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I decided to continue working with the local non-profit Catman2 shelter for the Engaging Professional Marketing Services assignment. Catman2 is a private no-kill, cage-free cat adoption center located in Cullowhee, North Carolina (not far from WCU). Catman2 was founded by the Catman, Dr. Harold Sims, a retired college biology professor, and his wife, Kay, a retired school social worker in 1996. The Catman is known locally for all that he has done with his donation-based shelter and the American Museum of the Housecat. The Catman and all those involved have done wonderful things for the community such as bringing low-cost spay and neuter options to Jackson County and helping spay roughly 300 cats per year, as well as finding homes for over 5,000 cats to date. 

After talking with the shelter manager about my Marketing Calendar and Budget assignment, the manager told me that they were overwhelmed with kitten season and the lack of volunteers to market any of their upcoming events. After further discussion and brainstorming, I was able to create some marketing materials to get the word out about these events/volunteer needs the shelter currently has. I also included some general ads that the shelter could use if they need extra volunteers in the future.

Stress Relief Hours Post/Advertisements

Some of the post captions provided were:

Volunteer Call to Action Ads

Catman2 currently needs volunteers to help paint a room in the shelter and with some yardwork around the property. The rest of the ads provided were made to help get viewers’ attention more than a post on Facebook for any sort of volunteer needs.

This project was honestly so much fun, I am by no means a graphic designer, but I was able to help a cause I am passionate about while learning new things for the assignment. I was able to learn that honestly the worst any business or brand can tell you is no, or if something you create doesn’t work for them. Being told no doesn’t always mean that the collaboration is over or not going to work out, if anything that just means to try again. An example I have from this experience was that the shelter manager, Kaleb, told me that they didn’t want to include anything about adopting a study buddy simply due to how big the event turnout was last year. While they don’t want to discourage adoptions from its event, it honestly isn’t possible with so many people there at once. That is one of the main reasons this shelter is by appointment only on most days. After Kaleb told me that wasn’t wanted in the ad, I was terrified that I somehow messed up the opportunity or they wouldn’t like my designs. I can laugh at how silly that thought is now, but it really helped me realize that the majority of the time you can try again or have a second chance at many things, including consulting. A big part of consulting is being a good listener.

If you’re close to Cullowhee, NC I highly recommend swinging by the Stress Relief hours event, from what I was told it was a big hit last year and helped students/teachers handle the end-of-semester stress!