Fundraising, Donations Crucial to Leader Dogs' Success

This is the fourth entry in a five-part series profiling people involved with Leader Dogs for the Blind. 

Leader Dogs for the Blind's sprawling Rochester Hills campus covers a lot of bases—raising puppies, offering camps for visually impaired youths, training dogs and instructing visually impaired clients to navigate with help from canes, GPS units and guide dogs—to the tune of an $11 million annual operating budget, powered completely by philanthropy.

"We receive no federal or state funding," Melissa Weisse, the Leader Dogs' chief philanthropic officer, said. "I think we're really proud of that. We're such a part of the community here and the community assists us with our work. So many are puppy-raisers, volunteers or Lions (Club members)."

Lions Clubs, she says, provide the largest source of funds for Leader Dogs for the Blind.

"We were founded by Lions in 1939 and they still are our largest single donor source and largest referral source for clients," she said. "They're amazing people." 

The funding helps the organization with its orientation, mobility and dog programs and staffing, and Weisse said the donations have a long-lasting effect.

"When you fund Leader Dogs, you're helping someone for 8-9 years of their life, not just a one-off transaction," Weisse said. "You're creating millions of moments for the person who has the dog to go to school or work or do things with their family to live a full life. Your donation has a ripple effect, it affects not just the person with the dog but their family and their spouse. It's a huge gift."

The donations come in different forms for the organization.

"We have myriad different ways we fundraise," she said. "There are 4,900 Lions Clubs that give to us across the country, we support events that Lions Clubs do, we have corporate sponsors and Purina donates all of our dog food here on campus."

In June, Mark and Debbie Mansell from Washington rode their motorcycles across 48 states in 24 days—including a stop in Rochester Hills—to raise awareness and funds for Leader Dogs. In total, the couple raised more than $100,000.

In December 2012, Leader Dogs received a $1 million grant from the Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Foundation to establish and endow the Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Internship Academy at Leader Dogs for the Blind.

"(The interns) come to campus and learn the skills and go out into the community and serve exponentially more people where they live," Weisse said. 

The organization's signature fundraising event is a live and silent auction event in November at Rochester's Royal Park Hotel. Leader Dogs also relies on annual giving through its direct-mail campaign. 

Outside of monetary donations, Leader Dogs also receives help and cooperation from local businesses.

"There are shops in the community that welcome in Leader Dogs," she said. "They help us train by providing socialization and help us simulate environments a blind person may encounter."

Weisse, who came to Leader Dogs 10 years ago, says the organization's efforts can be seen around the nation.

"Leader Dogs are parts of communities around the country, from rural communities to urban environments," she said. "It's sort of Rochester's gift to the nation."

The Leader Dogs' new fiscal year began July 1 and Weisse said the organization "had a very good year last year" with the launch of the internship program. Moving forward, she said, the organization will be keeping up with new GPS technologies as devices become smaller and more manageable for clients.

"We want to give as much confidence-building devices, in tandem with the dogs, so clients (can navigate) as freely as possible," she said. 

Check back tomorrow for the fifth and final entry in our Leader Dogs series.