- Who We Are
- How We Work
- Why Volunteer?
- How You Can Volunteer
- The Fine Print for Volunteers
- The Fine Print for Animal Welfare Organizations
Who We Are
Welcome to creativePAW: Creative Professionals for Animal Welfare! We’re a network of creative professionals who are willing to work pro bono for animal welfare causes such as:
- Spay/neuter education.
- Homeless pets.
- Feral cat trap-neuter-return programs.
- Rescue organizations such as feral cat rescues and breed rescues.
- Humane education.
- Puppy mill protests.
Every day, thousands of healthy cats and dogs are killed because no one wants them; in fact, a homeless dog or cat is euthanized every eight seconds in the U.S. Our mission is to use our creative gifts to stop the killing and to promote the kind treatment of animals. Animal welfare organizations always need help with marketing, publicity, education, and fundraising — and that’s where we come in.
The creativePAW network consists of:
- editors
- graphic designers
- illustrators
- marketing professionals
- musicians
- photographers
- PR professionals
- proofreaders
- translators
- videographers
- voice talent
- web designers
- writers
If you’re one of these professionals, please join us!
creativePAW is headed up by Linda Formichelli, a freelance writer who has written for more than 120 magazines, from Multi-Channel Merchant and Pizza Today to USA Weekend and Redbook. She’s also the co-author of several books, including The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock!
Linda lives in Concord, NH, with her writer husband W. Eric Martin and three cats: Rupert, Misha, and Sasha. She volunteers at a local feral cat spay/neuter clinic and the local animal shelter. In the past, she has written newsletter articles for the Massachusetts SPCA and edited the newsletter of a Massachusetts no-kill cat shelter.
How We Work
creativePAW maintains a searchable database of creative professionals who are willing to do pro bono work to help save animals. Creative professionals submit their bios, contact information, and other details about themselves and their work, and registered animal welfare organizations can search the database when they have a project that needs help and contact the volunteers they feel fit best with their needs.
If you’re an animal welfare group looking for volunteer help, you’ll need to register before searching the database…it’s free and easy. I do this to keep the creative professionals’ details from being scooped up by scammers and spammers. You can also e-mail me at linda.creativepaw@gmail.com if you have a project you’d like to publicize on the site; I’ll add it to the front page, and interested creativePAW volunteers will contact you.
Why Volunteer?
If you’re looking for volunteer opportunities where you can use your skills and talents to keep fuzzy little creatures happy and healthy, this is the place to find them. Animal welfare organizations need your help to create compelling marketing, PR, education, and fundraising materials.
Good karma is the first reason to join creativePAW; you’ll be using your creative skills to help save healthy dogs and cats from being euthanized just because they have no homes, educate people on how to treat animals, fight animal cruelty, help homeless pets find forever homes, and more. Helping cute, cuddly animals — what could be better?
Then there are the professional benefits: When you work on projects for animal welfare groups, often you’ll be networking with other creative professionals — and networking is a great way to find paying work. Also — and this is a big bonus for newer professionals — volunteer work will give you the samples to create a portfolio that will wow your potential clients. If you’re going to work for free to break into the industry, do it for a cause you care about.
How You Can Volunteer
Please join by entering your info and bio into our database. The database is searchable only by registered and approved animal welfare organizations, so you don’t have to worry about getting inundated with spam. Also, you’re under no obligation to say yes to every organization that approaches you with an assignment; you can choose those assignments that fit with your interests and schedule.
You can also keep an eye on the front page of the creativePAW site, which will have creativePAW news plus details about projects that our registered animal welfare organizations need help with.
The Fine Print for Volunteers
Please be professional. (We know you will!) Even though you’re working for free, you should adhere to the requesting organization’s guidelines, meet your deadlines, and do your best work.
We’re not responsible for the projects posted on the list. Be sure to check out the organization before agreeing to work for them, and make sure you hash out details like deadlines, project size, how much time you can commit to the project, etc.
Please spread the word about creativePAW! Link to us from your website or blog, encourage your professional associates to join, let your local animal welfare organizations know about us, and be sure that every volunteer assignment you work on includes creativePAW’s web address if possible. Thank you!
The Fine Print for Animal Welfare Organizations
When you find a volunteer you’d like to contact in the database, please be sure to include in your message:
- The name of your organization and web address if you have one.
- The animal welfare issue you handle (spay/neuter, homeless pets, rescue groups, etc.).
- The project: the topic, medium (newsletter, magazine, etc.), length of the assignment, and deadline.
- What you’re looking for: copywriter, web designer, artist, etc.
- Your contact information.
Our volunteer members are both new and seasoned professionals. You are responsible for checking the professionals’ credentials. Though we expect the volunteers in our membership to act professionally, we can’t be held responsible for any mishaps or disagreements.
Our volunteer members can help you if you’re an organization or individual that can’t afford staff or freelance creative professionals, or when your regular staff or freelancers are swamped with other work. They cannot take the place of your paid staff or freelancers.
That these professionals are volunteers who are taking time from their paying work to volunteer for animal welfare organizations; if possible, please include the professional’s credit with the finished project so they can include it in their professional portfolio.
Please include our web address (www.creativepaw.org) in the completed project if possible. This helps us spread the word about creativePAW, attract new volunteers, and help even more organizations!
