This animal rescue non-profit raised $21,000 with Facebook's Peer-to-Peer fundraising and video.

The Goal

Raising awareness of the organization and the animals it has available for adoption

Berkshire Humane Society is a community-supported, open-admissions shelter that serves Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Their marketing consultant, Mary McGurn, started using Animoto to help showcase dogs and cats available for adoption on the organization’s Facebook page. However, when the Berkshire Humane Society’s water heater broke in early February 2017, Mary and the Berkshire Humane Society staff had to find a way to raise the $21,000 needed to replace it.

The Solution

Fundraising with video

Mary helped the Berkshire Humane Society create a peer-to-peer campaign through Facebook, which helps verified non-profit organizations fundraise. Peer-to-peer fundraisers encourage supporters to not just donate, but to share content with friends, asking them to donate, too. Mary shared, "It makes sharing your favorite causes on social very easy and quick to do. It’s like sitting over coffee with friends and asking them to pitch in."

A previous peer-to-peer campaign had raised $5,000, but since Berkshire Humane Society needed much more than that to recoup the cost of their water heater, they asked Mary to make a video to amplify this new campaign. Mary developed a moving video focused on a dog named Eddie, and told the story of the organization’s disaster through his point of view.

Once the video was completed, Facebook took care of most of the fundraising details. With just a couple quick clicks or taps, supporters were able to donate on their mobile devices or desktop computers. Berkshire Humane Society then supported the peer-to-peer campaign by posting the video on their main Facebook page, as well as sharing the video in emails and on the shelter’s website.

The Results

Saving their shelter — and cats and dogs

Berkshire Humane Society was able to raise the full $21,000 they needed in just over 2 weeks following the launch of their on-page and peer-to-peer Facebook campaign. Not only that, but the shelter’s weekly videos highlighting individual animals up for adoption now average 3,100 views and 64 shares per video, with some videos getting shared more than 100 times. That attention has helped many cats and dogs find their forever homes, with the Berkshire Humane Society boasting 100% success in re-homing adoptable animals.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on storytelling
• Amplify fundraising efforts with video
• Leverage Facebook's tools for non-profits