Annual Big Cat Rescue Give Day is May 4

Biggest donation match ever - $60,000!

Our annual Give Day is one of our critical fundraising efforts of the year.  In “normal” times it often funds new projects, but we all know these are not normal times. Early last year COVID hit, then a week later the betrayal by the producers of Tiger King and their bizarre portrayal of Joe Exotic as a sympathetic victim and Carole as the villain created enormous challenges.  We had to cancel the tours that represent 30% of our revenue, let go half of our valued staff, and reduce many discretionary expenses. Even then, we did not know if donations would cover the remaining costs of caring for the cats or if we would run a deficit.

The wonderful news is that so many of you stepped up in a way that literally brought tears of gratitude to our eyes. Last year Give Day set a new record for donations. With that start, we ended the year just slightly in the black financially, excluding non-recurring events.

Our main need this Give Day, like last year, is to insure we can give the best possible care to the cats without having to raid the reserves we have worked so hard to set aside. Secondarily, we have one capital improvement we would like to fund. So many people have expressed how much they miss not being able to visit the cats that we want to give a better opportunity for supporters to see the cats they love remotely in real time when they want to, not just when we do our Facebook lives. Secondly, a big part of the reason for the tours was to educate the public. An expanded virtual offering gives us an opportunity to continue to do just that.