Pets Are People, Too

“Animal donors give on an emotional level — more so than most, if not all, other direct-mail donors,” Catena says. “Most have pets of their own and consider their pets full-fledged family members.”

You wouldn’t refer to your Aunt Sue as an “it.” (At least not in a public forum.)

In general, Catena says, animal-welfare donors give smaller average gifts but are more likely to give multiple gifts over the course of a year than donors to other causes. They also tend to give to more than one similarly minded mission.