From jumble sales to Flag Days, TV appeals to weekly lotteries we’ve always been innovators when it comes to fundraising. In the competitive world of charity giving, that’s never been an easy task, and we have to find new ways to keep up our levels of income in the future.

Let’s look back to our early years and our 1924 Annual Report said that we’d treated more than 200,000 animals in a year. In big block capitals, readers were reminded that we have NO ENDOWMENTS, NO CAPITAL and NO LEGACIES and are supported entirely by voluntary contributions. In that same report we listed every single person who had given a donation (and how much) to show our gratitude.

Our Founder Maria Dickin would regularly hold jumble sales and there’s an anecdote that she sold several pairs of her husband’s trousers to raise funds. As the years passed we needed to find new and original ways to fundraise and by the 1930s we were asking supporters to consider leaving us a gift in their will or take out an annual subscription to PDSA.

In the 1970s our PDSA Gift Shops were well established and increasingly popular with the public. We had the help of many committed supporters who’d stand outside in all weathers as Flag Day collectors. Unfortunately we were also plagued with bogus collectors and had to ensure our collecting boxes were only available to bona-fide supporters.

In the 1990s we introduced mail order trading which helped us as we published catalogues in spring and at Christmas and a special ‘Golden Pet’ catalogue featuring high-quality goods.

There have been many dramatic feats of endurance too as supporters tested themselves to the limit in some big fundraising challenges. In 2002 for instance, some of our supporters did a ten-day cycle ride across Sri Lanka, a trek along the tough Inca trail in Peru and fifteen runners took part in the London Marathon. We also had the help of our Pet Protectors junior supporters doing everything from sponsored walks to car washes and our tireless Fundraising Groups across the UK.

Do you think you could help and would like to do something special in our Centenary year? Please take a look at our fundraising pages and our 100 Ways ebooklet on our website pdsa.org.uk to see what suits you!

Play to win

Throughout our history we’ve always found new and interesting ways to raise funds and now we’ve recently launched an exciting new PDSA Weekly Lottery giving players a chance to win great cash prizes every week.

It’s the first new gaming product we’ve launched in some time and is primarily aimed at attracting new supporters and generating income through a regular monthly direct debit.

For just £1 per entry, players are in with a chance of winning up to 50 prizes each week with a guaranteed jackpot of £1,000. There’s also a chance to win our rollover of up to £10,000. The first draw took place in November. Check out our website for details pdsa.org.uk