Premier Toyota
Animal adoption event spreads goodwill throughout the community
Jan/Feb 2018
Purr-fect Event
The second annual Purr-Mier Adoption Event & Fundraiser helped 14 dogs and cats get adopted with Premier Toyota covering the adoption fees.
The second annual Purr-Mier Adoption Event & Fundraiser helped 14 dogs and cats get adopted with Premier Toyota covering the adoption fees.
A love for animals and a desire to see pets get adopted spurred Natalie Deem to look into how Premier Toyota could make pet adoptions accessible — and free — to customers.
Why not buy a car and adopt a cat, or dog, at the same time?
Premier Toyota partnered with Friendship Animal Protective League (Friendship APL) on the event, appropriately named “Purr-Mier Adoption Event & Fundraiser.”
“I love animals,” says Deem, customer service manager at the Amherst, Ohio, dealership. “I want to help them and get them adopted and so many of our loyal customers are animal lovers.”
Friendship APL, a no-kill shelter based in Elyria, Ohio, brought 20 cats and dogs to the September event where 14 were adopted. Premier Toyota covers adoption costs, which normally run about $200 each.
The dealership invested more than $2,000 in the event, which covered promotions via social media, flyers, advertisements and an email blast, refreshments and pet adoption fees. Premier also donated $10 for each of the 13 test drives taken.
Nine vehicles were sold during the event and foot traffic increased to about 100 visitors, compared to 20-30 on a typical Saturday.
Premier collected $629 in direct donations for the shelter, which also saw a spike in online donations when the dealership sent an email link to customers.
Dealership employees played an active role, cooking and serving up free hot dogs and refreshments, helping with setup and even adopting pets.
“It is the best advertising that we can do; the word-of-mouth referrals we get from the event is incredible,” Deem says. “People who get an animal tell their friends where they got it, and that Premier paid all the fees. When people hear that, they can’t believe we are paying all the fees. It spreads goodwill, and some end up buying a car.”
Why not buy a car and adopt a cat, or dog, at the same time?
Premier Toyota partnered with Friendship Animal Protective League (Friendship APL) on the event, appropriately named “Purr-Mier Adoption Event & Fundraiser.”
“I love animals,” says Deem, customer service manager at the Amherst, Ohio, dealership. “I want to help them and get them adopted and so many of our loyal customers are animal lovers.”
Friendship APL, a no-kill shelter based in Elyria, Ohio, brought 20 cats and dogs to the September event where 14 were adopted. Premier Toyota covers adoption costs, which normally run about $200 each.
The dealership invested more than $2,000 in the event, which covered promotions via social media, flyers, advertisements and an email blast, refreshments and pet adoption fees. Premier also donated $10 for each of the 13 test drives taken.
Nine vehicles were sold during the event and foot traffic increased to about 100 visitors, compared to 20-30 on a typical Saturday.
Premier collected $629 in direct donations for the shelter, which also saw a spike in online donations when the dealership sent an email link to customers.
Dealership employees played an active role, cooking and serving up free hot dogs and refreshments, helping with setup and even adopting pets.
“It is the best advertising that we can do; the word-of-mouth referrals we get from the event is incredible,” Deem says. “People who get an animal tell their friends where they got it, and that Premier paid all the fees. When people hear that, they can’t believe we are paying all the fees. It spreads goodwill, and some end up buying a car.”
