Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Humane Society came up with the ingenious idea to raise funds for their organization by providing portraits of their donors' pets.
The catch?
Only a few of the volunteers were professional artists.
Who was more surprised, it's hard to say: the organization who raised far more funds than they were expecting, or the donors who received completely unmatched, often laughably endearing, portraits of their pets.
The fundraiser opened on Tuesday the 25th when the WHS announced they were attempting to make fundraising fun again.
The WHS wrote:
"It's time to put the "fun" back in fundraising… if you donate $15 to the animals at WHS, we'll draw your pet. The catch? We're a whole lot better at caring for animals than we are at drawing them."
They went on to explain:
"We have a pool of staff and volunteers standing by, eager to turn your animal into a timeless work of art (or at least make you laugh). You *might* get one of our extremely talented artists, but we'll be honest… you'll probably get someone who can't draw their way out of a paper bag."
The very next day, the staff from the WHS updated their post, saying they needed to close submissions. They had already received more pet portrait submissions than they could handle, as well as more than $12,000.
The WHS wrote:
"DUE TO OVERWHELMINGLY AMAZING RESPONSE, SUBMISSIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED. Your questionable spending habits raised more than $12,000 for the animals at WHS."
The quips throughout the original call for submissions and in the thankful update are almost as plentiful as the hilarious renditions of their donors' pets.
Here are just a few of the lovely, if quirky, examples:
Laura DePaola / Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Jolene Turner / Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Kailey Miljus / Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Anna Niemuth / Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
There are, of course, some donors already who are experiencing extreme bouts of FOMO and are really hoping the organization will offer this particular fundraiser again.
Clearly more people need some impressionistic renditions of their pets for their homes!
Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Wisconsin Humane Society / Facebook
Good on the Wisconsin Humane Society for the brilliant idea to recreate pet portraits, many of whom had been adopted and were now being celebrated in their forever homes.
Props, too, the BARCS Animal Shelter, who they originally got a similar idea from.
According to the WHS, they'll continue to make the portraits for all who donated, but with the surprising quantity of submissions, it will take a few days to complete them all. We can't wait to see the full collection!
