Blue River Pet Rescue released a new donation program, Ally, on May 15.
The new initiative allows people to sign up for recurring monthly donations. The minimum monthly amount to be a member will be $5, though people are able to give more if they want to.
Donations will be mainly online for the time being, though director Brogan Casey said he hopes to have a mail-in donations system set up in the near future for those who want to donate via check.
People can sign up for the program at any time and members can cancel at any time. Sign up online takes two to three minutes.
Being a member of Ally will come with perks, such as a monthly newsletter for the rescue. After six months of being a member, Allies will get the opportunity to choose a piece of Blue River Pet Rescue apparel. All members will get to choose an article, but members with higher donations will have more options.
“We want this [the Ally initiative] to be something that people can be proud of being a part of,” Casey said.
Though the initiative is called Ally, Casey wanted to emphasize that he and the others at the rescue still consider those in the community who don’t sign up as allies.
“We struggled with the name Ally because even the people who don’t sign up for this are still allies, like the volunteers that come every day,” Casey said.
Casey said the recurring donations will help lessen the unpredictability of budgeting for the rescue and help them plan ahead for needed supplies. It will also help them set funds aside for when whole litters of kittens are in need of shelter and care, for example.
Additionally, the program should, according to Casey, make giving to the rescue easier for community members who want to give their support.
“We’re proud of what we do here, I know other people in the city are proud of what we do and this is an additional way to support us,” Casey said. “We get a lot of questions about how to help us further and sometimes that means blankets, sometimes that means food but the reality is that we do have quite a bit of overhead here.”
The rescue currently has two dogs and three cats in its facility as well as three dogs and three cats in foster homes. However, Casey expects an influx of cats soon as stray kitten litters begin to be called in.
Those who want to sign up for the monthly donations can go to www.donorbox.org/blue-river-pet-rescue-ally. Otherwise, one time donations can be made online at www.blueriverpetrescue.org/ under the “How to help” tab.
