Top 10 Tips To Win The Annual Pet Calendar Contest
Start the year off with some fun by joining us in the annual Pet Calendar Contest!
Each year Marie Wulfram Photography hosts a pet calendar contest to raise funds for a local rescue to help them start the year with a little boost.
All funds from the calendar contest and the following calendar sales go directly to the rescue, so you know your donations are being put to good use in helping the animals in their care find loving homes and be well taken care of while they wait for their fur-ever family.
If you're in it to win it, take a look at these top 10 tips to win the calendar contest starting in January!
It All Starts With The Photo
This is a pet photo contest after all, so the first place to start is capturing a winning entry photo for your pet. Here are some tips.
Face or Fun
There are two types of photos that tend to garner lots of votes. Close ups of their adorable faces and smiles, or when they're playing and showing their fun-loving spirit. Try capturing some photos of both and see which ones appeal to you and your pet's personality best.
Well Lit
A well lit photo means a lot when it comes to a winning entry photo. This could mean going outside during the daytime (but not when it's too sunny, especially if your pet is white) or making sure you're near a bright window if you're indoors.
Sharp
No blurry photo ever wins a photo competition and it's no different for pets. Wait until they're tired out from a walk or relaxing in the sunshine before trying to snap the perfect photo.
Simple
This isn't the time to go all out with props. Keep the photos simple and focused on your adorable pets! It's all about them, not the scenery.
A Bio With Personality
Included in each entry is a space for your pet's bio. Have fun with it! Here's a couple tips to write a winning bio for your pet's calendar contest entry.
Tell it from their perspective
You see this a lot on Instagram. Pets who "run their own account" so all the captions and stories are written from their perspective. It's fun and engaging, and often quite funny, too! Bring some of that to your pet's bio and write it as if they were introducing themselves.
Show their personality
Let your pet's individual personality shine in their bio. Talk about their likes or dislikes, something funny they always do or how much they love a special toy or treat. Make it easy for people to fall in love with your pet.
Hazel’s mom always gets one of her dogs into the calendar, promoting through word of mouth and sharing with friends on social media
Spread The Word
The most important part of the contest is getting the word out. Not only for your own entry, but also for the contest as a whole so more people can join in the fun and help raise funds for the benefitting rescue. Here are some easy ways to share.
Link in bio
Make your pet's entry page the link in their Instagram bio so it's easy for people to vote for them.
Share to Facebook or Instagram stories and posts
This works for both Facebook and Instagram, but share about your entry and the contest in the stories or in regular posts. You can even include the link so it's easy for people to enter and vote.
Do this frequently throughout the contest so more and more people will have the chance to see it (because we all know the "algorithm" doesn't show our posts to everyone).
Encourage friends and family to enter and vote
Support each other by encouraging your friends and family to enter their pets as well! They can vote for your pets and you can vote for theirs, and the rescue gains more donations! It's a win for everyone!
This could be friendly calls, texts or even a mass email to family who aren’t on social media!
Share weekly for more prizes!
Each week also brings a new mini-contest with awesome prizes from local small businesses!
The way to win these is to gain the most NEW votes during that week, so there's a new chance to win each week and everyone has a fair chance of winning, even if they just entered the contest!
Our 2024 covergirl, Aloy, a 2-time calendar winner, whose parents say sharing offline has made a huge difference. Sending texts/emails to family and friends, talking to co-workers and spreading the calendar contest far and wide.
Are you excited to enter and win? Now's a great time to start working on capturing the best photo you can for your pet's entry and start thinking about what you're going to include in their bio.
The 2026 Pet Calendar Contest will launch on January 6th, 2025 at 9am PST!