Buy the 2024 Chico Pets Calendar HERE.
In 2023, I partnered with the Chico Animal Shelter to launch the city’s first annual Pet Calendar Fundraiser.
Not only was this a first for the city, but for me as well! I’ve never organized or ran any kind of fundraiser in my life, so to say this was “out of my comfort zone” is more than an understatement. Despite my initial reservations, I jumped-in and now looking back I couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out.
It was a total success!
We raised over 11k for the Chico Animal Shelter, all going towards their medical fund to help the animals in our community that really need it the most. Once the fundraiser kicked-off with the Chico Pets Calendar Photo Contest, I was immediately amazed by the reception from pet owners from all around the Chico area. People were participating and the donations were flowing in!
Part of the fundraiser’s success, and what was most surprising to me, was all the local media attention it got! Michael Weber at the Chico Enterprise-Record published an article helping to get the word out about the fundraiser when it first launched. As the Photo Contest wrapped up, we were also lucky to get featured by ABC7 KRCR, and Action News Now ran our story THREE times on tv!
Click HERE to read the ER’s article, HERE to check out the ABC story, and HERE to view one of the TV snippets from Action News Now
The Chico Pets Calendar Photo Contest alone raised $10,861, blowing away my initial goal of $2,000. The participants were having fun entering photos of their pets to win prizes from local businesses and artists. They even got pretty competitive as they got their friends and family to vote for their favorite pets. People really wanted to see their pets featured in the calendar!
To check out the full results and entries from the Photo Contest, click HERE to jump over to the contest webpage.
And while you’re on the contest webpage, I highly recommend checking out some of the pets and reading their bios! Learning about all the pets’ backstories was definitely one of my favorite parts of this whole experience. I’d even dare you to read through some of those backstories without shedding any tears! Here’s a couple of my favorite entries from the Photo Contest:
When it was all said and done, the top 13 pets won a professional photoshoot and a featured spot in the calendar. Which brings us to the second part of the fundraiser, the actual calendar! As of January, sales from the first Chico Pets Calendar have brought in another $943.
You can still view and purchase the 2024 Chico Pets Calendar by clicking HERE.
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to all the sponsors who helped make this fundraiser such a success! I honestly could not have made this all happen without the wonderful support from Sitter For Your Critters, The Canine Connection, Trailblazer Pet Supply, Ciara Barsotti, MisterMissy Designs, and Chico Dog Barkey!
Also, special thanks to “Friends of the Chico Animal Shelter” and the amazing staff at the Chico Animal Shelter for being such great partners throughout the fundraiser!
I’m very much looking forward to doing this all again when the 2025 Chico Pets Calendar Photo Contest kicks-off later this year, so stay tuned!
