Daisy, Vice President of Naps + Snacks
WeRateDogs started in 2015 as a Twitter account that rated cute dogs on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s a simple premise that might sound silly, especially if you’re not a dog person (I’ll pretend I’m not offended), but it serves as a stellar example of how mission-driven organizations can leverage the power of social media.
A decade later, WeRateDogs sits at more than 6 million Instagram followers and has raised more than $6M for dogs with medical needs.
How did they do that?!
They did what so many mission-driven organizations aspire to do but can’t quite put their finger on: turn interest into action.
STARTING SMALL
Here’s what WeRateDogs does the best: simplicity. Its name is its premise: you know what to expect on their page just from their Instagram handle. They. rate. dogs. The captions are short, snappy, and funny or cute, always including a rating (above 10, of course).
That simplicity drew millions of people to follow them and opened the door for a much larger opportunity to make an impact.
As their following — and impact — grew, so did their messaging. This often happens with nonprofits and mission-driven organizations: our programs expand, our mission grows, and we take on additional roles in our communities. Then we try to fit all the things into the post, the landing page, or the one-pager so that our audience knows just how much we do! But when communications try to be all things to all people, it ends up being nothing to anyone.
WeRateDogs’ narrative is more complicated now, but even their more nuanced posts remain the same: short and sweet. Easy to digest. A quick read.
MEETING THE MOMENT
The premise of WeRateDogs is user-generated content, which in turn generated an entirely new type of content. People sent in their own dogs to be featured, but they also sent in dogs who had very expensive, urgent medical needs. When WeRateDogs started featuring those dogs every Friday, they started to raise money for their medical care, sometimes exceeding the goal by thousands of dollars.
Matt Nelson, the founder, said that this shift made him change how he measures success – focusing on the number of dogs saved rather than the number of followers and likes per post.
This success has been so overwhelming that the 15/10 Foundation was born “to channel the overwhelming support the WeRateDogs audience has shown for years into effective care for the dogs who need it most.”
TRANSPARENCY
An Instagram reel recently went viral when it exposed another popular account, The Dodo, for not actually…doing anything to help rescue animals. Eek.
On the other hand, one of the most unique things about WeRateDogs and The 15/10 Foundation is that when they meet the fundraising goal for a dog, they stop taking donations for that dog.
They don’t keep donors in the dark about how much the surgery will cost. They don’t continue accepting donations and funnel those to another (well-deserving) dog. They don’t slide some of the money into overhead. They say “This dog needs $6K.” When they raise $6K, they stop fundraising for that dog and start fundraising for the next one.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
This proves trustworthiness to donors, enhances credibility, and allows donors to truly feel the weight of their impact: they know exactly what their money is doing. That’s the magic ticket!
IDENTIFY THE WHY
We’ve established that the WeRateDogs social media content is fun. But the whole brand is fun, too.
And, yes, I totally understand that not all of us are working on issues as “easy” to sell as adorable rescue puppies. There are plenty of very important issues that are not cute, glamorous, or flashy.
But your issue does not have to be fun in order to be impactful. The truth is that people care about it, whether it’s flashy or not.
Are you leaning into that?
Does your merch (and your website, and your donation page) represent why people love your organization in a unique way? Or did you just put a logo on a hat?
There’s not necessarily a wrong answer here, but I’m encouraging you to think strategically. WeRateDogs proves that there’s a far more effective way to sell a t-shirt than just because it benefits a good cause.
shirt benefits a good cause + it’s adorable + it taps into the buyer’s passion + it makes them feel like they’re a part of a community = SOLD
(Another example of this? St. Jude’s “This Shirt Saves Lives” shirts. They literally speak for themselves.)
OVERALL, 12/10
As it turns out, the lessons that we can take from WeRateDogs are also the lessons that we can take from dogs.
Keep things simple.
Measure success by the things that matter.
Be honest.
Own what makes you “you.” Like Louie, who owns his quirks and earned a very impressive 13/10 rating.
