February 20th, 2021

DOMOTW – Our New Doggy Charity Initiative

Catapult PR is one month in to a brand-new charity fundraising initiative and one that fits perfectly with our work in pet product PR and public relations and marketing for pet services and pet insurance products too. This is our Doggy Office Manager of the Week initiative.

DOMOTW, as we are now using as its abbreviation, partly came about because of the 60th anniversary of the Disney film, 101 Dalmatians, on January 25. However, it is also born out of our hankering for a real doggy office manager and the realisation that we just could not have one, as it would not be fair on any canine employee, when things return to normal and we have to take to the road again.

So through DOMOTW we just borrow other people’s dogs – virtually – and every time we do, we donate £5 to a charity pot, which will be split between our two chosen charities, Guide Dogs for the Blind and the Border Collie Trust.

The reason for selecting those two charities are very personal. In our first 18 months of Catapult PR, back in 1998-9, we did have a doggy office manager, the wonderful Troy, or Troy-bear as he was frequently known. He was the gentlest, most loving Golden Retriever you could ever wish to meet and, of course, this breed can become great guide dogs. Add to this the fact that our managing director has always has a connection to blind people – from the friend she had tea parties with, as a small child, on top of her nan’s hotel building, to most latterly, residents at the Princess Alexandra blind home in Blackpool – and it made sense. Guide Dogs for the Blind is also our Amazon Smile cause.

When it comes to the Border Collie Trust, our MD grew up with Border Collies and, for many years lived next door to a farm, whose Collies would come visiting. She has also adored clients’ sheepdogs, to the extent of wishing to bundle them in the car and take them home!

So where does 101 Dalmatians fit in? Well, we hope to run this initiative for 101 weeks, if we can find enough people willing to let us make their dog our virtual Doggy Office Manager of the Week. That will see us donating £505 to dog charities and we have other initiatives in the pipeline, which could boost this even more.

Our first month has seen our doggy office managers being Cheddar, Talula, Tilly and Dora and all have kept us very much in order! We are very grateful to their owners for letting us profile their dogs on social media, on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages, revealing their age, breed, name and philosophical tip or inspiring quote. You can check out our 4 adorable dogs at these pages and see what they have to say! All have been model employees, so far but we’ve missed out on any hugs we might have enjoyed, if they were really here.

Now we are seeking more dogs, so that we can achieve the challenge of doing this for 101 weeks. Can you help us, by allowing your dog to be profiled? All we need is a photo and a teeny bit of info about your dog and we will do the rest and make the charity donation. Please get involved, if you can. Just email jane@catapultpr.co.uk