This year, the Community Cats Podcast team celebrated Global Cat Day (or National Feral Cat Day) by hosting back-to-back events filled with useful takeaways, tidbits, and fun: Online Fundraising Day (October 16) and Online Diversity Day (October 17).

I will be honest–I was a bit nervous going into the weekend. When I began hosting virtual events in 2018 with the first Online Cat Conference, it was unique–not many organizations offered an online format. But as we all know, the last year or two has changed the virtual landscape. There have been so many online events, I was worried folks may be tired of computer screens and the online format. However, to my delight, we had a great audience both days. We enjoyed some wonderful presentations, interactive Q& A, and everyone’s favorite–cat trivia!

On Saturday, we hosted Online Fundraising Day. The timing of our fundraising focus is no accident–all organizations (small and large) need donations to survive, and the last three months of the year can represent over 50% of donations given during the whole year! We spent the morning focused on successful year-end fundraising tips and strategies. Natalie Corwin from Get Fully Funded and Bonney Brown and Diane Blankenburg of Humane Network both stressed how important it is to communicate stories of your good work through your fundraising appeals.

It is also important to know–if you don’t ask, you don’t get! Natalie really hit the ball out of the park sharing her Core Number thesis as well as her 1-10-1000 rule. It really made raising money something every organization can do.

During the afternoon Brianna Lovell Myers, from Breezy Consulting and Community Cats Podcast, talked about the role of data in storytelling and how to use Google Data Studio. Here is the Community Cats Podcast dashboard link as an example of the power of what can be done!

I then had the chance to share some of my thoughts around How to Turn Your Passion for Cats into Action with Fundraising. It was fun to be on the presenter’s side for a bit–and boy, is it hard! But over the past year, I have put together some thoughts around fundraising and diversity and I really wanted to share my ideas.

On Sunday we hosted Online Diversity Day. I want to thank TrapKing, Sterling Davis, for being with us most of the day and being willing to have open and honest conversations about his experience. We talked about how we should all focus on working together no matter what our organizational makeup–we are all on the #sameteam. The focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) led to discussions around how many organizations are run by a few people (usually middle-aged white women). Add to that challenge, many boards are now having a hard time finding new board members and volunteers. While we may have a shortage of employees, we have a shortage of board members, too.

Our discussion of diversity then turned to a type of cat that is often overlooked and receives limited assistance–cats with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (or as they are more commonly known CH kitties). We had a great conversation with Suzi Langer of President Bifford on her experience helping CH kitties who are overlooked more than even our Feline Leukemia (FeLV) kitties for whom we advocate so often.

We had another fantastic presentation from Noah and Jason from Inspire Unity. It was actually Noah’s Feline Leukemia-positive kitty who inspired him to help others.

Lastly, we had a pretty intense conversation with Mary Tan of Whisker Media and Sterling Davis of TrapKing talking about how to handle the press with tough conversations.

If you missed either of these events, it is not too late! You can visit this link here to purchase access to our Online Fundraising Day recordings, and this link here to purchase access to our Online Diversity Day recordings.

Never miss an event when you have the all-inclusive Community Cats Pass! Receive access to both live events and recordings when you purchase the 2022 Community Cats Pass. That’s registration to all our events, from the Online Cat Conference, to Online Behavior Day, to Online Fundraising Day! That’s 9 events (and a $285 value) available now for just $250. Learn more and purchase your 2022 Community Cats Pass here.

I want to extend my thanks to Humane Network for sponsoring Online Fundraising Day and Online Diversity Day, and to Vetz Petz and the Tompkins Foundation for Feline Advocacy for sponsoring Online Fundraising Day.

All in all the weekend was energizing and exciting. We had some fantastic thought-provoking conversations that I hope can help you continue to turn your passion for cats into action.