President's Circle
Honoring our major donors.
Our donors’ investment in our mission makes a profound difference in both the lives of our clients who are blind or visually impaired, and the dogs we breed and train to partner with them. GDB proudly recognizes our generous major donors through our President's Circle.
Membership in the President’s Circle is reserved for those donors contributing $5,000 or more each year; membership is renewed annually (starting on July 1 and closing June 30).
FRIENDS: $5,000-$9,999
As a Name a Puppy Sponsor, your gift helps with the cost of breeding, birthing, socializing, and veterinary care for one guide dog puppy in training.
As a Name a Puppy Sponsor, you will receive:
- The opportunity to name a puppy, subject to name availability
- Updates as they become available if the puppy is matched with a client or career-changed
- A photo of the (named) puppy taken at graduation if the dog becomes part of a working guide dog team
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
As a Puppy Truck Trip Sponsor, your gift helps to underwrite the transportation of 8-week-old puppies from Guide Dogs for the Blind’s California campus to volunteer puppy raisers throughout ten western states via our puppy truck. The custom 45-foot-long, air conditioned puppy truck is designed for maximum comfort and can carry up to 24 puppies in a calm, comfortable environment. The truck also brings adolescent dogs back to campus when they are ready to start their formal guide dog training.
As a Puppy Truck Trip Sponsor, you will receive:
- Invitation to tour the truck and meet the puppies at a puppy delivery drop-off location
- Photo of volunteer puppy raisers with puppies at the puppy truck delivery stop
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
COMPANIONS: $10,000-$24,999
As a Camp GDB Sponsor, your gift sends teens who are blind or visually impaired to a week-long camp full of adventure, fun, and learning. Camp GDB provides a relaxed, and fun-filled environment for youth to connect with one another and learn about the guide dog lifestyle.
As a Send Youth to Camp GDB Sponsor, you will receive:
- Photos of Camp GDB
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
Sponsor our mission in action. GDB is committed to pairing the right dog with the right person. As a Guide Dog Team Sponsor, your gift assists with the cost of creating a working guide dog team, including formal training of a guide dog by our certified instructors, as well as the training for both the dog and the person with whom the dog is matched. You are invited to meet the team on their graduation day where you will see first-hand the life-changing impact of your generosity.
As a Team Sponsor, you will receive:
- An opportunity to meet the team at graduation
- A keepsake photograph and profile of the sponsored team
- A DVD of the graduation ceremony
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
PARTNERS: $25,000-$49,999
As a Breeder Dog Sponsor, your gift will help underwrite the costs associated with caring for one of GDB’s very special breeder dogs. At GDB, our breeder dogs are the cream of the crop, the best of the best – only dogs with exceptional health, intelligence, and temperament are selected for inclusion in our breeding colony. These dogs are our future – they will produce the next generation of guide dogs, and the experts in our Breeding Department ensure that all of their needs are met. From the exacting science that goes into the breeding process, to the nurturing required to maintain their health, your contribution will support one breeder dog throughout its lifetime as a member of the breeding colony.
As a Breeder Dog Sponsor, you will receive:
- An opportunity to meet the breeder dog and volunteer breeder custodian
- Invitation to graduation if the breeder dog is presented
- Portrait of the breeder dog and photo of one of their litters
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
Make the ultimate difference in someone’s life. As a Lifetime Team Sponsor, your gift covers the same program costs as a Guide Dog Team Sponsor, plus post-graduation services for the life of the team (an average of seven years), including veterinary care, in-home assessments, and field support. You are invited to meet the team on their graduation day where you will see first-hand the life-changing impact of your generosity.
As a Lifetime Team Sponsor, you will receive:
- An opportunity to meet the team at graduation at a VIP reception
- A keepsake photograph and personal profile of the sponsored team
- A DVD of the graduation ceremony
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
As a Pick of the Litter Sponsor, your gift supports the expenses associated with the care, feeding, socializing, and veterinary care of a litter of puppies.
As a Pick of the Litter Sponsor, you will receive:
- The opportunity to select a letter of the alphabet that will be used for the names of a puppy litter and provide the names for three puppies in that litter
- A framed photo of the litter and framed picture of each named puppy
- A certificate of sponsorship
- Three plush puppies
- Information as it becomes available when a named puppy is matched with a client or career-changed
- A photo of the named puppy (or puppies) taken at graduation if the dog(s) becomes part of a working guide dog team
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
HEROES: $50,000-$99,999
As a Guide Dog Apprentice Trainee Sponsor, your gift will help Guide Dogs for the Blind train future guide dog instructors. GDB’s apprenticeship is a three-year, hands-on program to prepare individuals to become qualified guide dog mobility instructors. By the end of their rigorous studies, these exceptional apprentices are fully responsible for the complete training of the dogs in their charge, and also for conducting full classes and instructing up to two clients per class. Additionally, this sponsorship supports public presentations, demonstrations, and outreach efforts that help raise awareness of GDB’s world-class program.
As a Guide Dog Apprentice Trainee Sponsor, you will receive:
- An opportunity to meet a new qualified guide dog mobility instructor and one of their guide dogs in training
- A framed photo of a newly qualified instructor and one of their trained guide dogs
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
As a Class Sponsor, your gift will help underwrite the immersive two-week training class for six to eight guide dog teams at one of our campuses. Your gift supports the room, board, and world class training provided by our guide dog mobility instructors.
As a Class Sponsor, you will receive:
- VIP recognition and introduction to the class supervisor on graduation day
- An opportunity to meet the members of the class on graduation day
- A framed photo of the class
- Invitations to GDB special events including two complimentary tickets to the GDB Holiday Luncheon (San Francisco) or Caps & Tails (Portland, OR)
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
For gifts larger than $50,000, please contact Director of Philanthropy Robin Keating at 415.499.4066 (toll free at 800.295.4050 ext. 4066), or [email protected]
SOUL MATES: $100,000+
As a Critical Care Sponsor, your gift will help underwrite veterinary procedures that go above and beyond basic health care, such as emergency services and procedures, surgery, rehabilitation, chemotherapy, and much more. Your gift will go toward ensuring that our dogs requiring critical care receive the best veterinary treatment available so that they can return to health and continue to thrive.
As a Critical Care Sponsor, you will receive:
- An opportunity to shadow a GDB veterinarian for a morning
- A framed photo of a special dog that was treated with financial assistance from critical care
- Invitations to GDB special events including two complimentary tickets to the GDB Holiday Luncheon (San Francisco) or Caps & Tails (Portland, OR)
- Special recognition at a GDB graduation ceremony
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
For gifts larger than $50,000, please contact Director of Philanthropy Robin Keating at 415.499.4066 (toll free at 800.295.4050 ext. 4066), or [email protected]
As an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Immersion Program Sponsor, your gift will help underwrite the costs of training individuals who are blind or visually impaired to prepare them with critical tools for working and living with a guide dog. The O&M Immersion Program is a unique, six-day course provided free of charge for qualified applicants, in tandem with our partner agencies (current partners include the Earle Baum Center in Santa Rosa, Calif., Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco, and Wayfinder Family Services in Los Angeles). Participants are paired with an O&M specialist and receive 25-30 instructional hours to work on skills to enhance their overall mobility and independence, with an emphasis on non-tactile strategies for navigation (skills essential to traveling with a guide dog).
GDB provides the O&M Immersion Program to address a growing problem: about a third of the individuals who do not qualify for a guide dog are denied training due to lack of O&M skills. Across the United States, O&M services are often unreliable and, in many communities, non-existent. GDB’s O&M Immersion Program fills an important need for our clients and in the blind and visually impaired community.
As an Orientation and Mobility Program Sponsor, you will receive:
An opportunity to meet the O&M Immersion Program Manager and tour one of our partner organizations where training occurs
- Invitations to GDB special events including two complimentary tickets to the GDB Holiday Luncheon (San Francisco) or Caps & Tails (Portland, OR)
- Special VIP Recognition at a GDB graduation ceremony
- Membership in the President’s Circle with your name added to our special recognition areas on the California and Oregon campuses
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s annual report
- Listing in Guide Dogs for the Blind’s quarterly newsletter
For gifts larger than $50,000, please contact Director of Philanthropy Robin Keating at 415.499.4066 (toll free at 800.295.4050 ext. 4066), or [email protected]
Need More Information?
If you have questions about our President's Circle, or would like more information about customizing your gift, please contact Senior Philanthropic Gift Officer Doria Leong at 415.499.4040 (toll free at 800.295.4050 ext. 4040), or [email protected].