How Husky Rescue Ireland is transforming regular giving with Give A Little

By leveraging Give A Little’s versatile platform, Husky Rescue Ireland has successfully moved beyond one-off donations, raising over €5,000 in just a few months through their "Sponsor a Dog" campaign.

The challenge: Moving from one-off gifts to steady income

A single donation can make an immediate difference in rescuing a dog, but they don’t provide the financial stability required to plan for long-term veterinary care and kennel costs. Andy Finn, Chairman of Husky Rescue Ireland, recognised that the charity needed a more reliable "trickle" of income to ensure the rescue's longevity.

The charity previously found other platforms difficult for donors to navigate when trying to set up monthly donations. They needed a solution that was user-friendly, easy for a small team of volunteers to manage, and highly visible both online and at physical events.

The solution: Targeted campaigns for every dog

Husky Rescue Ireland uses Give A Little’s Magic templates to create dedicated sponsorship campaigns for individual dogs. This approach allows them to track exactly which donors are supporting which dog, ensuring a transparent connection between the supporter and the rescue.

The advantage of using the Magic template is that each of these individual dog campaigns works seamlessly across both web and app-based fundraising channels.

1. Customised sponsorship via web and QR codes

By setting up a Magic campaign for each dog, Husky Rescue Ireland can provide associated links for social media and QR codes for physical signage. Whether a donor clicks a link on Facebook or scans a QR code at a local vet, the experience is optimised for their screen size. This allows the charity to showcase a photo and message for the specific dog the donor is choosing to support.

Andy explains: "I’m trying to move our other recurring donations away from other providers because Give A Little has a better interface and it’s easier to maintain. Give A Little’s Magic campaign template gives you the benefit of both web and app." 

2. NFC-enabled tablets for street collections

The charity also brings these campaigns to the streets using NFC-enabled Samsung tablets. As the Give A Little Point of Donation app works with Stripe Tap to Pay, the charity can collect donations using the tablet's own NFC technology. This means donors can easily sign up for a monthly gift with a simple tap on the back of the tablet - without the need for any additional hardware like separate card readers.

Andy was initially surprised at the success:

"We thought nobody would sign up to a regular donation on the street... but it turns out they actually do. Most of the feedback that we've had from people who signed up to the monthly campaigns has been positive - they’ve had no issues with it." 

3. Strategic QR codes for community giving

By using campaign-specific QR codes on stands in coffee shops and veterinary clinics, the charity makes it easy for the local community to support specific dogs at their own convenience, even when a volunteer isn't physically there to take the donation.

Future plans: Scaling the charity’s supporter network

As Husky Rescue Ireland continues to grow, Andy plans to further streamline the donor experience and expand the charity’s reach across the country by utilising more Give A Little features.

• Campaign lists:
  To make it even easier for donors to choose which dog to sponsor, the charity plans to use Give A Little’s Campaign List feature. This will allow them to present multiple dog sponsorship campaigns on a single

  screen, giving donors the freedom to select their preferred "pen pal" from a menu.

• The Give A Little Champion App:
  With a network of volunteers and supporters across Ireland, Andy intends to roll out the Give A Little Champion App. This will allow the charity to invite an unlimited number of supporters to fundraise on their behalf using their own smartphones (iPhone or Android). By empowering volunteers to take contactless donations wherever they are, the rescue can scale its fundraising efforts without investing in extra hardware.

The results: Why regular giving is the "gold thing"

Since implementing Give A Little’s monthly donation features, Husky Rescue Ireland has seen significant benefits in how they manage donor relationships and financial planning. Andy particularly highlights the value of the new dedicated recurring donations reports.

• Enhanced visibility:
  Give A Little provides a clear list of donors where the charity can see the real-time status

  of every recurring donation.

• Frictionless tracking:
  Creating individual campaigns for each dog allows the charity to easily see which animals have the most support and manage sponsorship packs effectively.

• Predictable revenue:
  With a growing list of regular donors, the charity now has a steady stream of income to cover fixed costs like medication and food.

Andy adds: "The new upgrade to Give A Little with the donors list - where you can see the big list of donors and the status of their monthly donation - is really useful. It’s easier to track what’s going on. We need to know when someone drops off that list for whatever reason so we can stay on top of our sponsorship packs." 

Andy recommends Give A Little particularly for small organisations that need to stay lean:

"Regular donations are a regular income coming into the charity - it's the 'gold thing' we want to achieve. Give A Little is very versatile, and as a charity, we need things that people can get in and out of easily. I’ll be pushing other charities I’m involved with to start using it too."