Meet Monthlies Small Org Winner: Magical Creatures Sanctuary | How Authentic Storytelling on Social Media Built a Monthly Giving Program

If you've ever wondered what's possible with zero full-time paid staff and zero development budget, this episode is for you. Magical Creatures Sanctuary is a 100% volunteer-run farmed animal rescue on Hawaii Island that cares for more than 100 rescued animals, and today, 48% of their individual donor revenue comes from recurring gifts, with an 83% donor retention rate.

Executive Director Jill Vanderhoef joins me to break down their Adopt a Magical Creature sponsorship program and how even a $5 monthly gift can create meaningful stability.

Plus, Jill shares EXACTLY what’s working for them on Instagram and TikTok and why emotional connection, before-and-after storytelling, and paying attention to the questions your audience is already asking can help create content that brings supporters closer to your mission.

Resources & Links

Learn more about Magical Creatures Sanctuary and follow them on Instagram and TikTok.

This episode is presented by The Monthly Giving Builder. If you are leaving real impact dollars on the table, sign up by August 12th for just $49.99/month and get FREE access to 3 LIVE sessions on August 17, 20, and 27 to help you stand up your monthly giving program.

With the Monthly Giving Builder, you can generate your comprehensive monthly giving plan and build your program step by step - with a guided companion working alongside you from start to finish. 

Supercharge your monthly giving program and apply for my Monthly Giving VIP Intensive session. Only 2 spots are available this fall!

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Transcript

Welcome To Missions To Movements

SPEAKER_01 0:00

If you've ever wondered what's possible with zero full-time paid staff, zero development budget, and a whole lot of heart, this episode is for you. My guest today is Jill Vanderhoff, Executive Director of Magical Creatures Sanctuary. They are a 100% volunteer-run farmed animal rescue on Hawaii Island, caring for more than a hundred rescued animals. And I am so excited to share that Magical Creatures Sanctuary is our small organization winner from this year's Monthlies. This is our awards program that recognizes nonprofits that are truly building exceptional recurring giving cultures during Monthly Giving Awareness Week back in May. Now, what Jill and her team have built is called Adopt a Magical Creature. And currently they have an animal sponsorship program where every single one of their 100 plus residents is available for individual monthly sponsorship. She's going to share there's a new program being built as well. And the numbers speak for themselves. They have an 83% donor retention rate, 48% of their total individual donor income now comes from recurring gifts. And we are going to dig into exactly how this program works, how they find their monthly donors, and why people aren't just giving, but they are staying. And I love this story that she talks about Princess Leia. We're gonna talk about who that is. It's a sheep, teaser. And it's just like the kind of connections that they have with their donors and their relationships. This is just such a fun conversation. Please welcome Jill.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I feel like I lived my whole life under a rock because I was one of those people that was like five dollars a month really doesn't make a difference. And I'm in this position now where those five dollars a month, it may not feel like a lot for someone to give that or feel like they're giving enough, but

Meet Jill And The Sanctuary

SPEAKER_02 1:53

you are giving for us, our animals, stability. You are saying that we are committed to helping you provide this care. And when you have a bunch of people stand together and give even, you know, smaller numbers, doesn't matter. Having stability is so valuable beyond whatever monetary amount is given.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Jill, I want to be where you are right now, even though you said you've had some crazy weather, but I still would want to be in Hawaii.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

It's not bad. The rain is a bit soothing when you're inside. And when you're not in the pastures, it's pleasant for sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

It's pleasant. Yes. Okay, so you are running an a hundred percent volunteer-run farmed animal sanctuary with a hundred plus rescued animals. Am I getting this right so far? Okay, we're getting head nods, yes. And the same people feeding the animals every single morning, are the same people who have built your entire fundraising program. Am I still correct? I'm loving all of this. Okay. I'm just so curious. And we had a in email correspondence earlier this week where we had to reschedule this. Can you paint a picture for our listeners? Like, what does a day, if there is such an average day at magical creature sanctuary actually look like?

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah. When you phrase it like that, it is kind of like, wow, okay, yeah, we did this.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

But yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Yeah, it's an average day. There

Why Five Dollars Matters

SPEAKER_02 3:24

is no average day, but we do have a basic schedule that we follow for our animal care. So shift starts at 7:30 in the morning, and we will work for about three to four hours, and then we'll come back in the afternoon and do our evening care. So that's kind of the bulk of the animal care shift. And then at any point throughout the days, you could have animal emergencies, you could have people from the community coming to pick up free compost, you could have a tour guest, you could have anything. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

I love it so much. So, as the small organization that won the monthlies, congratulations. Thank you. Before like we really talk about how the program works, can you talk about how is monthly giving at the organization before like adopt a magical creature came to life? Like, was it something you've been thought about? How did it even like come into fruition?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

That's a good question. And I've been thinking about this a lot lately because the founder did not intend on starting an animal sanctuary in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with over 100 animals. That was not the plan, and we're very happy that we're here now.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

I love things that are never the plan that become like the coolest plans.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

The greatest things ever. That's how I got here. So I'm not complaining. But basically,

A Day On The Farm

SPEAKER_02 4:50

the catalyst for everything was in 2018 when the volcano erupted and there was lava flows, and we took in about 30 to 40 residents at that time because the community was coming together to try to save these animals. Some owners were leaving their animals because they felt like they had no choice or they didn't have the tools to bring their animals with them. So from that moment was when our need for manpower and starting to grow into the organization that we are now. That's where it all started. So we got the animals, realized the care that was needed. Then we started bringing in the volunteers to meet that demand. And then it was how do we fundraise to bring in the money to just feed the animals and provide medical care? Because at that time, that's all we were really doing. We hadn't had our normal systems in place yet. So everything just kind of happened organically. A monthly giving program was definitely not even a thought in our minds back in 2018.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Yeah. Yeah. What ended up being the initial catalyst for it?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

If I'm honest, I think that something we've realized

The Volcano That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_02 6:17

that is one of our strengths is the fact that we don't have to do much to have a program like this. And what I mean by that is our animals carry all the work. It is all based on relationships. And all we're doing is giving people the platform to connect with these animals. And I love that relationships are what makes people want to stay involved, stay in touch. And that's how Adopt a Magical Creature came about because some people often, honestly, whether you're an intern, a tour guest, you just come here on a whim, you often meet at least one resident that you've connected with, and they've connected with you. And then you leave and you're thinking about that animal. And you're like, I wonder what's happening. And people just genuinely were like, I love this animal. Can I support you? Can I buy you an extra bale of hay? How can I support you and also stay connected to this animal?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Okay, so listeners, we're in the middle of recording this episode, and of course, I'm in the mountains for the summer, and my computer decides to die. And if I sounded a little different, that's because we're just rolling with the reality here. So I mean, Jill's out in the middle of Hawaii. I'm here in the mountains. So it was perfect. A little bit audio for the rest of the recording today, on my end at least. That was so profoundly important because I think that's literally what it's all about. Is I've always said when we're thinking about asking people to give and specific dollar amounts and how we fundraise how we think about monthly giving specifically, is like, I can't go a day

Relationships Built Adopt A Creature

SPEAKER_01 8:05

without wanting to support this cause, or in this case, this specific animal, right? That I've connected with.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

And sometimes we use social media a lot because we're creating a platform to form relationships and we're telling stories. And that's at the core of everything what we're doing. So telling the stories, even through social media, is how we get those people who haven't been here yet and want to come. And it's so funny because I'll get, you know, a tour booking and I'll see someone has been following our social media for so long and have been wanting to come out, or even our fundraising manager today, we ran into her at an event and she was like, Oh my God, started crying. Was like, I sponsor Leia and Manina, and I want to be involved. She has still to this day not been here. Why and now instead of just donating monetarily, she's also giving us her like lifelong expertise and helping us grow the organization.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Oh my gosh, that's incredible. Yes. Okay, so let's like talk about the program to bring it all into context. So you didn't just build a monthly giving program, it's also a full like animal sponsorship program, right? So if I remember this correctly from the application, like every single one of the 100 plus residents animals are available for individual sponsorship. Can you talk us through how that works, what a donor is doing when they're signing up to be a monthly donor?

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah. So where we are today is we have built the program out that way that any of our residents can be sponsored, and that does allow for people to have their own unique relationships and be able to do that. We are at a point where we can provide the stories and the content for a hundred residents, but it's a lot of work to deliver a beautiful package to our donors and like what they deserve, you know, they deserve this beautiful package that our sponsorship coordinator puts together, but it is a lot of manpower. So we're introducing a new system. We will still have that every resident is available for sponsorship, but we're also going to introduce sponsor species, which will allow someone to receive an array of updates and pictures and stories.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

I love this for you. Yeah, I love this for you, and I love this for the donors too. But that is Yes.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Yes, exactly. So right now, if you were to go to our website, which is magical creatures sanctuary.org, you can see a get involved tab where you can sponsor a resident and it will go to the species. Okay. So it's organically already set up that way, which is great. Yeah. But you can go into a species and then select the animal that you want to sponsor and go from there.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Amazing. Okay, so you've talked a little bit about how you're finding

How Animal Sponsorships Work

SPEAKER_01 11:44

your monthly donors. So it sounds like most of them are coming to you for a tour or volunteering or social media. Is that right? Yeah. Social media is a big one. Is the big one. Okay. And which social platform? Mostly Instagram and TikTok. Okay. So are they literally going from Instagram to sign up for a tour and then give, or are a lot of them just going right to the website and adopting from there?

SPEAKER_02 12:10

The catalyst for sponsors is typically when we get a new resident. So you're at max capacity. We don't have extra funding, space, manpower, all these things to continue to take in more animals. But on the rare occasion that we do step in and get involved, we will share what is actively happening at the moment. I could give you an example from a few months ago. There was a goat stuck on a cliff, and I was working for days to try to get him down, had to get the fire department involved. So all of these things happened, which created a good story that gave our supporters or our followers a very I just went to your Instagram. Yeah. A real depiction of you know what we're dealing with, what we're feeling and going through, and they feel compelled to sign up. So that's a major way that we get supporters.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Is it Clifford?

SPEAKER_02 13:11

It is Clifford. Clifford, the go. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

He was a baby. Yeah. He was, yeah, like three months. Oh my god. He was young. Okay, what are you finding? Because I know so many people would want to know this. What are you finding that works on social media? Like, how are you storytelling in a way that is because obviously I see it. There's engagement, there's you're getting people to take an action to do something, and people are like, tell me, Jill, like, what are your secret ways? Like, what are you finding that's worked?

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Honestly, authenticity

Where Monthly Donors Come From

SPEAKER_02 15:10

is huge. Being honest about where you're at, you know, for I guess in an animal rescue space, we have kind of a unique platform where we don't need to fabricate stories or anything like that. We need to figure out a way to capture all of the stories that are happening on an everyday basis, yes, and be able to provide those. So that's more of the challenge we have in our

Clifford’s Cliff Rescue Goes Viral

SPEAKER_02 15:37

education machine or can be. Yeah, we have an incredible content creator on site who's also an incredible animal caregiver. Yeah. So yeah, I would say authenticity is huge. Emotional connection is a big thing. And for us, the before and afters, being able to see a resident like Clifford, let's say, you have someone following you and they see, okay, there's a scope stuck on a cliff. They're trying to get him out. Even if they're not compelled or able to sponsor that resident right in that moment, they still have the opportunity to stay connected through our social media. And we like to show the evolution of our animals. Like Clifford, he had a crazy bacterial infection on his mouth, wasn't able to eat. And over time, we were able to obviously help him heal. And now he's the happiest goat of all time. He's basically like a dog. He follows you around for treats and is just so happy and bouncing around, and he has his best friend. So just really for us, it's figuring out a way to share like what's actually happening with our residents. So we're very lucky that we have an ample amount of material for us to share.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Amazing. Okay, so just tactically, when, because I'm curious, and somebody else who now might be also inspired to be a monthly donor like I am. When an animal comes into your care and they do heal, do they stay with you for a long

Authentic Social Storytelling That Converts

SPEAKER_01 17:08

time or do they end up being released so that you can bring on space for new ones, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Yeah, that's a really good question. We have a unique circumstance being on Hawaii Island, and it's not fully unique to being in Hawaii, but when you and well, I can use Clifford for example, he was very much a wild goat, and he still is. You can see that in him today. If we were to have taken him in, helped him heal, and then released him to the wild, we would then have broken that natural instinct and fear of humans. So it makes them susceptible to human involvement. And for us on island, hunting is a big culture. So that is something we take very seriously. It happens right outside of our pastures. We have ravines that line our property. So we hear this happening as well. And when we take in a resident, we say, we're going to give you the best life we can possibly give you until you leave.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

I also love that you call them residents. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

They're also called people. We're always like, Are all the people in? Does everyone have a bed?

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yeah. I just, you all need a documentary. If there hasn't been like a docuseries done on the you yet, we actually have a filmmaker here right now. Stop it. Okay, wait. I know. This is so cool. I am I'm obsessed. This is great. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I want to talk about also. Well, A, okay. Explain how when did you start the adopt program? When did you start the monthly giving program?

SPEAKER_02 18:47

I believe it was, I started with the organization in 2020. Okay. We were founded in 2018, but I've been connected ever since. It's really started probably like 2022, 23.

Why Residents Stay For Life

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Okay. But in 2024 is when we had our new sponsorship coordinator step up and start doing them and creating these gorgeous packages. Like our donors get beautiful pictures and descriptions. And I think just having receiving something, whether it's email or in the mail, that has clearly been designed with thought and care and love, I think it makes a difference.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Wow. Okay. So over the past like couple years, really, what has the program, how many monthly donors do you guys have right now?

SPEAKER_02 19:42

20% of our residents are actually sponsored. So not even that many. Great. We need manpower to be able to share like all of the stories if people really are sponsoring all these animals. We probably have around 50 sponsors.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Great. That's amazing. Yeah. And how has that having roughly 50 monthly, how has that changed the organization? How has that made an impact?

SPEAKER_02 20:12

I wish someone could go back to younger Jill. And I feel like I lived my whole life under a rock because I was one of those people that was like five dollars a month really doesn't make a difference. And I'm in this position now where those five dollars a month, it may not feel like a lot for someone to give that

Donor Packages Retention And Growth

SPEAKER_02 20:39

or feel like they're giving enough, but you are giving for us, our animals, stability. Yeah. You are saying that we are committed to helping you provide this care. And when you have a bunch of people band together and give even you know smaller numbers, doesn't matter. Having stability is so valuable beyond whatever monetary amount is given.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yes. Oh, I'm so glad you said that. That's the whole point, right? Is that you're able to count on something. So for the people that have joined, has everybody pretty much stuck with you? Like, do you have a pretty strong retention rate? We do.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Yeah. Everyone pretty much stays involved. We have some different platforms, even outside of sponsor and animal. Like we have Patreon and stuff as well. So they pretty much stick with us. And when people leave, it's usually just because of circumstances in their lives. Yeah, in their lives. That's the most feedback they get.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Yeah. Amazing. There was something specific that you also wrote about Princess Leia. Princess Leia. Okay, and I want to explain who she is. Princess Leia has more sponsorships than any resident in the sanctuary. Is that currently still true? I think so, yeah. Okay. And one of her original sponsors has her certificate displayed in her living room. I love this. Oh, yeah, it says 83% retention rate. 48% of your individual donor comes in from recurring gifts. That's incredible. Okay. Who's Princess Leia?

SPEAKER_02 22:08

So Princess Leia is actually a great example of when you share what's happening and like a present situation. So Leia coming into our care and showing the evolution there. So the reason she has so many supporters is she was born with these front limb deformities. We have Minina, who has a similar deformity. Wait, what kind of animal is she? They are both sheep. Okay. So Manina has a deformity more in her shoulders, so she'll use a wheelchair. Leia had a deformity, it's mostly in her limbs, not in her shoulders. So she wears prosthetics. Okay. So she came into our care February 2025, 24, 25. And we shared, you know, we have this lamb that someone was trying to take care of. She wasn't going to be given a chance, which is very common. So when someone reached out to us and we do know how to care for animals with these deformities, that's actually one of our strengths. We know that we need to step in in times like that to the best of our ability. And at the time we were able to take her in. So she came in, she was this tiny little bunny rabbit, just like running all over. She's a sheep, but she was bouncing like a bunny rabbit and is just irresistible to this day. She is irresistible. She looks at you, she smiles, she just radiates joy. And they've

Princess Leia And The Prosthetics

SPEAKER_02 23:41

been able to see her grow and grow into her prosthetics. And now she needs a new pair of prosthetics. So we're trying to get that going. For her, honestly, once she got in her prosthetics, and I know there's footage of this somewhere, she galloped away. The first time they were put on, it was like she had worn them her whole life.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

She shared this content and that excited on social, email, both, I guess. Mostly social. Mostly social. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Amazing. So cool. I mean, what would your recommendation be for? I know some people are listening, they're like, I do not have an amazing cute sheep to share on my channel. How would you invite others to try storytelling like this, but within their lane, maybe?

SPEAKER_02 24:30

I'll bring it back to the authenticity and being real. And sometimes, even for myself, I'll think about when people ask me, oh, you know, what do you do with your life and stuff? And people always have questions. My advice would be listen to the questions that people are asking you. Yes, that's great advice. And maybe that's the angle that you take in your storytelling. And even people are invested in people, you know, if there's someone doing something good in the world, first of all, thank you. And people need that. Yeah. Most people don't have the luxury of being able to work in nonprofit space. I mean, life is tough enough, you know? So allowing other people to join you on your journey and your impact is a gift. So good.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Okay, there's not a better way to end this conversation, Jill. This has been amazing. I am coming to visit you as soon as I can get over to Hawaii and come. I what island specifically? The Big Island. The Big Island. Okay, noted. Very important. Don't go to the wrong island, everyone.

unknown 25:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Jill, thank you so much for all you do. I'm excited to hear what's going to happen with the film team that is with you all right now. Very excited. Exciting, and congratulations again on winning the month, please. Thank you so much, Dina.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review wherever you're listening. Your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button too so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movement.