San Antonio Pets Alive! expands donor reach with The Giving Hub
Overview
Providing a safety net for vulnerable local pets
San Antonio Pets Alive! (SAPA!) is a high-volume animal rescue focused on saving pets in the Alamo City and its surrounding areas. Operating as a no-kill shelter, the organization serves as a critical safety net for the region’s most vulnerable pets by rescuing dogs and cats that are at risk of euthanasia.
SAPA! rescues animals from the euthanasia list from Animal Care Services (ACS) and brings them into its own shelter locations. Once the pets have safely arrived, SAPA!’s dedicated team ensures each animal receives spaying or neutering services if needed, as well as preventative medications and/or vaccinations. The staff also treats common diseases that often require quarantining, such as canine parvovirus and feline panleukopenia.
The organization also operates an independent transport program. Rescued animals are commonly transported to New Jersey, New York, or Canada by plane when partner shelters make requests for certain pets. The program also sees animals driven to partner shelters in California and Chicago when requests are made from their partners in those areas. Because of this coordinated effort, pets usually have an adopter or foster lined up and ready to take them home upon their arrival.
Customer profile
Product: Bonterra GiveGab
Sector: Nonprofits
Vertical: Animal-related
The challenge
San Antonio Pets Alive! faced a stagnant fundraising model restricted by limited donation options and a lack of donor tracking capabilities.
Historically, the rescue relied heavily on traditional donation routes to fund its mission, such as mailed checks or cash, in-person cash or in-kind donations collected at shelters or events, and donations through their online portal. These methods provided donors with some flexibility, but the overall approach limited the organization in terms of who they could reach. The SAPA! team wasn’t able to specifically target new audiences.
Retargeting also proved difficult. If a community member dropped off a gift or had an in-kind donation delivered to the shelter, the SAPA! team had no way to track down the donor and recognize their contribution through a follow-up communication.
“If someone donated an item and either had it delivered or just dropped it off themselves, there was no way for us to track who it came from, what their address was, or what their contact information might have been,” said Marlene Perez, Development Director at San Antonio Pets Alive!
To overcome these roadblocks and achieve their strategic goals, San Antonio Pets Alive! required an innovative system that offered expanded donation options, complete with donor tracking capabilities.
The solution
To amplify their fundraising efforts, SAPA! leveraged The Giving Hub for its Giving Tuesday campaign.
The platform, which was jointly powered by Bonterra GiveGab, Amazon Business, and AWS Nonprofits, enabled the SAPA! team to welcome both cash and in-kind gifts from Amazon Business supporters. This inherently expanded the organization’s pool of potential donors.
The team uploaded their wishlist directly to The Giving Hub, which consisted of items they would need to support animals throughout the year. This was especially useful in securing items for neonatal kittens ahead of kitten season (the March through November period when cats typically give birth, flooding shelters with stray and abandoned litters).
Donors were presented with multiple giving options through The Giving Hub. In addition to cash donations, donors had the option to purchase in-kind gifts (non-cash contributions of goods, services, or property) right from SAPA!’s wishlist. Amazon gift cards or points were also accepted as viable payment methods, empowering a broader audience to make a direct impact by donating pet treats, puppy pads, blankets, and other essentials to the shelter.
It provided donors with ease of access. Amazon’s brand is so commonly recognized for its convenience. Beforehand, if they didn’t have the extra money to be able to make a donation, they just didn’t. This time around, if they have an Amazon credit, they are able to donate and make a direct impact on our organization.”
The implementation of The Giving Hub significantly enhanced the SAPA! team’s donor retargeting ability as well. Each Amazon purchase automatically generated a receipt containing valuable donor contact information, equipping the team with actionable data for timely follow-up and relationship building. Staff members can now add these donors to their existing database, enabling them to track their future donation activity.
Customer outcomes
San Antonio Pets Alive!’s Giving Tuesday campaign resulted in a major success, in large part due to The Giving Hub. This campaign marked the first time the organization separated its Giving Tuesday initiative from its end-of-year campaign, and the team saw clear, measurable gains in doing so.
Out of a total of seventy donors, 22 were first-time supporters. 67 of the donors contributed cash gifts while three provided in-kind donations, generating a total of $9,121 in donations. Contributions from the campaign went towards SAPA!’s medical program, covering costs for preventative medication, vaccines, and assisting pets with broken bones and other injuries.
SAPA! used multiple CRMs to launch online donation forms, and partnered with Bonterra and Amazon Business to integrate said forms into The Giving Hub. Within 30 minutes, the integrations were complete, allowing Marlene and her team to partner with their marketing team to support email, social media, and end-of-year event planning projects.
In the past, SAPA!’s team members were tasked with reaching out to their partner shelters to track down receipts and donor information for follow-up purposes. Now, with all of the donor information logged in their Amazon Business account, retargeting donors with newsletters and event promotions has never been easier.
If an organization hasn’t signed up or considered The Giving Hub, I’d recommend that they do so. It was very beneficial to our organization and opened up another avenue for donors to be able to contribute. I definitely recommend using the Giving Hub for your next campaign.”
