I just want to save puppies, and I know you feel the same.

In our 6 years, we saved over 1,400 dogs from euthanasia in Texas, but this is just the start! Every dog we rescue reduces the burden of our Texas shelter partners. But to keep saving dogs like yours, we need your help.

I didn’t realize the amount of time and energy that I would have to expend on fundraising. Yes, I know that I signed up for this and it comes with the “501c3” territory. But I just wish I could spend my time coming up with better ways to save puppies instead of better ways to fundraise.

A cute little young puppy named Alanis Morissette with white and light gray fur big round blue eyes wearing a red collar in bone shape lying on green grass land looking at the camera — Yes, we saved a lot of puppies! But how did we do it? (Path of Hope Facebook)

When one of my team asked me, "How would your fundraising change if you knew that people cared about your mission more than you?"

The question took me aback. The mere thought that someone else could care more about Texas momma and babies than me?

I took a few extra seconds to think it through.

"I... uh.. if I knew that someone truly cared MORE than I do about Path of Hope's mission? I wouldn't be afraid to ask for donations. Asking for someone to support a cause that they care deeply about would be an assumption. It wouldn't be an imposition and they might even be offended if I don't ask." I've struggled for years now to get over this fear of asking people to support Path of Hope Rescue. No matter how many people tell me they are happy to donate, I always have this little voice in the back of my head.

"You're bothering them! They have better things to spend their money on. You're guilting them into giving money."

But is that fair? Is it fair for me to assume that just because I started the Rescue, NO ONE ELSE cares about Texas dogs?

No, it's not.

A cute little young puppy with black and white fur color called Janis Joplin with blue brown eyes wearing red collar for puppy sitting inside a pink pet carrier looking at camera curiously — The lives of puppies are in danger in the streets of Texas, and you can help too! (Path of Hope Facebook)

I am slowly coming to realize that just because God chose me to head this team, there are so many people out there who also care. People who can't foster, can't volunteer, but who want to help. People whose heart shatters the same as mine every time they look at a screenshot of a litter of puppies left on the side of a Texas highway in a dirty tote.

It's not fair of me to assume that I love these dogs the most. I know there are so many of you out there.

Right now, our largest obstacle to saving these dogs from euthanasia is relying on donations when we are in desperate need and reactionary fundraisers.

We have wonderful donors who consistently step up in drastic times of need to support us through food drives and medical emergencies.

Where we need the most help is in the form of monthly donations. By setting up a monthly donation, you are helping us plan for the future, you are helping us replenish supplies, keep food stocked, and help us forecast how many moms and puppies we can protect.

A dog mommy called Betty White with dark black fur with white spot wearing purple marble necklace for dogs sitting on green garden in front of volunteer sticking out her tongue — With more consistent donations, we can help more dogs find their forever loving homes (Path of Hope Facebook)

From the start, Path of Hope has enjoyed strong donations with very little focus on “official” fundraising. Out of food? Throw a post up on Facebook. Puppies got parvo? Throw a post up on Facebook. Basically, any need that we had, we threw a post up on Facebook.

Our Pack always comes through in the end. Our puppies have never gone without food and have never been denied routine or emergent care. And while I’m grateful and honored to report that, honestly… it’s stressful.

As we’ve grown, so has our overhead. It takes $8100 a month just to cover our basic expenses. That doesn’t include any costs for actually caring for the dogs, or a building since my home currently serves as home base. Those are our ‘fixed costs’ for all you accountants out there. Stuff like payroll, taxes, insurance, bookkeeping, phone service and software subscriptions.

In addition to this, we have come to a crossroads with our volunteer numbers. So many people are standing behind our mission and joining our ranks to volunteer. We are closing in on 140 volunteers strong and more joining every day. Leading and supporting this many people takes a lot of work and right now we only have two full-time employees to do that: myself as CEO, and Chentel as COO.

We need more leaders who can devote more time to the Rescue. We know who our next hire needs to be and even have the right person for it, but we don’t have the consistent monthly revenue to hire her yet.

A grown up brown dog with sad looking puppy eyes called Easton taking nap on a comfortable counch looking at the camera — Having more Hope Heroes help us save dogs like Easton (Path of Hope Facebook)

And that's why we created a brand new program called "Hope Heroes".

But what's a Hope Hero, you ask? People who love our mission so much that they've committed to partner with us by setting up a monthly donation. $5, $10, $20, $40, the amount doesn't matter, but the consistency does. Small streams all flow into the river.

A Hope Hero doesn’t have a minimum monthly donation, just a heart for our mission and dogs. Every dollar helps. If our community each committed to giving $10 a month, the impact would be incredible.

Maybe you aren’t in a position to give a large monthly donation, but you could find a spare $5 or $10 to help the puppies and mama dogs.

Before we launched "Hope Heroes" a few weeks ago, we already had 22 recurring monthly donors, that I like to call "Pre-Hope Heroes".

These 22 Pre-Hope Heroes represented 2.9% of our total active donors and $417 monthly revenue.

One week in, we have 27 Hope Heroes, representing 3.2% of our active donors and $634 monthly revenue. Consistent monthly income through Hope Heroes gives us the security of knowing our basic needs are met. It allows us to focus on saving at-risk dogs in Texas shelters who have a death date, but more importantly, it will give us space to start planning for long-term vision again instead of just keeping our head above water.

The more Hope Heroes we have, the more we can become an unstoppable force for Texas dogs.

Like I said, I know that I signed up for this. I know that this whole article reads as ‘give me your money.’ But this is me being completely honest and transparent. Being a leader is hard.

Some days I think how much easier it would be to shut Path of Hope down and get a job in any other animal welfare organization. Let someone else deal with the money and the fundraising. But I can’t ignore the passion that I have for saving Texas dogs. God put me on this planet to save dogs in Texas, and I intend to do that.

If you want to help us do that too, please consider becoming a Hope Hero. Together, WE WILL SAVE THEM!

A cute little puppy with light brown and white fur named Stevie Nicks with big round puppy eyes sitting on blue mat playing with his dog toy while looking at the camera — Together, we can save more puppies like Stevie Nicks, one of the rescues in our care (Path of Hope Facebook)

Will you become our Hope Hero?

To become a Hope Hero, visit Our Donation Page and set up a recurring monthly donation.

Any amount helps. It all adds up. We appreciate every single dollar. Guess what happens when 100 people give $5? Or 500 people give $10? That is money that can make a difference. YOU can make a difference.

It’s that simple!

Caitlin Knight. Founder of PHR.

Path of Hope Rescue is a foster-based rescue located in Spokane Washington. We have a dedicated page called Available Dogs for all of our foster dogs & puppies who are still waiting for their forever homes and loving humans. Some of them have been with us for a while but many of them are still young puppies.

Many stray dogs are living on the streets of Texas, and we need your support to save them. Why don’t you head to our Why Texas page to learn about our mission? If you wish to support us directly, our Donation page is Right HERE.

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