Your fundraising donation will help
- provide low-cost veterinary services to owned pets who would otherwise not receive care
- bring hope and homes to homeless pets
- investigate cases of animal cruelty and neglect
- provide compassionate foster care for pets whose owners are facing domestic violence, hospital stays, and other family emergencies
Host a fundraising event
Getting started
- Create your event concept:
Choose an event that fits your interests, talents, goals, and time. - Review our Event Guidelines.
Promote your event
- Event organizers are responsible for promoting their fundraising event.
- We’ve put together a toolkit to make your fundraising experience the best it can be.
- You can also reach out anytime to SpecialEvents@ddfl.org with specific questions or to share your creative ideas!
Submit your event proceeds
The Dumb Friends League Leslie A. Malone Center
c/o Special Events Department
2080 S. Quebec Street
Denver, CO 80231
NOTE: We are not hosting adoption events at this time. Please feel free to check back at a later date to see if this has changed.
Create or contribute to a fundraiser
Create a fundraiser
Contact us to create a fundraising page to help support homeless pets at the Dumb Friends League. Review our Event Guidelines.
Find a fundraiser
Looking for an existing fundraiser you can donate to?
A little help for our friends
Thank you for considering the Dumb Friends League as the beneficiary of your fundraising activities! We’ve put together this toolkit to make your fundraising experience the best it can be. Looking for our logo? We’ve got you covered. How about an Instagram picture frame to show your spirit to your social media world? Yup, we’ve got that, too. We’ve even got templates for thank-you emails and fundraising requests. We gathered everything (well, we hope) you need to make your fundraising an easy peasy tail-wagging good time!
You can also reach out to our team anytime at SpecialEvents@ddfl.org with specific questions or to share your creative ideas!
Why fundraise?
We believe in making tail wags, snuggles, and friendships happen and keeping families whole—and that takes a lot of work. When you raise money for the League, you help us care for those who need us most. Each month, we create an average of:
- 909 friendships by way of adoptions
- 293 animals in loving foster homes
- 26 behavior consultations over the phone to pet owners who want the best for their pets
Our Name
We get a lot of questions about our name, and you might, as well, when you fundraise. If people wonder, you can let them know:
When our organization was founded in 1910, it was named after an animal shelter in London, England, called Our Dumb Friends League. Back then, the term “dumb” was often used to refer to those who were unable to speak. While language has evolved over the past 110 years, and “dumb” is not generally used with that meaning today, we’ve kept our name because it has significant recognition in Colorado, and it represents our commitment to providing a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Because we’re so well known, we believe changing our name could put animals at risk. People who know us by reputation might have trouble finding us under a different name—whether they want to report animal mistreatment, or they’ve found an injured pet that needs our help, or they want to adopt a pet, they need to be able to find us quickly. Also, because we rely on donations and not government support, it’s crucial that people who want to contribute don’t get distracted by having to look for us under a different name. Lastly, we do a lot of advocacy work at the state capitol. Our name and reputation serve us well when we are working to benefit Colorado’s animals through pet-friendly legislation.
When you use our name, please:
- Please include the word “the,” as in the Dumb Friends League, not just the Dumb Friends League.
- Don’t refer to the organization as: the Denver Dumb Friends League or with the acronym DFL or DDFL.
Dumb Friends League logo
Our logo’s full-color and grayscale versions should be used on light backgrounds, and the white version should be used on dark backgrounds to allow contrast. It’s important that there’s enough contrast between the logo and background so that the logo is completely legible.
Brand colors
R-94 G-104 B-176
Hex code 5E58B0
Pantone 2116
C-79 M-71 Y-0 K-0
R-164 G-167 B-79
Hex code A3A64E
Pantone 7495
C-33 M-10 Y-83 K-21
R-243 G-116 B-51
Hex code F37434
Pantone 1595
C-0 M-70 Y-100 K-2
R-94 G-99 B-103
Hex code 5E6468
Pantone 424
C-52 M-41 Y-38 K-20
Fundraising tips and tricks
There are tons of ways to create awareness and increase support from your network. Here are a few of our favorite tips to pass along whether you’re new to fundraising or need some more tricks up your sleeve.
Ask, and you shall receive
- Leave your inhibitions at the door. Start by asking those closest to you to donate. Call, text, or email friends and family and even ask how you can tweak your approach to your request.
- Get personal. Personalize each ask by sending individual requests or group people together—co-workers, friends, family, runners—and craft a message that speaks to them.
- Share your story. Let others know why you love the Dumb Friends League. Tell them about your pet and how you rescued them or if they rescued you.
- Make every cent count. Let people know that any size donation helps—even raiding the jar of change we know everyone has!
Think outside of the ask
- Walk this way. Ask neighbors to donate to your fundraising cause in exchange for dog walks.
- Challenge your friends. Why not start a friendly competition between your friends? Challenge them to donate an amount equal to the number of years you’ve known each other. You could even make a donation in honor of your upcoming birthday—you decide human or dog years!
- Discard clutter and spark joy—or, in this case, donations. Sell your dog’s unused toys and your gently used objects, and be sure everyone knows that proceeds will go toward the League.
- Let’s play! Host a virtual game night …, whether with cards, board games, or other games and let winners know that a percentage of their winnings (or all!) will be donated.
- Learn and earn. Ask parents and friends to pledge for tests and report cards. Make the grade, and get the donation!
Chances are that if people don’t donate to your cause, it’s because they weren’t asked. So, you know what to do, and remember, we believe in you! Now get out there and fundraise for homeless pets.
Downloadable templates
Social media
@dumbfriendsleague in your posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts. Feel free to choose from the list of hashtags below and add your own too!
#dumbfriendsleague #animalshelter #donatedumbfriendsleague #CommunityFundraising
Instagram posts
Instagram transparencies
Sample emails
Suggested fundraising email
A note from <Insert your pet’s name>,
Fetch this! My human <insert name>, and I are helping animals at the Dumb Friends League by <Insert event/activity>. I know how lucky I am to have a place to call home and a human to love me, and I want all of the pets and horses at the League to find new families, too, just like I did!
<Add event/activity details>
Join us and have fun helping all my buddies at the shelter find new people—there’s nothing better than that, am I right?!
Love and tail wags,
<Insert your pet’s name>
Suggested thank you email
A BIG thank you from <Insert your pet’s name>!
Your support at our <Insert event/activity> makes a life-changing difference for the homeless pets and horses at the Dumb Friends League until they can make a house a home.
On behalf of all the animals who found their new families, and those who are looking for the right match, thank you. You make tail wags happen!
Thanks so much,
<Insert your pet’s name>
After your event
When your event is over and your fundraising is completed, you can send the money you have raised to the Dumb Friends League by mailing a check to:
The Dumb Friends League Leslie A. Malone Center
c/o Special Events Department
2080 S. Quebec Street
Denver, CO 80231