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National Feral Cat Day® Event Inspiration
Read our inspiring event ideas by category:
Be sure to register your event in our interactive event listing—and get your Advocacy Toolkit!
Event hosts who register on our event listing receive an Advocacy Toolkit with Alley Cat Allies resources to help you advocate for change.
Register your event.
Apply for a National Feral Cat Day® Award!
Alley Cat Allies is expanding our awards program this year to help 22 communities become safe places for cats. Will yours be one of them?
Learn more about the awards program—Apply by August 10.
Fundraise for feral cats.
Helping cats takes resources—and the more, the better! Secure those donation dollars with our tips for successful and sustainable fundraising.
Check out our fundraising guides.
Promote your event and provide information.
Our materials in English and Spanish will help you get the word out about your event and educate your attendees with resources to take home.
Use our handy downloads.
Find more tips for outreach and education in this year's Guide for Community Change.
Hands on Help
Launch Trap-Neuter-Return.
If you’ve ever thought of doing TNR, now is the right time to start. How about connecting with your local shelter or rescue group and starting a Trap-Neuter-Return program?
Learn more about the TNR steps online.
Start a spay/neuter clinic or expand a current one to include feral cats.
Make this first event a kick-off to build relationships with veterinarians in your area and promote what will (hopefully) become a monthly clinic.
Find clinic tools.
Hold a shelter-building event.
Partner with a hardware store and host a workshop to teach others how to build shelters. Invite local feral cat caregivers, charge a materials fee, and hold demonstrations. Have instructors on hand to walk around and help. Give caregivers copies of the building instructions.
Use our shelter building instructions and find other shelter ideas.
Raise Cash for Cats
Hold a fundraising event.
Connect with local sponsors or service organizations and hold a fundraising event. Craft sales, bake sales, car washes, garage sales, and auctions are all great ways that people have raised money for cats on National Feral Cat Day®, too. Or if you own or work for a business, tell customers you’ll be dedicating a portion of your proceeds to the cats that day. Donate the funds you raise to your local feral cat group or use it to pay for spay/neuter surgeries for your own TNR efforts.
Use our handy downloads to promote your fundraising event.
Organize an in-kind donation.
Instead of raising money to buy supplies, ask people to donate items that the cats need (known as in-kind donations). Ask your veterinarian to donate a few spay/neuter surgeries. Ask pet or grocery stores to contribute dented cans or broken bags of cat food. Or organize a general supplies drive and ask others to donate food or shelter (or cash!) for the cats.
Learn more about fundraising.
Create your own unique event.
You may have your own ideas for how you can help the feral cats in your community and let your neighbors know that a compassionate community promotes humane care for feral cats. You’re only limited by your imagination!
Let us know your idea.
Educate and Inform
Take part in local events—hand out educational materials or set up an information table.
Reaching out to others can be simple! Bring educational materials to upcoming public events—like fairs or festivals—or set up in public places. Bring a friend and educate your community about feral cats.
Order Alley Cat Allies brochures and truth cards.
Wear your NFCD gear.
Host a workshop in your community.
Educate others about the lives of outdoor cats, Trap-Neuter-Return, and any services available at the local level, while networking with others who care about cats.
See how it's done at our Helping Cats in Your Community webinar.
Learn how to run a Helping Cats in Your Community workshop.
Assemble a volunteer “street team.”
Use research gathered from your clinic or TNR program to target neighborhoods or zip codes in need of outreach. Go door to door and share information about your program or information about understanding feral cats.
Use Alley Cat Allies' outreach materials.
Wear your NFCD gear.
Schedule appointments with citizens who have concerns about outdoor cats and install deterrents.
Build a volunteer team to respond to concerns about cats. Set up property assessment appointments, talk to each person about their concerns, and provide the best deterrent to meet their needs. Some deterrents are very easy and affordable: lemon peels, coffee grounds, chopsticks, rock beds, and car covers are just a few deterrents to some of the most common complaints.
Find a sample assessment form and other solutions.
Do Something on Your Own
Write a letter to the editor.
Write an editorial for your local paper telling them about National Feral Cat Day®, highlighting local programs, educating others about feral cats and Trap-Neuter-Return, or providing information about your local events.
View examples here.
Hang posters or place advertisements.
Post our downloadable 2012 National Feral Cat Day® poster at your veterinarian’s office and in other high traffic areas in your community.
Order more full-size posters.
Place advertisements in local newspapers or publications, using these samples.
Change your online community.
Join Alley Cat Allies online! Become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to stay connected and up-to-date on the latest news and information—and so we can stay connected with you. Use #NFCD2012 to follow the conversation on Twitter.
Devote your status (on Facebook and Twitter) to Alley Cat Allies—let your friends know you are celebrating National Feral Cat Day® on October 16, and ask them to do the same.
Other online ideas:
- Write about feral cats and NFCD on your blog.
- Comment on articles or blogs about feral cats online to make sure a positive perspective is presented.
- Create a meet-up group (www.meetup.org) and connect with other cat lovers in your community.
- Add information about feral cats to your email signature and link to www.alleycat.org.
- Post our widgets or web banners to your website or social networking pages to get a conversation started.
Ask your local official or school official to sign a National Feral Cat Day® Proclamation.
Make sure to let Alley Cat Allies know! Fax a copy to 240-482-1990, or mail one to Alley Cat Allies, 7920 Norfolk Avenue, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-2525.
View a sample here.
Talk to a friend, co-worker, or acquaintance about feral cats.
Here are some talking points to get you started.
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