Cat Connections NYC

The Story

I founded Cat Connections NYC, a grassroots cat rescue based in Astoria, Queens, where I served as technical lead, fundraising director, and social media manager from the start.

It started after I volunteered at Astoria Cat Rescue, where I met a group of people who wanted to form something of their own. We set out together, and my original vision was a foster-based rescue that would one day grow into a cat café. It turned out to be far less simple than that.

What It Became

I built the organization's digital presence from nothing. The first website ran on WordPress, with custom PHP that pulled adoptable cats through the API of Animals First, our animal database software at the time. I later migrated the site to Webflow CMS, with a structured content model so adoptable and adopted cats, campaigns, and impact stories could be updated without a developer.

Behind the site, I implemented two animal management systems - first Animals First, then Shelterluv - and built the rescue's complex foster, adoption, and volunteer applications.

On the fundraising side, I ran campaigns across multiple platforms at once - Raisely, Zeffy, GoFundMe, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook - including community-driven posts on Reddit, a channel most nonprofit sites ignore entirely. That effort raised $18,000 in around six months, including a Fidelity Corporate Giving match.

Around 50 cats found adoptive homes through Cat Connections NYC. We also took in many cats with heavy medical needs - Mr. Blinks, Stevie, McLean, Charlie, Felix, and many others. Most needed expensive dental treatment, several dealt with ulcers, and Mr. Blinks had an overgrown conjunctiva that left his eyes half closed and required corrective surgery.

Why It Ended

Rescue work is overwhelming, and as I had less and less time, I gradually became less involved. The other members had their own lives and responsibilities that kept them from participating fully, too. Eventually my family moved to Upstate New York for my husband's job, and I paused my collaboration with Cat Connections NYC.

The group was quiet for a while, but it's now making a small comeback, with new people joining.

Looking Back

I learned a lot about animal welfare - how trapping works, what medical treatment really costs, how to build and write successful fundraising campaigns, and how to run the software behind a rescue, from different CRMs to beautiful, efficient donation forms.

I also learned how hard rescue is, how demanding its day-to-day operations are, and how quickly small conflicts can escalate into something bigger.