Speranta Shelter: Dog Rescue Charity PR & Social Case Study
70 pieces of coverage
1.93 million estimated views
15,325 views of influencer content
Speranta Shelter is a pioneering dog charity based in Bucharest, Romania and is home to more than 500 former strays.
The charity has a strict no-euthanasia policy, and works to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome dogs.
It also focuses on sterilisation and education, and to date has sterilised more than 100,000 animals.
The shelter is ran by veterinarian Anca Tomescu, who oversees its veterinary clinic and outreach programmes and has worked with animals across the world.
Anca’s mother founded the shelter in 2001 when she rescued more than 300 dogs who were set to be euthanised when a public shelter closed.
Now, 25 years on, Speranta continues to strive for change.
Along with daily work at the shelter and on the ground, Anca and her team are spearheading calls to reform animal welfare laws in Romania.
The charity contacted R&Co Communications to help reach a wider audience outside Romania.
With nearly 11,000 Romanian dogs rehomed in the UK last year – more than anywhere else in the world – animal lovers in the UK could provide essential donations to help Speranta continue its life-saving work.
Speranta wanted to focus efforts in the UK, where it had previously seen interest in its projects which had been supported by an international charity providing funding.
When the supporting charity withdrew from Romania it meant the end of a much-needed funding stream provided by UK supporters.
They needed help to further spread the word of the shelter and raise donations to continue its work.
OUR APPROACH
As a full-service agency, we were able to cover every facet of Speranta’s needs, using an integrated digital marketing approach across PR, social media and SEO to help raise awareness across the UK.
The start of our working relationship saw R&Co’s animal-loving team head to Romania to visit the shelter and see Speranta’s work first hand.
Here we were able to not only cement relationships with the team but carry out background research and learn more about the shelter and what would interest the UK audience.
PR
With an extensive background in veterinary PR and marketing spanning more than 20 years, we know what hits the headlines.
While in Romania we established a cohesive plan on how to create links between Romania and the UK to interest editors and readers, this has included press trips to the shelter and FOI requests to establish UK-relevant data.
Social media marketing
We used paid social media to target the UK audience, spreading the word about the work Speranta does and the plight of strays in Romania. This approach enabled us to raise awareness about its pioneering remote adoptions – where supporters can fund the care of a dog waiting for its forever home to be found.
Social media pages were created specifically for UK users and to drive further interest, we flew UK influencers to the shelter to capture content and share Speranta’s story.
SEO
While Speranta’s Romanian site did have a translate option, it was not user-friendly for UK-based visitors.
Our SEO team created a new site with increased search engine visibility, where UK users could quickly and easily find out more about the shelter, it’s work and how to support through a donation.
At R&Co we go above and beyond, so our work for Speranta didn’t stop there. Over the festive period we helped generate interest in our hometown of Leamington by decorating a Christmas tree in aid of Speranta. At the local Christmas tree festival our team created baubles with QR codes linking to pages where supporters could sponsor a dog.
Our six-month campaign with Speranta has seen UK-based donations boosted, which will help the charity continue its important work.
R&Co’s PR team secured 70 pieces of coverage across websites from respected veterinary title the Vet Times to national news outlets including MSN and the Mirror. We also achieved broadcast coverage on BBC Radio Cornwall as a result of our influencer partnership with street dog trainer Toby Craze.
Speranta’s UK social media pages continue to grow, and its new website receives more UK traffic.
“We have been especially impressed with how the team at R&Co quickly engaged with our cause, taking it on as their own. This enthusiasm, plus very good creative and technical capabilities, as well as timely attention to our needs, have convinced us to extend our use of their services and we’re excited as to where our partnership can go.”
Clayton Davis, Speranta Shelter
At R&Co Communications we are well-respected for our marketing work in the veterinary, charity and animal sectors. To find out how we can help you drive results through our PR SEO and social media services please get in touch.