FREE ONLINE SUMMIT | January 13, 2026
A Virtual Summit for Animal Advocates Ready to Grow
The Funding Blueprint for Sanctuaries
A One-Day online event for animal sanctuary leaders and advocates featuring expert speakers who will share proven strategies and practical insights to accelerate your fundraising success, strengthen your mission, and help you create long-term financial sustainability.
Hosted by Cheryl Moss, animal advocate, author, and host of the Better Life for Animals Podcast, this summit brings together proven voices from the sanctuary world to tackle the number one challenge every sanctuary faces: sustainable funding.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been rescuing animals for years, this summit will show you what actually works, from sanctuary founders, executive directors, and CEOs who have lived it, learned from it, and now lead thriving, mission-driven organizations.
Check out these AMAZING speakers!!!
Kathy Halamka
Unity Farm Sanctuary
Danielle Hanosh
LEAP for Animals
John Vallimarescu
Sunset Farm Sanctuary
Helen Demes
Sunset Farm Sanctuary
Kari Bagnall
Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary
Chris Fuller-Wigg
Austin Farm Sanctuary
Kathleen Gage
Blue Barn Farm & Sanctuary
Michele Fasnacht
Sanctuary at Solid Rock
Ayelette Robinson
Animal Protection Advocate
REGISTER NOW! It’s absolutely FREE.
Here’s the deal…
Running a sanctuary isn’t just about caring for animals, it’s about figuring out how to keep the lights on, the vet bills paid, and the food bowls full. And for too many founders, fundraising is the hardest part.
The Funding Blueprint for Sanctuaries is a virtual summit created to solve that exact problem.
This event brings together successful sanctuary CEOs, founders, and nonprofit experts who know what it’s like to fund a mission with limited time, resources, and support. They’ve done it, and now they’ll show you how.
From in-person events and grant writing to estate planning and monthly donor programs, you’ll learn real-world strategies that work in the unique world of animal rescue and sanctuary life. No fluff. Just focused solutions for the challenges you face every day.
This summit is for you if:
- You’re constantly stressed about how to bring in consistent funding — You lie awake wondering how you’ll cover next month’s feed bill or vet care. You’re doing the work, but the financial pressure never seems to ease.
- You’ve tried everything: events, email appeals, even grants, but nothing sticks — You’ve put in the hours. You’ve followed advice. You’ve hosted events, sent donation emails, maybe even applied for a grant or two. But the results are unpredictable, and you’re left wondering what you’re doing wrong.
- You want to grow, but you're stuck in survival mode — You dream of building that new barn, rescuing more animals, hiring support, but the reality is, you're always trying to keep your head above water. Growth feels out of reach when you’re just trying to make it to next month.
- You’re tired of doing it all alone — The emotional weight of this work is real. The burnout is creeping in. You feel like you're shouting into the void, and no one really understands how hard it is to run a sanctuary and raise money at the same time.
- You know you need a plan, but you don’t have time to figure it out from scratch — You need more than inspiration. You need strategy. You need systems. You need to know what works, from people who’ve actually done it.
This summit is designed for you, the founder wearing 10 hats, the underpaid caregiver managing it all, the board member trying to help behind the scenes. If you’re doing this for the animals and you’re ready to get serious about funding your mission, you’re in the right place.
By the end of this summit, you’ll walk away with a practical, personalized blueprint to raise more money, reach the right donors, and build a sustainable future, for your sanctuary and the animals who count on you.
Who Will Be Speaking
This isn’t theory. Every speaker in this summit is either a sanctuary founder, executive director, or CEO with real-life, hands-on experience in animal rescue and nonprofit leadership. They’ve faced the same struggles you’re facing, and they’ve found strategies that work.
You’ll hear directly from those who have.
- Built sanctuaries from the ground up, sometimes starting with nothing but a dream and a handful of rescued animals
- Secured major donors and sustainable income streams
- Navigated the challenges of growth, burnout, and donor fatigue
- Developed community partnerships, secured grants, and built thriving online audiences
- Achieved national recognition and sanctuary accreditation through credibility, transparency, and strong governance
Kathy Halamka / Unity Farm Sanctuary
Sanctuary and More: Community Benefit Startup
Sanctuary creation has no one-and-done template – every sanctuary rescues, but the similarities end there. The more that a local community is engaged, the greater the impact. Volunteers, supporters, donors, and activists are all part of the network that strengthens a sanctuary. What ways can each sanctuary build a community to save more animals, stay funded for the short and long term, and increase the overall good achieved?
Kathy Halamka is the cofounder and Executive Director of Unity Farm Sanctuary. She combines her background in business, visual arts, and education to lead the sanctuary’s rescue, volunteer, and humane education programs.
Danielle Hanosh / LEAP for Animals
Membership Programs to Engage the Community
Learn how to design a meaningful membership program that builds strong community connection, encourages recurring support, and keeps donors engaged throughout the year. This session explores practical structures, benefits, and communication strategies that help sanctuaries grow long-term, sustainable backing.
Danielle Hanosh is the cofounder and Executive Director of LEAP for Animals and the cofounder of Blackberry Creek Farm Animal Sanctuary. With a background in education and animal advocacy, she empowers youth to become ethical leaders for animals and the planet.
John Vallimarescu / Sunset Farm Sanctuary
Publishing for a Purpose: A Scalable Fundraising Model for Animal Sanctuaries
One of the most powerful tools sanctuaries have is the ability to tell stories that touch hearts. This session highlights how a simple publishing project grew from a series of interviews into a steady fundraising stream for Sunset Farms Sanctuary. What started with 38 written interviews shared on social media raised close to $7,000 and ultimately became the eBook VOICES OF KINDNESS AND COMPASSION, with all proceeds benefiting the sanctuary.
What makes this approach so exciting is how easily other sanctuaries can follow it. You’ll discover how a small project turned into a reliable source of support, how to shape interviews and animal photos into an eBook that inspires giving, and how consistent outreach through printed cards, vegan businesses, libraries, bookstores, and events can widen your reach. This publishing model gives sanctuaries a practical, heart-centered way to build ongoing revenue while sharing the stories that matter most.
John Vallimarescu is part of the team at Sunset Farm Sanctuary, where he supports rescue operations, outreach, and sanctuary development to ensure every animal receives the care and respect they deserve.
Helen Demes / Sunset Farm Sanctuary
Helen Demes is the founder of Sunset Farm Sanctuary, a safe haven that provides lifelong care to rescued animals. Her work focuses on compassion, education, and building community awareness about animal welfare.
Kari Bagnall / Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary
Month by Month, Monkey by Monkey: Building Funding for Lifetime Care
Monthly donors are the lifeblood of sanctuary operations, providing consistent, predictable support to help ensure the lifetime care of every resident. In this session, you will learn how to transform visitors and one-time donors into loyal monthly supporters. Learn practical strategies to engage donors and express meaningful appreciation that keeps them connected to your mission. You will leave with actionable ideas to help your sanctuary build monthly support and deepen donor relationships.
Kari Bagnall is the founder and Executive Director of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Florida. She has dedicated her life to rescuing monkeys from laboratories, the pet trade, and entertainment while providing lifelong sanctuary and advocacy for primates.
Chris Fuller-Wigg / Austin Farm Sanctuary
Clarity, Consistency, and Closing the Loop: A Framework for Donor Trust
Donor trust is built in the space between what you say and what you show. Using lessons learned from nearly a decade at Austin Farm Sanctuary, Chris Fuller-Wigg offers a replicable lens for approaching donor communication with strategy and steadiness. This session will explore how to speak truthfully without creating panic, how to avoid fundraising fatigue, and why clear, compassionate messaging helps your supporters see themselves as part of your long-term success.
Chris Fuller-Wigg is the cofounder of Austin Farm Sanctuary in Texas. He works to create a compassionate world by rescuing farm animals, providing education, and promoting vegan living.
Kathleen Gage / Blue Barn Farm & Sanctuary
From Local to Global: Leveraging Podcast Interviews to Grow Support
Growing donor support starts with getting your sanctuary’s story in front of the right people. Few tools can do that better than podcast interviews, where your message can reach listeners across the globe and continue working for you long after the episode airs. In this session, you’ll learn how to get booked on shows that align with your mission, deliver interviews that move listeners, and turn powerful stories into stronger visibility and lasting funding opportunities.
Kathleen Gage is the host of Plant Based Eating for Health podcast and a passionate advocate for animals. She is a board member of Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary and shares her rural Oregon home with several rescued individuals who have found their forever haven on her property. With decades of experience in speaking, marketing, and podcasting, Kathleen brings a unique blend of mission-driven advocacy and real-world know-how to help sanctuaries amplify their message and expand their reach.
Michele Fasnacht / Sanctuary at Solid Rock
Compassionate Humane Education: A Blueprint for Sanctuary-Based Learning
In this session, Michele introduces Compassionate Humane Education for Sanctuaries—a ready-to-implement blueprint that helps sanctuaries turn their rescue work into powerful educational programming. Participants will learn how to design meaningful guest and school-group experiences, create volunteer and youth engagement programs, build mission-aligned community outreach, and develop sustainable education that supports the sanctuary’s long-term goals. This session offers clear, actionable steps to help sanctuaries expand their impact by teaching compassion, empathy, and conscious living through the lives of the animals they rescue.
Michele Fasnacht is a long-time educator and the founder of Solid Rock Community School, a K–12 program she launched more than 22 years ago. It is the only school in the nation with its own on-site rescue animal sanctuary fully integrated into daily learning. Michele developed the Compassionate Humane Education (CHE) model, a values-driven framework that uses rescue stories, humane values, and plant-based living to transform how students and communities learn.
Ayelette Robinson / Animal Protection Advocate
Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting: Smarter Fundraising for Busy Sanctuaries
Running a sanctuary leaves little time for fundraising, but what if AI could help? Meet Wize, your smart fundraising assistant built for nonprofits. In this session, you’ll see how Wize can write donor communications in your voice, help you plan your events and year-end fundraising, and uncover new giving opportunities, saving you hours each week, all while keeping your mission front and center. Join us to learn how sanctuaries are using AI to raise more with less stress, and get hands-on tips to make your own fundraising smarter, easier, and more impactful.
After spending years in the for-profit world as a corporate lawyer, entrepreneur, and product manager, Ayelette Robinson now dedicates her time to animal protection. Her mission is to advocate for farmed animals and foster the human-animal bond. As a member of Women Funders in Animal Rights and the Donor Participation Project, she is developing a focus on donor relations. Ayelette is also an actor and producer and, through her campaign efforts, got herself on the EMMY® Awards nominations ballot for Outstanding Actress In A Short Form for her lead performance in her web series. She is currently in development on a vegan-themed movie that seeks to make veganism relatable and normal for all.
What You’ll Learn
Real-world fundraising strategies for animal sanctuaries, including:
- Hosting In-Person Events That Actually Raise Money Plan,
promote, and profit from fundraising events that bring in more than just applause.
- Creating a Donation System That Runs Year-Round Build reliable, recurring support with monthly donors and optimized giving funnels.
- Grant Writing That Gets Results Find the right funders, write compelling proposals, and get funding to flow.
- Estate Planning & Legacy Gifts Launch a simple, effective legacy giving program that secures your sanctuary’s future.
- Donor Relationships That Keep Giving
Cultivate lifelong supporters through outreach, stewardship, and meaningful connection.
- Why Accreditation Matters
Discover why obtaining sanctuary accreditation is more than a badge of honor, it’s a cornerstone of long-term success. Accreditation can open the door to larger grants, donor trust, and lasting credibility in the public eye.
- Your Custom Funding Blueprint
Tie it all together into a 6–12 month fundraising roadmap that fits your sanctuary’s unique needs, capacity, and mission.
