Why Do People Sponsor An Animal?
By Jason Hulott, Fri Dec 9th

Many people now prefer to sponsor an animal in addition to - orrather than - having their own pet. And this is good news!Sponsoring an animal has many benefits - both to the person whois taking out the sponsorship and the organisation - and theanimal - being sponsored.

So how does it work? Basically, sponsorships of an animal,whether it be a lion or orang-utan, a donkey, rabbit or a rodenttend to be run by animal welfare organisations such as charitiesand other non-profit concerns.

Benefits for the sponsor

People tend to take out a sponsorship for one of three reasons:

1.As a gift for someone for Christmas or their birthday

2. Where a person would really love a pet but does not have thespace or the time for them

3. Where they want to help animal charities or a cause (such assaving endangered species)

Of course, there will be the 'feel-good' factor thrown in ontop of this well, giving people the satisfaction that they areactually making a difference to the lives of animals, whether itbe an endangered species or a rescued domestic pet.

With most sponsorships, you will receive a certificate to showthat you have sponsored the animal and normally a glossy photo.Some organisations will send you a newsletter to update you onyour sponsored animal or maybe a small gift - these tend to varyfrom sponsorship to sponsorship.

Some places - such as wildlife parks - allow you to sponsor ananimal and will then put a plaque on the cage with your name onit.

The cost of a sponsorship will vary too, from a small minimumdonation to a set fee.

Benefits for

the organisation/charity

For the organisation, running a sponsorship programme hasimmense benefits. It can help build a rapport with the generalpublic as well as getting the message of the cause across.

Once a sponsorship programme is set up and all the hard work isdone in arranging the photographs and certificates (or whatevertheir particular sponsorship features), a sponsorship programmeis easy to run and manage. It also leaves the door open forfurther contact in the future.

Of course the main reason why sponsorship programmes are run isto bring in money to help pay for costs - but rather than askingpeople for a one-off donation where the person feels that theyhave paid out money but not got anything back, a nicesponsorship package adds value.

This means people are more likely to come back again and takeout another sponsorship or buy an additional one for a friend orloved one.

It may not bring in big bucks for the organisation concerned,but the combined factors of having that ongoing almost personalcommunication with the sponsor (for example, in the form of aquarterly update) means that they are more likely to stay loyalto your concern and give further support in the future.

Overall, sponsorship of an animal is a win-win situation foreveryone concerned - to least the small furry or the big lionwho is being sponsored!

About the author:Jason Hulott is co-founder of CavyRescue (registered charitynumber 1111583) which is the UK's first and only dedicated < ahref="http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk">rat rescue charity. Setup in 1999, the aim of the is to educate individuals andorganisations on small animal healthcare and welfare and theyregularly run successful campaigns to this effect.