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I'd donate to the local shelter. I feel your money will go a lot further there, just because they have immediate need for food, beds and medical care. I think donating to either one is a really sweet idea!
Thank you!
That makes much more sense to me, truly. I think that is what we will do!
That's what we are going to do.. I know that they really could use the money appropriately, and it's helping out MY community.
Great responses so far, and I second them.
I'm always in favor of supporting a local charity than a national one. Local charities usually have far fewer overhead costs, which means that your money is more often than not going to actually support the mission -- and not some CEO's overinflated salary.
Good for you for being charitable!
Great decision! We are also doing the same. And I agree local is better...
This is exactly what we're doing. We're planning on writing "THANK YOU" on a piece of thick paper (or left over cardboard painted white) and then lean it against our dog and take 100 pictures until we get a cute one.
Then on our table we'll have a piece of paper saying "In lieu of favors.. blah de blah. Donation to Shelter. We got our dog there, now your money is going to make someone else as happy as our dog has made us" (something better, clearly I haven't thought about this language). And then underneath have the picture of our dog with her thank you sign.
I think it'll be cute.... Hopefully our guests will too.
Whoops, sorry, think I posted this in the wrong thread, so I'm re-posting:
Please please please look into a local shelter! I have no qualms with the ASPCA, but having worked with FSIL & FBIL to further their cat rescue, I have to tell you that it is much easier for the big guys with their advertising budgets to get donations than the small places.
For example, FBIL & FSIL have taken in about 50 cats since May. They've adopted out maybe 20 since the economy is so terrible right now. They have spent 1,000s of dollars of their own money on vet bills, cat food, cat litter, vaccines, etc. Obviously it's their choice and they do it because they love it, but all their fundraising has come through small places - rummage sales and adoption events, mostly. It would make a huge difference to a rescue like theirs to receive even a $200 donation. Same with the horse rescue I board at... they do it because they love it, and they lose money on it. Both are 501c3s, but that only helps so much.
Either way, it's a great thing to do. But I know there are many small rescues and shelters that it could make a huge difference to.
And hey, just noticed you're in IL... so if you ever need a cat... ;)
I agree with other posters. I worked in a local animal shelter, and they don't necessarily get money from national groups (like the ASPCA or the HSUS). This is even true if the names are similar (e.g. "local-name SPCA" or "Humane Society of Your Local Area"). Despite the names often being similar, it isn't a system in which there is a whole network of groups all overseen by a national group of the same name. That isn't to say thatthe national groups are bad- a lot of their money goes into lobbying, which can be very useful. Its just that your local shelter probably needs the money for direct care of your local animals- and they might not get this money if you donate to the larger organization.
I would also reccomend a local shelter. I work in an SPCA and people always say "oh we dontate to ya'll all the time, the ASPCA is such a good orgainization" and I always have to explain that we don't get any money from the ASPCA. The ASPCA is a "national" organization but it is based in NY so the money mostly helps animals in NY. Funding and advertising for them HELPS our shelter indirectly, but the best way to support animals in your community is to go with a local shelter.
It costs my shelter $50 a month to care for 1 dog, with a shelter capacity of about 24 dogs (and 20 cats) it all adds up pretty quickly. So every little bit helps! Great idea for favors though!
We donated to the MSPCA (Massachusetts) in lieu of favors. Well, actually it was in addition to our favors, which were dog and cat shaped cookie cutters with a note attached and some jordon almonds. We also had "doggie favors"...we had a basket of dog treats with a picture of our three dogs. The sign said "Our Mommy and Daddy got married! Please bring treats home to our friends!" We happen to know a ton of people who have dogs, so this was a big hit! We had leftover candy from the candy buffet, but not a single leftover dog treat!
Okay, so I posted a comment in your other thread, but I'll add my other 2 cents here too. Like some of the other posters mentioned, your local humane societies and such are in more dyer need of donations than something as large as the ASPCA. not that they couldn't use donations like your local ones do, but my thinking is, is that they are so large and nation wide that they get tons of donations. Not to mention, because they have celebrities sponsoring them, I can't help think that some of the donations contribute to paying that out...not to mention all the advertisement tht they do. I think your local shops would get more bang out of your buck.
what a sweet idea!
i say go with a local shelter, im sure they could use the support!
We donated to the local shelter, and had business cards at every place setting with a picture of one of the adoptable animals from that shelter on one side and a message on the other saying we had donated to that shelter in their honor.
@WendyS328: Why thank you! Not everyone took theirs with them, so I kept them. I think they're so cute! They could totally be in that SPCA commercial with the Sarah McLaughlin song "...in the arms of the angels..." LOL.
We are going to do an animal rescue donation also, and this helps me to decide where to send it...thanks! I work for a small local nonprofit and definitely understand the difficulty of getting donations in such a small organization. Love the pictures of adoptable animals on the donation cards :)
MightySapphire - i love your idea of having the pictures at the wedding from the shelter. Even if you didn't get any guests to adopt, you at least got them thinking.
I say go local as do most on this thread. They need it more in these economic times. Whatever you do, don't go HSUS. They've apparently been lying about Haiti donations. See the article here:
I would go with the local shelter. I am a big supporter of the ASPCA, but I feel your money will go farther with the local charity. Even if you still only wanted to contribute $100 (what you were planning to spend on the favors), they could do a lot with that - food, beds, blankets, toys, etc.
We're doing the same kind of thing. Except we're giving the guests a choice as to where the money will go. One of the bees did this a while back, but I can't remember who. Anyway, each guest will get four pebbles or something and then there will be three jars in the room - each for a different charity. They can put their pebbles into which jar they would like their share of the contribution to go toward. All in one jar or split them up. We've selected a local animal shelter, the Firefighters Burned Children Fund (my fiance is a career FF and gives regularly) and a middle of the road one that we've yet to select - maybe the American Heart Association or Susan G. Komen or something of that nature.
@ Fanatic888:
That's terrible, but it doesn't surprise me. I think HSUS has been in trouble for similar things (like those mentioned in the article) before. They can be very misleading in their advertising. I used to work at a Humane Society and, like o0olibelulao0o experienced, everyone assumed that a donation to the HSUS helped us directly- but it didn't. They're a lobbying organization, and the vast majority of the money donated to them goes into lobbying (and a portion of lobbying is advertising your organization, which is also where a lot of their money goes). That doesn't mean that this lobbying is bad or unhelpful in all cases- its just that their advertisements can be very misleading to people who think the majority of their donation supports brick-and-mortar shelters with flesh-and-blood animals.
I really don't understand that article: how can anyone say that there are no animals to be saved in Haiti?! I know of a dozen smaller organizations that have been working around the clock to rescue and provide medical aid for animals displaced, homeless, and injured due to Haiti's earthquakes. Maybe the HSUS is misappropriating their funds (which wouldn't surprise me, they've been caught doing similarly shady things in the past), but for their report to say that there are no animals in need in Haiti is preposterous.
Also, I REALLY do not trust anything published by the "Consumer Freedom" group: they're just a bunch of uber-conservative whack jobs looking to debunk the validity of every social justice or liberal cause in existence. They themselves have been caught a million times manipulating statistics and misquoting sources.
Just wanted to make a quick point on this one - that article against the HSUS was created by a lobbying force of factory farmers, the cattle industry, puppy mill owners, etc...please beware of what you read. They are targeting mass media on purpose, in hopes that people will not look into this further. The HSUS has actually made progress, which is threatening to big business. If anyone wants to read the counter information, here you go http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/hsus-targeted-by-watchdog-group/. I'm not saying they're perfect, but don't get snowed by a political tactic.
I am starting to agree with the local shelter idea, especially when you are talking about a relatively small donation amount - your money will go farther.
I'd say the local shelter, but what I would seriously suggest is actually buying dog food and dropping it off (if your shelter allows this as not all of them do), because then it will go straight to the animals rather than for administrative costs and that sort of thing.
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Just a few minutes ago, I had a change of heart. I'd planned on having these cute little glass jars as favors.. filled with my "secret" gumbo spices with the recipe attached.. the meal that won my FH's heart :)
Then I began reading the in lieu of threads, thought about who will ACTUALLY make the gumbo, looked at our two sleeping dogs and decided I would rather that money go to something better. (Albeit, I was only going to spend about $100 on them).
I am a tiny bit heartbroken because I was pretty excited about the favors, but it's one less DIY project for me and maybe one more pet's life saved...
So, my question is should we donate to ASPCA or our local shelter?
I rescued my 5 y/o pit/lab from a shelter in a neighboring state 3.5 years ago. Our 6 month old baby golden retreiver/irish setter was free from a family friend.
Thank you all!