Fostering has never felt so warm and fuzzy. Literally.
When the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society was short on shelter space, supplies, and puppy love, I was recruited by Matt & Sean to freelance their pro-bono campaign, which I coined “Fostering Is Furfilling.” In 2024, I teamed up with Sean McCormick (fantastic AD) and Matt Caspari (genius behind “Where’s the Beef?”) to launch this fostering campaign in Philadelphia. Perhaps if I show my landlord this campaign, he will waive the monthly pet fee. Paws crossed.
Fostering is no walk in the park… despite the irony. It requires care, attention, and sometimes even waking up to feed a litter of kittens. PAWS had a variety of fosters, with different needs — whether they needed medication or a little extra love, it was clear our target audience had to be people with a little more free time on their hands. Our target audience? Retirees, work-at-home warriors, singles who were looking for an outlet, or those looking for an excuse to flake on dinner plans with their in-laws.
We nailed our target market… but what do we do about funding? Since this project was for a nonprofit organization, we had to think outside of the litter box. In 2024, we launched our first “Foster Night” at pet-friendly bars in the city, including American Sardine Bar. There, we could fully bring this project to print, in the form of flyers, tear-aways, coasters, table tents, and T-shirts for PAWS employees. The best part? Every animal photographed in these materials are up for foster-care and/or adoption. Learn more about fostering at phillypaws.org/foster.
