2023 Year End Report

It has been an incredible year for WWLDO. Thanks to YOUR support, we’ve had quite an impact!

• We launched a new website created through the generous donation of design work and support from IMGE.
• Made 31 shelter visits in seven states bringing supplies, support, and most importantly, hope and gratitude for their life-saving work.
• Shared the stories of the shelters we’ve visited and offered ideas and solutions regarding the crisis in U.S. shelters through 52 blog posts.
• Awarded $12,585 in Instagrants to six shelters in four states including, Karunda beds, new kennels, Spay/neuter funding, parvo treatment, and a Tiny Shelter building.
• Raised awareness for homeless dogs and the heroes who fight for them through 723 social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
• Nearly doubled the size of our free online Resource Guide with more listings of grants, fundraising, volunteers, fosters, community engagement, shelter practices, and education.
• Gave out over 200 handmade dog toys (made by volunteers!), 300 dog chews, and 150 peanut butter boards to dogs we met on our tours.
• Delivered $15,000 worth of supplies and food to our shelter partners. Everything was purchased with funds donated by YOU, plus items donated by Max & Neo, Pet Honesty, Earth Rated, Pampered Pet Boutique and Barkery, and the amazing supporters who shopped our Amazon Wishlist.

We are excited to go into next year with a fully loaded Instagrant budget thanks to the ASPCA’s doubling of our grant money from last year, the generous donation of $10K from an individual donor, and money raised through this year’s online auction.

In 2024 we will:

• Make 40 shelter visits, adding at least one new state and doing follow-up visits at 3-5 shelters
• Release the book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out, sharing all that we have learned from visiting over 115 shelters and rescues in twelve states in the last four years. We’ll speak to the challenges, issues, and solutions. We will also include a printed copy of our resource guide.
• Award $20,000 in Instagrants to deserving shelters and rescues in the form of concrete resources to help save lives.
• Continue to expand our network of partnerships with other organizations working to solve our shelter crisis.
• Add more ideas, programs, and resources to our online Resource Guide.

We’d like to send out a huge THANK YOU to our WWLDO team for all the time and effort you have given this mission.

In 2023, our WWLDO volunteers have:

• Tracked our shelter and rescue partners, sharing their ideas, issues, and celebrations.
• Offered grant counseling and assistance to organizations applying for grants.
• Documented ALL the ideas, programs, grants, resources, and fundraising tools gathered by our visits and our virtual volunteers in the Resource Guide.
• Interviewed and onboarded 28 new volunteers.
• Engaged and supported our volunteers with a monthly volunteer newsletter, Volunteer of the Month award, and ongoing virtual group and individual meetings.
• Researched organizations, government decision-makers, and businesses that can help individual shelters within their locality.
• Raised over $14,000 with our online auction, gathering donations, promoting the event, and following up with delivery of all the items.

We are ready for 2024 and the increasing challenge of overloaded and overwhelmed shelters. With your support, we will continue to raise awareness and resources for homeless dogs and the amazing heroes who fight for them. Thanks for being one of those heroes!