CUDDLYReviews of cuddly.com

Response from CUDDLYJan 31, 2024

Hello There, Thank you so much for your honest review. CUDDLY is a fundraising service that works with over 4,000 verified animal welfare organizations. We focus on the fundraising needs of these partners, therefore we do not engage in direct hands-on rescue services. We attempt to provide a different set of skills key to raising funding for verified 501(c)3 animal rescues around the world. We offer a wide variety of marketing tools such as email marketing, radio spots, and TV advertisements. As a fundraising platform, we can raise awareness of real animals in real situations to help garner funds while the rescuers can focus on the animals, leaving the social aspects to us. This is also a way to help rescuers find more people to adopt to and have in their circle of supporters. We also provide a safe and verified way to donate from a donor perspective, as we vet all of the rescuers on our site. Major organizations like ASPCA, HSUS, Best Friends, PETA, and others have established reputations and specific missions, including advocacy and legal initiatives. If you feel more comfortable supporting organizations that focus on direct rescue efforts or legislative changes, that's a valid personal choice. It's always a good idea for donors to research and choose organizations aligned with their values and priorities. Transparency, accountability and a clear understanding of an organization's mission and impact are key factors in making an informed decision about where to contribute. We hope this has helped you to understand more about CUDDLY and the impacts we are making in rescuers' and animal's lives. If you ever have any further questions please reach out to us at [email protected].

Response from CUDDLYJan 18, 2024

Hello MK, I'm very sorry your email was hacked. At CUDDLY, data security is a top priority. We employ modern encryption and data security methods and we are in full compliance with current security laws, regulations, and standards. We monitor our systems diligently for intrusions, breaches, or hacking attempts. We haven't detected any intrusions or security issues. I'd be interested to hear more about what has occurred with your email, can you please reach out to us at [email protected] so we can investigate further?  Thanks so much for your support of animals in need, and again, I apologize for the situation with your email account.

Response from CUDDLYJan 15, 2024

Hello There, Thank you so much for your review, as we take your feedback very seriously. CUDDLY is a fundraising and wishlist platform solely dedicated to supporting verified non-profit animal rescues, shelters, and municipal organizations. - We currently support over 4,000+ animal welfare organizations around the world. - 90% of the monetary donations made are sent directly to the rescue pet in need of their care. The remaining 10% goes towards additional marketing, tools, and resources to better support our partners. - 100% of the wishlist items donated go to the pet in need. - Donations on CUDDLY’s platform are tax-deductible. - Out of all online fundraising platforms, CUDDLY sends more money per dollar to animals than GoFundMe and the ASPCA. - We have helped 46k+ rescued animals in need. Regarding the wishlist items in our catalog, our objective is to support animal welfare organizations by helping to provide what they need to help the animals under their care. CUDDLY works hard to maintain competitive pricing and we do everything we can to keep costs low such as working with pet brands and bringing supplies directly into our warehouse. Any and all donations go towards making a positive difference in the animal’s road to recovery and are greatly appreciated. It is important to note that we strive to keep our platform free for animal welfare groups, as such, a reason for why our products may seem higher priced is because we include the cost of shipping and handling fees. In addition, all wishlist items & donations are tax deductible for donors which is explained in further detail on our FAQ page. Being for-profit, for-good allows us to offer many additional opportunities to our partners such as being able to fundraise for transport vehicles, paid television advertising, and promotional spots on social media. We also provide an email marketing tool that helps to easily send emails at the most optimal times in order to reach their campaign goals. These are all tools that would otherwise be unavailable or inaccessible for many of our partners. These features are why nonprofit shelters choose to partner with us and continue to use our platform to further the success rate of their pets! We hope this response helps provide you with transparency on CUDDLY. We thank you so much for any and all critiques, as we are always working to improve our business. Please let me know if you have any further questions and I will be happy to answer.

Response from CUDDLYJan 12, 2024

Hello Janine, Thanks so much for your honest review, we take it very seriously. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced after donating to us. We use emails to confirm donations, send updates on pets you've donated to, alert you about new animals, and spread awareness! All donors on CUDDLY have the ability to manage their subscriptions using the "Email Subscriptions" tab on the donor dashboard. I have removed/unsubscribed you from all mailing lists. Please allow a few days for the system to update.

Response from CUDDLYJun 9, 2023

Hello, Thank you so much for reaching out to us with your honest review. We take messages like yours very seriously and want you to know: you are heard. You bring up a lot of great points, and it is our hope we can better explain the work we do here at CUDDLY. CUDDLY is a for-good, for-profit organization with a mission to be the champion of animals in need. We do this by directly providing tools and resources to support animal welfare organizations worldwide. The CUDDLY platform empowers animal welfare organizations to create fundraisers and wishlists in order to raise funds and receive donated supplies for animals who desperately need help. In turn, donors from all over the world can make a difference by donating to a specific animal or organization. In regards to the wishlist items in our catalog, our objective is to support animal welfare organizations in what they need to help animals, which can include both monetary donations and wishlist supplies. Our partners have the ability to add items they determined are needed for the animal. In regards to the CUDDLY AF Tags you mentioned, those tags are offered to assist with another problem both pet parents and our partners experience, and that’s reuniting lost animals with their family. The tags come with a QR code that is not only scannable but also a way for shelters & rescues to easily upload the medical history of the animal. Microchipping is also very important and the tags offer an additional resource to best help the animal. We do our very best to maintain competitive pricing, and we do this by working on partnerships to buy wholesale as well as grow our current warehouse offerings. It is important to note that we strive to keep our platform free for animal welfare groups, as such, a reason for why our products may seem higher priced is because we include the cost of shipping, handling fees, and sales tax. In addition, all wishlist items & donations are tax deductible for donors and explained in further detail on our FAQ page. We are a for-profit company. Being for-profit allows us to offer many additional opportunities to our partners such as being able to fundraise for transport vehicles, paid television advertising, offer promotional spots on social media and we provide an email marketing tool that helps to easily send emails at the most optimal times in order to reach campaign goals. All of which are tools that would otherwise be unavailable or inaccessible for many of our partners. Since our platform is free and we cover the costs of marketing for our partners, it is extremely important for us to have a vigorous vetting process. This includes interviews, tax information from the last 2 years, vet bills as well as vet checks for each partner which must include references, their IRS determination letter, and a good standing with Guidestar. However, we recognize there have been times when issues or complaints come up about a shelter or rescue, at which time, we investigate any and all claims and take appropriate action if the claims have been proven. Lastly, we have a team of fundraising consultants who work very closely with their partners to maintain trust and validity. We hope this response helps provide you with transparency on CUDDLY. We thank you so much for any and all critiques, as we are always working to improve our business. If you ever have any further questions, you can contact our customer service team at [email protected] or (562) 430 8191.

Response from CUDDLYMay 4, 2023

Hello Chris, Thank you for your response, and more importantly, for being a monthly donor on CUDDLY. We truly appreciate you taking the time to express your concern. At CUDDLY, our priority is ensuring shelters and rescues, who are typically understaffed, under resourced, and underfunded, have the ability to ask for help and resources. It is part of our process to ensure the partners we’re working with are verified and in good standing, which is why we have a dedicated team who has built direct relationships with our partners. Our verification process includes vet references, non-profit status verification, and charity check documentation. All of these processes are done to ensure that our donors can give to campaigns on CUDDLY with confidence. We are more than happy to answer any further questions or concerns you may have. -Samantha

Response from CUDDLYDec 13, 2022

Hello There, Thanks so much for reaching out to me with your concerns. CUDDLY does not want another over the other. The rescue can choose if they would like to add the wishlist option to their campaigns and make it for each animal on their account. Items are meant to be something to help each animal's foster as they care for them during their time in need. Toys and treats help boost morale during things like crate training or kenneling after surgery. Blankets consistently getting ruined is a reason right there, rescues need all the tools they can get. Clothes help the pets get adopted, especially breeds that have "bad reputations" like Pitbulls. Most time rescuers can not afford basic things like this, let alone medical food and goods, so this helps create a smaller monetary goal, which goes only to medical bills. As far as pricing goes, we are a small company that attempts to maintain competitive pricing but do not have the capacity to compete with larger corporations. These companies often have special arrangements with vendors that make their pricing possible. At this point, with only a bit over 3,500 animal rescue partners, we cannot buy directly from the retailers. We hope to partner in the future with these bigger retailers so we can create competitive pricing for our donors and rescues. Our process required going through a distributor and they are the ones on who we base our pricing on.

Response from CUDDLYOct 5, 2022

Hello Morgana, I am so terribly sorry to hear that during this time our representative has not gotten back to you! We have requested information, as we do not see your name coming up in our general email. In good faith, we want nothing more than to remedy this situation immediately! Looking forward to hearing back from you.