How to Throw a Kitten Shower
To throw a kitten shower to benefit a local shelter or humane society, make sure to talk to the organization first, since they will most likely be the ones to host it, then start recruiting volunteers and asking local businesses for donations of food and raffle prizes. Once you've set a date for your event, publicize it on social media and send press releases to your local news media to spread the word. During the kitten shower, make sure your volunteers know their responsibilities and maintain the different stations, which should include a place to donate as well as somewhere to foster and adopt. The kitten shower should also include raffles and games, such as pin the tail on the kitten, or a drawing where the winner gets to name kittens, for example.
Work with a local shelter or humane society. If you're not already affiliated with one, contact a local animal shelter or humane society. Let them know that you're interested in throwing a kitten shower to benefit their organization. While shelters and humane societies often plan their own kitten showers, they make great projects for Girl and Boy Scout troops, church or civic organizations, or a group of animal loving friends. A shower is typically held at the shelter or humane society it benefits. Schedule a kitten shower in the spring. In the Northern Hemisphere, many shelters are in greatest need during the month of April. While a shelter or humane society would doubtlessly benefit from a charitable event any time of the year, a springtime shower will have the greatest impact. Recruit around twenty volunteers. A kitten shower involves lots of groundwork and careful planning. Recruiting around twenty volunteers will make sure the work is accomplished without one or a few people getting overwhelmed. The shelter or humane society likely has a pool of regular volunteers. Recruit helpers from this pool and send out a request to the shelter's email list. Their staff can also help plan and run the event. Find additional volunteers by asking other members of your troop or organization, coworkers, or neighbors. If you have kids, ask around their daycare or school. Assign tasks to each volunteer. Once you've assembled your team, make sure everyone has a clear task or tasks. Examples of duties that you should delegate include: Set up and clean up crews Invitation and press release design Marketing coordinator Foster and adoption coordinators (likely members of the shelter's staff) Food prep and serving Donation collectors Raffle and game coordinators Ask local businesses to provide food and prizes. Ask local restaurants to donate food as soon as possible, preferably months in advance. Many have a limited budget for charitable donations, so you'll want to make sure they can provide you with some light bites. Ask multiple restaurants to donate one appetizer instead of relying on one to cater the entire event. Ask in person or send a friendly email. If the shelter or humane society can provide a charitable donation receipt so the restaurant can use the donation as a tax write-off, use that as an incentive. You should also see if a restaurant or other local business can provide a gift certificate or other prizes that you can use for raffles and games. Purchase decorations and supplies from the dollar store. Buy balloons, streamers, tablecloths, cups, plates, napkins, and other items from a dollar store to keep your budget low. You should be able to decorate and supply the event for less than $100 (US). You can also see if restaurants donating food can also supply serving-ware and napkins. Ask local pet-related businesses to collect donations. You don't have to limit donation drop-offs to the shower date and location. Ask local pet supply stores, groomers, and other pet-related businesses if they can set up a donation station on premises. Ask if they're willing to accept donations throughout the entire month instead of just on the day of the shower. Set up a system for collecting money donations. Not everyone will want to donate supplies, so you should make sure you're able to field cash donations. Make sure your system is simple and secure. To enable guests to donate money via credit or debit, use a mobile credit card reader linked to an account in the shelter's name. For example, some shelters in Florida, USA, use WeGive.org to collect donations in multiple payment methods. The site also allows shelters to list information about what various dollar amounts will buy, like toys, food, and veterinary care. Give your kitten shower a catchy name. A great name will help grab attention and encourage attendance. Go with a cute, clever, or seasonal name and theme to spark the interest of your community. For example, the Jacksonville Humane Shelter has held “Pitter Patter of Little Paws Kitten Shower” and “Purrs and Paws Kitten Shower.” Design promotional materials. Tap the graphic design talents of a volunteer or see if someone on the shelter staff can design invitations, flyers, and other promotional materials. Include the date, time, and location of the event, as well as a list of needed supplies that guests can donate. It's always a good idea to include lots of kitten pictures on your invitations and flyers. If the shelter or humane society office can't print a high volume of flyers, ask a local print shop for a donation. Post printed flyers in locations like restaurants, coffee shops, pet stores, groomers. Promote the event online. In the weeks leading up to the shower, have your volunteers promote the event regularly via their Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. If the shelter has an email list, send an invitation and one or two reminder emails. Post information about the event on the shelter website and social media accounts. If your troop, group, or organization has a web presence, be sure to promote the shower there as well. Share a wishlist of needed supplies. Let people know exactly what the shelter or humane society needs, from food and water bowls to cat nail clippers. Include the list on the flyers and invitations. Consider using an online registry to help ensure a broader range of items. You can create an Amazon.com registry and share it via email and social media. You can find instructions on how to make a registry in Amazon's help section. Issue a press release to local media. Three weeks before the event, send a press release that describes the event to your local newspapers and news channels. Send another press release three days before the event. At the top, title the press release with a concise headline, such as, "Local Animal Shelter Hosts Kitten Shower and Supply Drive." Include the event's location, date, time, and a brief description of the shower. Be sure to list suggested donations. Include contact information for the shelter and shower organizer in case a media outlet has questions or wants an interview. Confirm all arrangements and assignments the week of the event. Contact all of your volunteers to make sure everyone understands their assignments. If possible, schedule a meeting within a week of the event to sort out last minute details. Make sure set up and clean up crews know how early to arrive and have an idea of how late they'll be staying. Contact any restaurants donating food to confirm your arrangements. Confirm any other gift or prize donations with other businesses. If any volunteers are preparing food, gently remind them and confirm what they're bringing. Coordinate games and raffles. On the day of the event, have one volunteer in charge of each game. Fun fundraising games and raffles include: A raffle drawing where the winners get to name kittens Raffle drawings for donated gift certificates and gift baskets Pin the tail on the kitten (or pin the kitten on the cat lady) Word scrambles, crosswords, and guessing games Set up a foster and adoptions information station. In addition to entertainment, you should set up an informational table to educate guests about fostering and adopting kittens. Have members of the shelter staff volunteer to coordinate this station. If you elect to offer adoptions the day of the shower, have around ten kittens on hand in a play corral or pen at the shower. Remember that you'll need extra volunteers to keep the kittens. Have the shelter ask current pet foster parents to help at the foster table and provide information about the fostering process. Set up a donations station. You'll need to designate a spot for people to place donated kitten supplies. A playpen is a cute option and, like the kitten shower itself, it's a fun reference to a baby shower. See if a volunteer has a playpen they can lend for the day. You can also look for one at a local thrift shop. Clean up and save decorations for next year. After throwing your successful kitten shower, rally your clean up crew and break down the event. Be sure to be as delicate as possible when breaking down decorations and packing up party supplies. Reuse as much as possible to cut the costs of next year's shower. 
Work with a local shelter or humane society. Schedule a kitten shower in the spring. Recruit around twenty volunteers. Assign tasks to each volunteer. Ask local businesses to provide food and prizes. Purchase decorations and supplies from the dollar store. Ask local pet-related businesses to collect donations. Set up a system for collecting money donations. Give your kitten shower a catchy name. Design promotional materials. Promote the event online. Share a wishlist of needed supplies. Issue a press release to local media. Confirm all arrangements and assignments the week of the event. Coordinate games and raffles. Set up a foster and adoptions information station. Set up a donations station. Clean up and save decorations for next year. 