I Hope You're Sitting Down!

We raised a LOT of money. I mean, squillions and squillions. We blew past our goal, and as it stands, we are at...

Wait, are you sitting down?  Because this number may just make your knees buckle beneath you.  Grab a chair, please!

Are you ready?  Here. We. GO.





That's right, $87,000. Actually, a hair over that. The official total is $87,062.25 !!!!!!


Here's the breakdown: 
Online donations (Firstgiving)  = $78,550
Online auctions = $3,123.25
Paypal donations = $139
Poster sales, crafting for kittens, offline donations, etc = $3,660 (and there are still posters left, so that number will grow).
Fundraising teammates brought in $1,590 (Sarah raised $550 and Shana raised $1,040)

Can you believe it? I've totaled these numbers a squillion times, and I still kind of can't believe it myself.

Our number of donations was up these year, as well as the donation average. We had 1069 donations total, averaging $73.47 per donation. Last year, we had 926 donations averaging $59.65.

As you know, along the way, we had several days of donations devoted to some of our favorite programs at the shelter. You all gave passionately on those days, and here's what we raised for each program.

Senior Cats $8,200
Foster Program $6650
Spay and Neuter Program $6300
Kitty Meals-on-Wheels $6600

You're probably curious to the total amount Dog-A-Thon brought in, but they're still crunching those numbers over at the Humane Society, and checks are still coming in. As soon as that figure is available, we'll share that with you.

Now here's what's really incredible. In the four years we've been raising funds do you know how much this community has raised?
Year 1 = $23,000
Year 2 = $48,000
Year 3 = $66,000
Year 4 = $87,000
For  a grand total of $224,000 for the cats and kittens at the Humane Society!

Mind blowing, isn't it?

I hope you know how amazing you are. This community is truly something special - unlike anything I've seen on this whole world wide web. You are kind, generous, compassionate, kitty-loving people, and I feel so honored to be surrounded by all of you. We worked together and brought in a staggering amount of money for our shelter. This glorious sum will help so many cats and kittens.

Thank you SO MUCH for giving SO MUCH!!!

Thank you for staying tuned through this very long 33 days. I know you must of grown tired of all the asking, and all the pleas. You all were troopers. You stuck around and helped us meet every single match before us, and helped us reach that tremendous goal (and then some).

Thanks for the encouraging words. Thanks for cheering. Thanks for the smiley-face emoticons and woot-woots.   Thanks for the happy tears. Thanks for the sweet comments and nice notes you sent.

Thank you too for spreading the word far and wide. I saw many of our tweets re-tweeted and our Facebook posts shared. Many of you wrote some very nice blog posts about our cause too. This helped bring lots of new friends to our community, and brought in many donations too.

How much you gave, and the many ways you gave,  touches me deeply. Thank you, every single one of you.

There are few folks I wanted to give a special shout-out to....

Craig - Oh, dear Craig thanks for tolerating all this madness for yet another year. Thank you for being patient, and easy, and never complaining while everything else got pushed to the back-burner.

Sarah and Shana - Thank you for working hard to bring in a nice chunk of change for our team! Thanks too for all the hours and dedication you give to the shelter each year.

Sarah, Shana, Craig, Jim, Cora, Monica, Blixa  and Ninja Bob - Thanks so much for walking the walk with us and carrying dorky signs!

Opal, Lola, Ellis, Marley - A big thanks to the wee ones with the big hearts who gave so much and inspired so many others to give!

Marguerite - Thanks for always being right there when I had questions in need of answering!

Anne Boleyn - Thank you for the fabulous tiaras. We cherish these thoughtful gifts, and cherish you, my friend.

Sonja and Craig at Proctor Frozen Yogurt - Thanks so much for hosting our Crafting for Kittens event! And thanks in advance for donating a percentage of your July sales to the shelter as part of your Local Love program!

To all our match-makers - Thanks so much for offering up all those wonderful matching donation challenges  and inspiring so many others to give!

 To all our auction winners - Thanks for all the generous winning bids!

Awesome Anonymous donor - "Awesome" is understatement. Multiply that times a squillion, and we're still not quite there. You are incredible.

Cynthia - Oh, Cynthia. What would we do without you?  You are such a valuable member of our community. Not just because of the squillions you give, but because of ALL the many ways you contribute Your comments, your fabulous poems, your humor, your inspiration - this all means so much to us. I appreciate all the encouraging texts and emails you sent me along the way and all the offers to give more if need be. We're so lucky to have you in our lives. So are the cats and kittens at the shelter. You're a special one, and you mean the world to us.

Thank you once again, everyone, for making this such an incredible year. You made my heart S0 happy, and when I think of all the homeless cats and kittens we're going to help, my heart is happier yet.

 Thank for caring so much. I hope your hearts are happy too.

 xoxoxo