Tabby’s Place raised nearly double their original goal for a feline leukemia wing

Read how Tabby’s Place raised nearly twice as much as their original goal for a new feline leukemia wing of their cat sanctuary.

In April of 1999, Jonathan Rosenberg and his wife learned that their beloved cat, Tabby, had untreatable cancer and only months to live.

Wishing to honor Tabby, who had spent 15 years with the family, Jonathan resigned from his job and created Tabby’s Place: A Cat Sanctuary.

Now, Tabby’s Place is a cage-free sanctuary that provides refuge to cats in hopeless situations through indoor and outdoor spaces for exercise and play, special group rooms, and an in-house medical facility.

The Challenge:

Tabby’s place received a major gift to help seed a fundraising campaign to build what was to become Quinn’s Corner, a wing dedicated to providing care for cats with feline leukemia. 

To fully build Quinn’s Corner, they set a goal of raising an additional $1.3MM.

“We found ourselves in the delightful, daunting position of launching our first capital campaign. Although we had built our then-17-year-old organization on the backbone of storytelling and warm relationships, we knew we would need new skills and savvy for this next chapter.”

Jonathan Rosenberg, Founder and Executive Director

That’s when Tabby’s Place reached out to Capital Campaign Pro.

The Solution:

Tabby’s Place had a history of reaching out to major donors with extensive print packets, but shied away from bigger, one-on-one solicitations.

Perhaps it was fate that Richard Quinn, the Capital Campaign Pro Advisor paired with Tabby’s Place, shared a name with Quinn, a cat for which their new leukemia wing would be named.

“With tenderhearted donor relationships in place, but little experience making bold asks, we had much to learn. From the very start of our work together, our advisor worked to understand our hearts, helping us to develop confidence in our unique voice and in the loving community we had nurtured over the years.”

Angela Townsend Hartley, Development Director

Through one-on-one advising, Richard helped Tabby’s Place through the creation of two successful match challenges, while helping them use previous major gift donor outreach to their advantage.

“As we learned how to conduct leadership interviews, we were astonished at how eager our donors were to make gifts exceeding our wildest expectations. The daunting odyssey became a dance of joy. With our Capital Campaign Pro advisor’s guidance, our fears over being too “pushy” or “greedy” gave way to a natural sense of harvesting apples from trees we’d planted through many years.”

Jonathan Rosenberg, Founder and Executive Director

The Impact:

Thanks to working with Capital Campaign Pro, Tabby’s Place is on pace to raise over $1MM more than their original $1.3MM goal.

“It was exciting to see the Tabby’s Place team embrace our guidance and find that it worked. They went from worrying that they were asking donors to give more than they were capable of, to realizing they were inviting people to join them in making a dream come true. Their campaign success is directly tied to their ability to trust our advice and implement it.”

Richard Quinn, Capital Campaign Pro Campaign Advisor

Now, Tabby’s Place can fund critical renovations of the entire facility, in addition to their new feline leukemia wing.

“Working with Capital Campaign Pro, and specifically with Richard Quinn, has been a joy, an adventure, and a sensational success!”

Angela Townsend Hartley, Development Director