I Need Your Help

January 5, 2012

DFW No Kill 2012 Workshop logoAs you may know, Pawsitively Texas is hosting a No Kill Workshop in Dallas/Ft Worth for all that want to learn more about saving the lives of shelter pets. On March 10, 2012, we’ll meet at the Addison Conference Centre in Addison, Texas. We have a stellar speaker line-up including national no kill advocate, Nathan Winograd, and leaders from each of the four Texas no kill communities. These are people that have successfully worked in the trenches of rescue and shelters big and small, metro and rural, and some with little budget and still achieved no kill success. And when I asked them if they would speak to us, to inspire us and show us how they did it, without hesitation, they each said “Yes!”

How lucky are we?!

I’ve always believed one person can make a difference. And when a lot of people come together, we can change our world. I started Pawsitively Texas as one person with no budget. But you joined me in my vision and together, we’re really making a difference for our communities and the shelter pets. The idea for the no kill workshop seemed the obvious next step. We all want change, we want to see the needless killing stopped, and now with this no kill workshop we have the amazing opportunity to learn how we can save more lives. This is a very exciting time for us!

But I need help!

The workshop comes at a cost. Typically, the price of admission for any event is designed to cover the expenses. But, times are very tough for some people, and many shelters do not have the budget to send their employees. I do not want admission cost to be a prohibitive factor in keeping anyone that loves pets and wants to save more lives from attending. But we also have to cover the workshop expenses. I would love to keep the admission price under $30. But I need your help to do so. We have a lot of people that believe in what we’re doing here at Pawsitively Texas and want to see less killing – and it is my hope, my prayer, that you will help underwrite this workshop. So that everyone who wants to attend, can afford to do so.

The costs for the conference include: facility rental, A/V, speakers’ travel, lodging, and meals (they are speaking to us for FREE – we only cover their costs to do so). We are producing a very helpful manual and that too comes at a cost. We have a few other incidentals that add to our costs. The budget for the conference center/AV and speakers is approximately $7,000. The manual costs will be based on attendance numbers, so it will be included in the admission price to keep budgeting simple. I say “approximately $7,000” because I will reimburse speakers and actual travel costs will be based on day they purchase, so that is currently an unknown exact figure.

I’ve never asked for financial help before; I have self-funded Pawsitively Texas since I first launched it. When people have asked to donate, I have directed them to find a Rescue or Shelter in their community to support. I could definitely use the funds to do more with Pawsitively Texas (I have a lot of projects on the backburner), but believe the local communities need the money too. My request now is not for funds to go directly to Pawsitively Texas for my projects, but to solely help underwrite the expenses for this workshop. For decades, we’ve seen tens of thousands of precious pets killed annually in our tax-payer funded shelters in North Texas (millions in the USA). That is wrong. It is just a barbaric way of handling animal control that breaks our heart and keeps us awake at night. It’s antiquated as there are proven measures to turn our communities into no kill. I so believe that this workshop will be a catalyst in helping more communities reduce their kill rate!

Will you help?

Pawsitively Texas is not a 501(c) 3 … but I will be very transparent in how much money is raised and how it is spent for the no kill workshop. I’ll post here on the blog and updates on the PawsTexas Facebook page. Also, I will not be able to give you a tax-deductible receipt. But, if you believe in paying it forward, karma, or that God blesses a sacrificial heart, than the tax-deductible receipt may not matter as much.

There are two ways to financially support this no kill workshop as an underwriter:
• Individual contributions
• Sponsors

If you would like to make a donation, you can do so through the Chipin account we set up for this purpose; click here to contribute (update: no longer accepting donations).

If you are a business and would like to sponsor, you can use the form to submit your commitment; click here: ((update: no longer accepting donations).)  Upon receipt of your email submitted through that form, I’ll send you a Paypal link to submit your funds. Sponsors will receive several benefits including:

• a table at the conference (expo area) to display your products or literature and meet with attendees during workshop breaks
• receive 1 ticket to the workshop
• listing on our Facebook Page (we reach more than 31,000 with approximately 10,000 in the DFW area)
• listing in the conference manual (your business name, address, phone, website, and Facebook page)
• listing on our website (link juice, which search engines like for page rank )

I am a social media marketing pro with more than 15 years experience, so your financial support for our workshop includes an experienced pro marketer telling a passionate pet community of consumers about your product or services. I very much appreciate the sponsors and will shout your support from the mountain tops.

Individual contributors will be listed on our website so that everyone can see how this conference is supported by many. You will still need to purchase a workshop ticket if you plan to attend; we know funds are limited for some people, but others have been blessed financially and are able to pay more. This allows those with the ability to pay more to help make this an event that everyone can attend, regardless of financial status. There are probably other ways to do this, but we’re a small team organizing the workshop and are working to keep our overhead very low to keep attendance price low. I hope you understand.

You can also help by sharing my request and asking other animal advocates and lovers to help us save lives.

THE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT

I often say, “it takes a village” … and that is true. This is a way we can come together collectively and make an investment in our communities. By each contributing a little, we gain A LOT for the pets! This one time financial contribution will have a tremendous ripple impact … not just in one community, but in each community of all that attend. For every dollar you contribute, you will be impacting communities all across Texas. And it will not be a temporary or one-time impact, your contribution will have long-term impact on our communities as we return home from the workshop armed with knowledge, ignited passion, and a blueprint to make changes that will save lives not only in 2012, but all the years to follow. Finally, we will contribute and lead our communities to become no kill. Even if you do not live in the Texas area, I hope you will support us in our vision to save more lives here by telling others and/or making a financial contributions to help underwrite workshop expenses.

LINKS

Here are the links again: to make an individual contribution, click here for the Chipin link: (update: no longer accepting donations).
And here is the link to sign on to be an Official Sponsor: http://pawsitivelytexas.com/dallas-ft-worth-no-kill-workshop-save-the-date/no-kill-workshop-sponsors
Click here to see details about the DFW No Kill Workshop – it’s going to be amazing!
List of our Contributors and Sponsors: http://pawsitivelytexas.com/dallas-ft-worth-no-kill-workshop-save-the-date/no-kill-workshop-contributors-sponsors

And lastly, this is me. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes person and don’t like to draw attention to myself – because it’s about the pets in need, but since most of you only know me as “Pawsitively Texas”, “Paws”, “PawsTexas” or “Alva” I thought you might like to see the girl behind Pawsitively Texas. Dave calls me a Dreamer. I do believe in dreaming big and hope that you do too. Dreams followed by action can lead to life-saving accomplishments. Join me! And together, we’ll help revolutionize our communities to becoming no kill because the pets deserve it so. I just need your help to make the workshop affordable for all that wish to attend. Please Give! Share! And make plans to attend the March 10, 2012 DFW No Kill Workshop! Thank you!

alva founder of pawsitively texas

And this is my Rescue Family …

Cute Dogs photo: Tiko, Gracie, and Mckenzie

Tiko, Gracie Rae, and Bella Mckenzie

Cute dog photo

Auggie Doggy (black lab/beagle mix) and Mishi Noelle (Doxie-Chi mix)

Subscribe Now: Be sure and subscribe to follow the Pack and never miss an informative Pawsitively Texas blog post! Add your email address, then click the Subscribe Now link. Look for the yellow/orange icon in the upper right column. No worries, we’ll never spam you, you’ll only receive an email notifying you of new blog posts on Pawsitively Texas.

Comments

  1. Hello,

    My name is J. Lynn Petty Jr. I am a counselor. I would be interested in helping you out in your endeavor. My wife and I rescue dogs and are avid animal lovers. Can you tell me how much it would cost to advertise my website?

    Warm Regards,

    J. Lynn Petty Jr. MS, LPC-Intern, NCC

  2. I will do what I can for donations and will be your cheerleader for this mission. I love being a part of youe network and I hope 2012 will be a record in saving these babies lives. I appreciate you and what you do.

    • Brenda, thank you so much! If we all work together, we can offer a very low-cost workshop to a sell-out capacity. I’m very hopeful! Thank you for your support! ~alva

  3. I had no idea who was behind the Pawsitively Texas posts on fb! I just remember thinking what a great idea, & what a merciful a person you must be. Thank you for introducing yourself to us!

    I plan to attend the conference; I’m just a person who has rescued a few animals over the years, finding homes for some & keeping others until they passed away. At the moment I have 2 rescued cats & 4 rescued dogs. Currently I spend time online praying over the pictures & stories of needy animals, & following their progress.

    My business is a tiny, brand new etsy.com shop. I am in the process of planning new things to add, like jewelry & notecards, but at this time I have business-card sized magnets with Bible verses on them. One is, “Good people are good to their animals” from Proverbs 12.10. Maybe you would like to use this graphic in your materials? (or maybe it’s too overtly Christian for some folks). It can be seen on the etsy site, or I can send it to you.

    Also, I have often wondered how we could get the hispanic community involved in learning more about responsible pet ownership. It seems like parts of Oak Cliff & Ledbetter (traditionally hispanic neighborhoods) are some of the worst for stray dogs. I’m a semi-retired, SMU-educated bilingual teacher who could translate materials & possibly assist in some educational efforts in this area. I know you have your hands full, but in order to involve all of Dallas in the no-kill effort, at some point I think we need to give some thought to addressing this concern. I mention this in case you have also thought about creating a strategy for this aspect of the stray dog problem in the city.

    I know you are mainly concerned with raising funds at this point, do you know yet how much a sponsorship would cost? I will watch your posts for more info.

    Your need for funding is now on my prayer list & I wish you nothing but enormous success for the no-kill workshop. I have been praying for an army of rescuers, fosters, & adopters for many months now to be available to help in this cause.

    • Hi Eileen, thank you so much for your kind words, encouragement, and prayers. I like your ideas; I share them for the strays and reaching all of the community.
      Here is the link for the Sponsorships: http://pawsitivelytexas.com/dallas-ft-worth-no-kill-workshop-save-the-date/no-kill-workshop-sponsors/ If you have other ideas, let me know. I’m a marketer at heart with a passion for the paws. I want to help small businesses and I want to save the lives of pets! I’m also a Christian and have been recently studying Bible verses dealing with animals. Let’s stay in contact about the bilingual projects. The next few weeks will be busy getting ready for the No Kill Workshop, after that, I would love brainstorm and see how we might be able to work together on some of these projects.

      • Hi, Alva,
        Thank you for your kind reply!
        Yes, I know you must have your hands full at this time, I will pray for you from every angle–finances, help, volunteers, &c.
        If you send an address or PO Box to my email, I will send you a Proverbs 12.10 magnet for your fridge (or file cabinet, or whatever). –or several, however many you might like. You know, every time I read about poor Balaam’s donkey, I think, “People never have taken the time to try & understand their animals!”
        Anyway, yes let’s do keep in touch. Nice to know we are on the same page, & I can’t wait to see what we might be able to accomplish!

  4. Am currently disabled living on very tight budget but would be willing to do whatever I could from my home–phone calls, emails, etc. to help out. Would love to come to seminar but can not sit upright like that for very long. I have three rescued jack russell terriers. Before I became disabled my life dream was to start jrt rescue. I have over twenty years working in the MHMR field so I am also good working w/people.

    • Thank you Lynn! Sharing the blog post that explains the need and has links to the ways to contribute is very key and I greatly appreciate you sharing for us. If there is a special need you have that would still allow you to attend the workshop, and we can find a way to accommodate you, I’d be very happy to try. Just let me know. Alva

  5. I AM WANTING TO GET A RESCUE GOING THIS YEAR IF I CAN GET TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO HELP ME. PLEASE IF YOU COULD DO A DVD OF THE WORKSHOP PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN PURCHASE IT. I AM VERY INTERESTED IN LEARNING THIS ALSO

    THANK YOU
    REBECCA

    • Hi Rebecca, we’d like to record the event, but I do not yet believe we’ll be able to do so. We do plan to make the manual available after the conference and it will have a lot of helpful information. Good luck on your rescue project.

  6. As a family with 6 rescued members who have fostered several others, and who promote the cause on Facebook we are looking forward to this workshop. I have started looking for sponsors for the event in an effort to do my part to helpl. Have you applied for the PetSmart Charities Conference Sponsorship Grants at http://www.petsmartcharities.org/grants/types/conference-sponsorship-grants.html. I will be looking for other possible sponsors for this event. Thank You for all you are doing.

    • Hi Randy, thank you so much! Since Pawsitively Texas is not a 501(c)3, I don’t think we would qualify for a grant. I am very excited about this workshop and all the encouraging support that we are receiving. I know the timing is rough given we’re seeking underwriters in January after the holidays and year-end given, but I really believe things will come together because so many believe in saving the lives of more pets! Hopeful! Thank you for telling others about the workshop and your support of Pawsitively Texas!

  7. Alva,

    Great to see a face to whom is behind all this wonderful work that is done to save and rescue as many animals as possible.

    As an animal lover and advocate to no kill shelters, I am proud to be joining along side of you and many others to attend this amazing event. I am an Event Planner and am interested in opening a rescue shelter myself one day. Aplace where animals can go in between getting adopted as to saving them from getting killed.

    I live in Canada , but will be in Texas during the time of the event and have purchased a ticket to attend. I am also interested in seeing if we can fundraise some extra money to help out. Please contact me at my email listed above so we can put something together in the near future. See you on the 10th.
    Fran from Canada

Leave a Reply to J. Lynn Petty