Results

The dinner and raffle was our single most successful fundraising activity. Besides the dinner, we received a significant donation that was a surprise from the owner of my daughter’s preschool. Parents and other family members of my friends either made monetary donations or volunteered at our events. Finally, I applied my tax return to our service dog. We met our fundraising goal in less than four months.

Surprises Along the Way

I am fortunate to have a village of wonderful friends who jumped in and helped. Sometimes the family and friends you think you can count on to help or donate don’t and you will encounter incredible generosity where you least expect it. Often, from complete strangers.

You might encounter family and friends that will oppose your decision. Unless they live in your shoes, it is impossible for them to understand the difficulties you face day-to-day raising your child. Others will melt your heart with their generosity and kindness. Focus on them and don’t forget to send thank you notes to every individual and business that donates or volunteers.

Other Service Dog Fundraising Ideas

Fundraising activities that have worked for many families:

-Bake sales
-Popcorn and cookie sales from companies that offer a percentage of their profit
-Restaurant fundraisers
-Motorcycle/biker rides
-Golf tournaments
-Bowling tournaments
-On-Line fundraising (check with 4 Paws for acceptable programs) and Facebook
-Shoe drives
-Pageants
-Small theater and dinner theater events (a portion of the ticket sales)
-Poker tournaments
-Penny jars – especially effective in elementary schools
-Speak to your child’s specific disability non-profits about assistance – Epilepsy, Diabetes, Autism- foundations
-Make-a-Wish for seriously ill children
-Personalized bracelet sales
-Second-hand book sales
5K runs/walks

Fundraising for Service Dog Class Travel Expenses

Staying in a hotel for twelve plus days, flights and meals are incredibly expensive. I would not bug the same generous donors again. A giant yard sale was our next activity. The yard sale was back-breaking work but it was successful. I purchased four round-trip flights on two holiday weekends with the proceeds. This is how we accomplished yard sale fundraising for our service dog travel expenses.

Giant Yard Sale

Judy came through once again with support for the yard sale. Her sister lives in a yard sale friendly neighborhood with great traffic. Her sister was happy to lend us her front yard. We selected a weekend in the summer to have the sale. I emailed everyone I knew and asked them to donate stuff and junk they planned to donate anyway. I offered to pick donations up. Judy posted notices in the apartment building she manages. The tenants were incredibly generous with their donations.

I made tri-fold poster boards with information about my child’s disability and service dogs. I made lemonade and chocolate chip cookies for my daughter to sell. It kept her busy for hours. Having her meant our customers were able to meet the child they were supporting.

A few days before the sale, we posted notices on Craig’s List. We hung signs on utility poles throughout the neighborhood. I also posted a notice on my Facebook page.

How to Price the Donated Sales Items

There are two ways to run this type of yard sale. You can either price everything or you can ask customers to offer what they feel is appropriate. With the exception of a few crooks that took advantage and walked away with a ton of things and only paid a few dollars, most customers were incredibly generous. Several customers made donations without buying anything. As for those cheaters, it felt a little icky initially but the items cost nothing. There was less stuff to transport to Goodwill.

Good luck with your future fundraising. Our service dogs have been with us for the past four and a half years and three years and I cannot imagine life without them. They have made such a wonderful impact on our entire family. Fundraising for our service dog was hard work and so worth it.