2020 RECAP

WHAT A YEAR. Just months into the new year of 2020, we were unable to hold in-person events (our main source of fundraising) due to COVID-19 restrictions. The biggest blow for us was that we were coming off such a record-setting year in 2019. With your help, we raised over $81,500 for animal rescues in the Chicagoland area (over $30,000 more than we raised in 2018) in 2019. We also hosted 83 events and donated the proceeds to 32 organizations - easily our busiest year ever! Like everyone else, we had big goals for 2020.

Obviously, all of our plans came to a halt with the pandemic. Everything that can be said about the historic year that was 2020 has pretty much already been said. BUT we really wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the truly great things that happened. It was not what we expected. It was not what we planned for. But our community adapted and showed up in other ways. And we’re so grateful to share this update with you and recap what we were able to accomplish - TOGETHER.

With a combination of early in the year in-person events, like our Small Dog Tea Party and Mini Photoshoots, along with online voting contests like our Howl-o-ween Costume Contest and Decorate Your Dog Holiday Contest, we raised $50,132. 100% of these proceeds benefited 19 local non for profit organizations. This year we also supported other causes outside of dog rescue, including raising money for the staff of one of our most supportive restaurants, the ACLU, the Center in Halsted, and Black Lives Matter (BLM-Chicago). We helped get 150 coats donated to keep local children warm this winter for Lift Chicago, and we provided support to local people and pet food pantries.

We hit a huge social media milestone on Instagram by surpassing 15,000 followers! This is so important to us because the more reach and engagement we have, the larger the platform we can give to Chicago’s rescue community and the animals that need the most help. Please share our page @RealDogMomsofChicago with your own followers and help us spread the word by continuing to tag us in your posts and using #RealDogMomsofChicago

We added 2 new members to our core group of the Real Dog Moms of Chicago pack. This group of volunteers handles the day-to-day of our organization and our events. Welcome Claire and Mandy! 

We also introduced you to the Real Dog Moms Care Fund this year. This fund is money kept aside from profits made via our events. It allows us to help the most vulnerable rescue causes and provide support based on need. Donation cycles slow down and emergencies often require rescue’s to incur costs they were not expecting. Our collections allow RDMOC to have some discretionary monies set aside to be able to assist when these needs arise for the rescues we work with (NOTE - Monies given to the RDM Cares Fund are not tax-deductible. ​We are a 3rd Party Fundraiser B Corp that donates all of our proceeds). ​​

As always, we worked with some incredible rescues throughout the Chicagoland area this year. Want to see our most recent list of rescue partners? Check out our list of rescues here.
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No one can say for sure what 2021 will bring. BUT we are hopeful for a brighter future for everyone (humans and animals alike) in our community! Thank you for all of the support from businesses, large and small, that we have received this year. Thank you for all of the engagement over social media. Thank you to all who have participated in our online contests and given to the Real Dog Moms Care Fund. We will continue to adapt to these uncertain times with the goal of bringing dog lovers across the Chicagoland area together. 

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