Homeless Shelter Emergency Needs Appeal

Help Us Provide Critical Support to Our Community's Most Vulnerable

Every night, hundreds of people in our community face the harsh reality of homelessness. Our shelter provides more than just a warm bed—we offer dignity, hope, and a pathway to stability. But we can't do it alone. We need your support to keep our doors open and our services running.

Why Your Support Matters Right Now

The need has never been greater. With rising living costs and housing shortages, more families and individuals are finding themselves without a safe place to sleep. Your donation today will have an immediate, tangible impact on real lives in our community.

When you support our emergency needs appeal, you're providing:

• Warm meals for people who haven't eaten a proper meal in days
• Clean bedding and clothing to restore dignity and comfort
• Hygiene supplies that many of us take for granted
• Emergency shelter during the coldest and most dangerous nights
• Case management services to help people transition to permanent housing

Three Powerful Ways to Make a Difference

This form makes it easy to support our shelter in the way that works best for you:

1. Give Emergency Supplies Choose specific items from our urgent needs list—blankets, toiletries, winter coats, or non-perishable food. You'll know exactly where your donation is going and who it's helping. These tangible gifts have immediate impact, often being distributed within 24 hours of your donation.

2. Become a Monthly Supporter Regular monthly donations are the backbone of our operations. They help us plan ahead, maintain consistent services, and respond quickly when emergencies arise. Even $25 a month provides seven hot meals or three nights of emergency shelter. Monthly supporters become part of our shelter family and receive regular updates on the lives you're changing.

3. Volunteer Your Time Our volunteers are the heart and soul of our shelter. Whether you can help serve meals, organize donations, provide administrative support, or assist with special events, your time is invaluable. We offer flexible shifts to fit your schedule, and full training is provided for all positions.

How Paperform Powers Compassionate Giving

We've built this appeal form using Paperform because we believe the donation experience should be as warm and welcoming as our shelter itself. Unlike rigid, impersonal fundraising forms, Paperform lets us create an experience that reflects our values—one that's human, approachable, and easy to complete on any device.

For homeless shelters and nonprofit organizations, Paperform is the ideal platform for:

• Multi-channel fundraising that combines one-time gifts, recurring donations, and in-kind contributions in a single, streamlined form
• Beautiful, on-brand design that builds trust and increases conversion rates without needing a developer
• Secure payment processing through Stripe, PayPal, and other trusted processors, with automatic receipts for tax purposes
• Volunteer coordination that lets supporters sign up for shifts, provide availability, and receive confirmation—all in one place
• Real-time notifications so your team can respond immediately to urgent needs or high-value donations

The conditional logic in Paperform means donors only see what's relevant to them. If someone chooses to donate supplies, they see our urgent needs list. If they select monthly giving, they see suggested support levels and impact stories. If they want to volunteer, they're guided to available shifts—all without leaving the form.

Seamless Workflows with Stepper

After someone submits this form, our team uses Stepper to automate the follow-up process. Stepper connects your Paperform submissions to your entire tech stack with intelligent workflows:

• Donor management: New supporters are automatically added to your CRM with the right tags, giving history, and communication preferences
• Thank you journeys: Personalized email sequences go out based on donation type—different messages for first-time donors vs. monthly supporters
• Volunteer onboarding: Shift sign-ups trigger confirmation emails, calendar invites, and pre-shift reminders without manual work
• Team notifications: High-value donations or urgent volunteer needs ping the right team members on Slack or via SMS
• Monthly donor nurture: Automated check-ins, impact reports, and renewal reminders keep monthly supporters engaged for the long term

This means less administrative burden on your small nonprofit team and more time actually serving those who need it most.

Built for Nonprofit Teams and Fundraisers

Whether you're a nonprofit director, development coordinator, fundraiser, or volunteer coordinator, this template is designed for the real-world challenges you face:

• Limited technical resources and no developer on staff
• Need to launch campaigns quickly and iterate based on results
• Multiple donation types and volunteer opportunities to manage
• Desire to create professional, trustworthy forms that match your brand
• Requirement for secure, compliant payment processing and data storage

Paperform is trusted by over 500,000 teams worldwide and is SOC 2 Type II compliant, ensuring your donors' information is protected. The platform grows with you—start with the free plan for simple campaigns, then scale up as your fundraising efforts expand.

The Difference You'll Make Today

Behind every statistic is a human being with a story. There's Maria, who fled domestic violence with her two children and found safety at our shelter. There's James, a veteran struggling with PTSD who's now working with our case managers toward permanent housing. There's the elderly couple who lost their apartment when their landlord sold the building.

These are our neighbors. They could be anyone. And your support today—whether it's a donation, a monthly commitment, or a few hours of your time—changes the trajectory of their lives.

We invite you to join us in this critical work. Use this form to make your contribution today, and become part of a compassionate community that refuses to let our most vulnerable neighbors face their challenges alone.

Thank you for your generosity and your belief in the dignity of every person. Together, we're not just providing shelter—we're restoring hope.

This form template is part of Paperform's collection of 30,000+ professionally designed templates for nonprofits, charities, and social impact organizations. Customize any element to match your shelter's unique mission, branding, and needs.