The world has changed a lot, in many ways, in the past few years. But one thing that’s stayed the same is Wags and Walks’ partnership with Funraise. Since 2017, Wags and Walks has relied on Funraise to help them save thousands of dogs from being euthanized at overcrowded shelters. Over the years, they’ve raised nearly $6 million (!) with Funraise’s single-solution software, increasing online revenue each year they’ve worked with us. Can we get a “woof woof” up in here?

So, how did Funraise help Wags and Walks achieve these eye-popping, face-licking results? By investing in visionary technology that has grown with their organization throughout the years.

From pipe dreams to big things

When Chloe Esperiquette joined Wags and Walks as their marketing and development manager in 2017, she saw a nonprofit with big dreams but limited resources. They were just opening their first physical shelter in LA, so, one of her first must-dos was investing in fundraising software to streamline processes, increase engagement, and drive donations. With Funraise, they gained access to new technologies and new revenue streams, and in 2019, they opened a second shelter in Nashville.

“My goal is to create conditions for people to get involved and give, and the tools at Funraise allow for that,” she explains. “We can increase our impact and spread our messaging far and wide.”

Today, they’ve saved over 13,000 pups total, and in 2022 alone, they saved nearly 2,000. Even better, they repeated the feat in 2023, again saving close to 2,000 dogs.

A partnership with a vision

Wags and Walks has stuck with Funraise through the years because Funraise never stops innovating. As Funraise has released new features with an eye toward growth, Wags and Walks has taken full advantage. Here are a few of Chloe’s favorite Funraise tools:

• Reporting and Fundraising Intelligence: “That’s huge for us. Being able to tap in and see those insights is incredibly useful when planning campaigns and setting goals for the long term. Having these tools available allows us to understand our community more and better serve them.”
• Fundraising Campaign Site Templates: “Funraise has wonderfully-designed campaign sites and templates. Most of us don’t have a background in marketing, so those clean and already-designed templates are super helpful for all of us and allow us to create simple or complex campaigns.”
• Recurring Giving: “Recurring gifts is a big one for us. During the pandemic, we had to pivot because we relied heavily on event revenue, and didn’t know what to do. So, we ran a campaign around recurring gifts using the subscription tool. That’s allowed us to [almost quadruple] revenue there.”*
• Integrations: “We’re building out a Salesforce world that will connect dog information with adopter information with volunteer information. Being able to integrate Funraise with that has been really exciting. Being able to funnel information from Funraise to, really, anywhere, has given us a lot of confidence.”

“Now that we’re at this point … we seem very together, like we’re a big organization, when really we're a very small team. Our development team is two people,” laughs Chloe. “But people think we’re very well staffed, and a lot of that is thanks to Funraise because we’ve been able to brand ourselves, create a consistent voice and mission, and present it very well to our community.”

*You read that right. More on those amazing numbers shortly!

More money raised = more lives saved

So, all told, here’s what the Wags and Walks💙Funraise partnership looks like by the numbers:

• Wags and Walks raised $5.8M online with Funraise through 2022
• Wags and Walks raised over $1.5M online in 2022
• Wags and Walks increased their annual online revenue by 110% between 2019 and mid-2023—that’s more than double the online revenue!
• Wags and Walks raises over $8K in recurring revenue each month
• Wags and Walks increased annual online recurring revenue by 389% between 2019 and 2023 (or nearly quadrupled their recurring revenue)

Whew! Let’s take a second to breathe.

We love playing such an integral role in Wags and Walks’ journey, and we can’t wait to see what they do next. In conclusion, says Chloe, “I really appreciate all the wonderful things Funraise has done over the years to help us be as successful as we have been.” Awww! Now, we’re off to pet some dogs.