In its second year, Dogtober is helping put Assistance Dogs Australia on the map as a charity that has latched on to the need to motivate and engage employees with a great time in the workplace.
“Through that fun we raised the issue of the difficulties faced by someone with a physical disability, bringing it to the forefront of people's minds".
Ritchie said Assistance Dogs 2010 goal to raise $500,000 to train another 20 pups to help people with physical disabilities was ambitious, “but you have to aim high to reach there!"
To help achieve its goal, Assistance Dogs collaborated with workplace giving partners either directly through brainstorming sessions or through its online idea kits encouraging and enabling employers and their teams to come up with their own initiatives.
Ritchie said examples included Allianz which held Dog's Breakfasts in nine offices across Australia, and Optus whose employee volunteers helped out on a merchandise stand in Australia Square.
Workplace environments were taken over by robot dog races, puppy photos, hot dogs, dogstackle courses, Howl-o-ween parties and pup-cake sales.
When Nadeen Burge from the corporate communication branch of the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment in Tasmania raised $854 whipping up over 400 paw-cakes during October, a colleague's dare if she raised over $500 meant she had to spend a day at work in a dogsuit.
"The dare wasn't such a big ask. Everyone knows I enjoy dressing up!" she said.
Not being a well-known brand was Assistance Dogs' main challenge, Ritchie said, though anecdotal feedback suggests Dogtober has helped Assistance Dogs raise its profile.
With 22 November the closing date for funds, Ritchie said all donations will go directly to training more pups.
The Australian Charities Fund and United Way have made a joint submission in response to the Commonwealth Treasury's discussion paper, 'Charitable fundraising regulation reform'.
