What Is North Texas Giving Day?

North Texas Giving Day is Communities Foundation of Texas's largest community event and the largest regional giving initiative in the Nation. Since 2009, over $635 million has been raised for more than 3,000 local nonprofit organizations through a single, easy-to-use online giving site.

On North Texas Giving Day, September 18, please consider donating to Texas Native Cats at Texas Native Cats | North Texas Giving Day.

Texas Native Cats is the only Texas-based organization dedicated solely to our state’s wild felines and to telling their stories, so people understand, respect, and value them. And, we hope, appreciate them not only for their beauty, strength, and agility but also for the ecological benefits they provide to us. Whether it’s the neighborhood bobcat that devours rodents, or the elusive mountain lion mostly found in the Trans-Pecos, or the beautiful but endangered ocelot in South Texas, they are all vulnerable due primarily to human-caused perils.  Even the mighty jaguar once claimed Texas as its territory.

As an all-volunteer organization based in Dallas, our biggest effort is participating in community outreach events where we can explain our cats using various artifacts, such as synthetic cat fur, pawprints, and our taxidermy bobcat. Or perhaps you’ve visited our outreach table in Houston or Austin at area events.  

Nothing is more energizing than engaging with kids at these events. They are so eager to know more and ask questions, and even the shy ones will sometimes speak up. One of our favorite exercises is to play various cat vocalizations and then let the kids determine which of our cats is making the sound. They’re generally better at identifying the cat making the sound than the adults.

Another popular exercise is what we call cat comparison, where we show two images of the same species but ask the audience to determine if the two are the same or a different cat. The youngsters quickly grasp that the coat pattern is what makes one cat distinct from the other. It gets thornier, however, with a cat like a mountain lion since the adults are a solid color with typically no visual distinctions in the coat.  

Whether it’s outreach, presentations, guest speakers, or our TEKS-aligned mountain lion education program, Texas Native Cats strives to be the voice of our diverse wild cats. Your contribution will help us continue to expand our reach to other parts of the state, enhance the programs we currently operate, and implement new projects.

Donate through September 18 on North Texas Giving Day. On behalf of our cats, thank you.

‍

‍