Angela Speed, the Vice President of Communications at the Wisconsin Humane Society told Bored Panda that the inspiration for this unique fundraiser came from a similar campaign done by an animal shelter group in Baltimore, BARCS. "We reached out to them about borrowing their idea, and also to learn more about how they made their campaign successful; we really appreciated their support and guidance!" Speed said.
Eventually, the flood of requests for these funny drawings got so big, the organization couldn't keep up with them anymore. So, it stopped accepting new submissions just one day in. But that's a good thing. "You all are truly incredible and surpassed our wildest expectations," The Wisconsin Humane Society wrote. "Our artists are working tirelessly to get the masterpieces of your adorable pets back to you as soon as possible, though it may take a few days at this point. Thank you all so much for your outpouring of support for the animals!"
"The volunteers who wielded crayons and colored pencils have been working tirelessly to get them finished. We had to close the campaign about 36 hours after we launched it, as we were so flooded with pet pics."
In total, the Wisconsin Humane Society raised about $12,000, which is truly fantastic. In addition, the campaign reached thousands of animal lovers, and engaged people with WHS in a unique and fun way. "February in Wisconsin can be a dreary month to get through, and we hope it brought a little bit of unexpected joy with our bad drawings into the hearts of our supporters."
