FAQs

Lock-In for Love is an annual community event that lets you put your compassionate love for animals to work – right from your phone or keyboard. Set up a free team or personal fundraising page to collect donations for the BC SPCA online from June 11-27, 2026.

June 27 is the big finale. It’s your chance to get up close and personal with the animals your kindness is helping! Simply raise $150 as an individual (or average $150 per person as a team) by June 24 and you’ll be invited to your local participating BC SPCA centre. There you’ll get to sit in with a friendly animal in care while you make your final push to meet your personal fundraising goal. 

Lock-In for Love officially starts Thursday, June 11, 2026, and participants will fundraise through Saturday, June 27, 2026.

June 27 is the big finale for Lock-In for Love. You can make your final push at home, or, if you raise $150 or more by June 24 you have the option of joining us for a cuddly event at your local participating BC SPCA centre!  

You’ll spend an hour cuddling with an animal in care in their kennel or room, showering them with love, while you ask your community to help you meet your fundraising goal for animals just like them. You may also be able to bring your own pet with you instead – ask your local centre about your dog joining!  

If you’d prefer, you’re also welcome to participate virtually, making your final fundraising push at home, with a favourite furry friend, with your team or anywhere else that works for you. The important thing is that you’re using your voice for animals in need. 

We’re deeply grateful for each and every Lock-In for Love fundraiser and BC SPCA supporter – if we could, we would love to invite everyone in person. However, most of our centres are small and have limited capacity to place a fundraiser with an animal in care. For that reason we are prioritizing in-person participation for fundraisers who have raised $150 or more by June 24. (For teams, the requirement is an average of $150 per person across the team.) Individual centres may extend invitations to people below this threshold at their discretion, if they have capacity.

Take your fundraising to the next level! You'll find lots of useful tips in the Lock-In for Love fundraising guide, available for download here.

1) Make a plan and mark your calendar 
Lock-In for Love kicks off Thursday, June 11 and goes through Saturday, June 27, 2026. The earlier you start the more money you are likely to raise! Then mark June 27 on your calendar and start thinking about how you’ll spend your Lock-In and final fundraising push for the animals! 

2) Set your goal and make the first donation 
During registration you’ll be asked to set a fundraising goal. Set an ambitious goal to show your friends and family that you are serious about saving animals’ lives. 

Next, set an example and inspire others by making the first donation. When your friends and family see this they will be extra motivated to help you reach your goal. 

3) Customize your Personal Fundraising Page 
This is your chance to tell everyone how much you love animals and explain why you have chosen to fundraise for the BC SPCA. You may want to share a personal story of an animal who has touched your life. Then upload photos of some of your favourite animals. After all, who can say no to a furry face? 

4) Tell everyone you’re fundraising and why 

Don’t be afraid to ask. Giving makes people feel great and people want to be there for the animals. Don’t forget, you are asking on behalf of vulnerable animals that desperately need us. 

Share your fundraising via email, Facebook, Instagram, text, whatever your preferred method of communication. Printable donation forms can also be downloaded from your page for offline donations. 

To make it easy we have template emails ready for you to update and send! From your Personal Fundraising Centre you can send emails to friends and co-workers letting them know you are raising funds for the animals and asking them to visit your page and donate. (To access it, log in and then click 'emails' on the navigation bar.)

5) Remind people to get their donations in 
We all need a reminder now and then. Don’t hesitate to keep reminding others about your mission to help vulnerable animals. 

6) Share your success with everyone and express your thanks! 
Make sure to send a special thank you to all your donors. When you log in, you can go to 'email' on the top bar to see a list of everyone who donated online and email them your thanks right there. 

Log in to your fundraising account and select your fundraiser from the navigation menu. Your personal fundraising page is under 'Fundraisers' and your team is under 'Teams'. Click the name to go to that page. Here you can edit directly on the page. You can change images, text, your fundraising goal, your page URL and video. 

Personalize your page with stories, pictures and videos to let your friends know why it means so much for them to give generously to the animals. 

Log in to your fundraising account and select 'Options' from the navigation bar. Then select 'Edit User Profile'. Here you can change your user details and password.

Yes, the more the merrier! When you select to register as a team, you'll automatically create both a Lock-In for Love Team Fundraising Page, as well as an Individual Fundraising Page. You can use the Team Page to track team fundraising and to ask others to join you. If you’ve already registered as an individual and would now like to start a team email us at lockin@spca.bc.ca and we’ll help you out! 

Yes, we welcome animal lovers of all ages to participate in Lock-In for Love!

By submitting your funds as soon as possible, your dollars can go to work immediately to help animals in your community! The aim is to collect all donations by June 27 so we can celebrate the total together. However, your personal page will remain up and running and able to accept donations in the months following the event.

It can take up to 15 minutes to receive a confirmation email. If you have not received a confirmation within 15 minutes, remember to check your ‘junk’ folder just in case and then contact us at lockin@spca.bc.ca. We will be happy to check the status for you.

In general, donations should be reflected on the page right away.

Donations to your fundraising page are listed directly on your page. You can get additional details by clicking on a donation while logged in. 

A list of your donations is also available under 'email', conveniently located so that you can directly email them your thanks right there.

All donations of $10 or more are eligible to receive a tax receipt. If your donors make a donation online they will automatically receive an electronic tax receipt by email. 

While giving online is the fastest and easiest way for you and your donors to get funds to the animals, you may also mail funds to BC SPCA Lock-In for Love 1245 E 7th Ave, Vancouver BC, V5T 1R1. You or your supporters can download an offline donation form directly from your fundraising page for this purpose. 

Please include complete name, address and phone details for each donor so that a receipt can be issued. Tax receipts will be emailed or mailed directly to donors. Please be sure to provide all contact details when submitting your donation as this is required by the Canada Revenue Agency before we can issue a receipt. Processing times for offline donations will vary, but if you’d like to follow up send an email to lockin@spca.bc.ca.

No, based on Canada Revenue Agency guidelines, we are only able to issue tax receipts to donors. Your supporters will receive a tax receipt for their donations (of $10 or more), and you will receive a tax receipt for your personal donations.

You’re welcome to participate virtually, making your final fundraising push at home, at work, with a favourite furry friend, with your team or anywhere else that works for you. As long as you feel comfortable and supported, anywhere can be your animal rescue headquarters!

Depending on the location, you’ll be supported either by the local animal centre you are fundraising for, or the Lock-In for Love team. If your local centre is supporting your caring efforts and you’re in contact with them, you can reach out to them directly with your questions. Otherwise, you can get in touch with the Lock-In team for help at lockin@spca.bc.ca

The BC SPCA relies heavily on public donations to be able to care for vulnerable animals. Thanks to the generous support of animal lovers like you, last year we were able to help more than 134,000 animals. 

If you select a BC SPCA Community Animal Centre for your fundraising, all donations to your page will go directly to funding important work at that location such as medical care for the animals there. 

If you choose to fundraise for areas of greatest need, all donations to your page will go to where the money is needed most across B.C. That could be to fund animal protection investigations, provide medical care for a large animal rescue effort, keep cherished animals together with their families and more.

Thank you for being there for injured, homeless, under-served and abused animals.

UPDATE: The match has been met! Thank you for unlocking $20,000 for the animals.

On June 19 Hill's Pet Nutrition is generously matching all Lock-In for Love donations up to $20,000!

Should the match be met, the amount of matching funds per individual fundraiser will be capped at $5,000.

 

Yes, absolutely! Check out these helpful resources as you inspire your community to donate for animals in need.

  • Looking for creative fundraising ideas, social media posts, ways to measure your impact, tips for thanking your donors and more? Check out the 2026 Fundraising Guide here

  • They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a selection of photos you can share online.

  • Do your friends and family prefer donating offline? Download your personalized printable donation form directly from your fundraising page. 

  • Finally, if you’re looking for something to help recruit fellow fundraisers or raise donations, this Lock-In for Love poster might be just what you need.

Thank you so much for setting an example by self-donating to your fundraising page!  

To trigger the self-donated badge on your page, your donation email address must match the email you registered with. If you donated under a different email address, please email us at lockin@spca.bc.ca with the details so we can help.

As well, self-donation badges only apply when you donate to your personal fundraising page, not to your team fundraising page. If you donated to your team page we would be happy to move your donation to your individual page so your self-donation badge will show.

There are many possible ways to Lock-In for Love on June 27, if you're not participating at your local centre! 

  • Lock yourself in to your closet, bathroom, bedroom or other space while you make a final focused fundraising push to your friends and family. You can even do it with your beloved animal companion (ensuring they are comfortable and have everything they need).

  • Consider setting a final goal and letting your network know that you’ll stay locked in (safely) until they help you reach it. You can even livestream it! 

  • Lock-In together with your team while you all make that push for the animals! 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions to lockin@spca.bc.ca! We love chatting with our participants and hearing all your wonderful fundraising plans.

Yes, I want to spread the love!