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Language, Writing Style & Usage Rules

Our Voice

  • Passionate but friendly.
  • Professional and pet friendly.
  • Honest but hopeful.
  • Empathetic to the difficult work of animal welfare organizations and their staff.
  • Deeply committed to the pets we help.
  • Sympathetic but not overly sad.
  • Respectful
  • Collaborative and not polarizing.
  • Progressive and innovative.

Brand Language and Common Phrases

BPF uses the following phrases and terminology consistently across communications to maintain alignment in voice and mission:

Until every pet has a home

  • tagline; used as a closing statement by Cathy

Follow the faces of rescue

  • used before social handles in posts

Spay-Neuter-Return

  • use “Return,” not “Release”

BISSELL Happy Tails

Adoption is the best option

Make adoption your first option

Saving lives together

Together, we are saving lives

It’s not too late to make a difference

We won’t turn our backs when there is a way to help

Without you, they have no tomorrow

Ways to Give & Fundraising Language

  • Monthly Donations
  • Planned Giving
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Stocks/Mutal Funds
  • Donor Advised Funds
  • Workplace Match
  • Give in Memory/Honor
  • 100% of your gift will save pets.
  • 100% of your gift will give pets their best chance to be safe, healthy and loved.
  • Your gift can be the reason lives are saved.
  • For merch: 100% of net proceeds save pets.

Social Hashtags

  • #bissellpets
  • #bissellsavespets
  • #savepets
  • #bissellhappytails
  • #emptytheshelters

Grammar Style and Rules

BISSELL Pet Foundation

  • “BISSELL” is always all caps when referring to the foundation
  • When referring to a person (ex: like Cathy Bissell), use lowercase “Bissell”
  • Do not use “The” before “BISSELL”

 

Word Usage

  • nonprofit — one word, no hyphen
  • lifesaving — one word, no hyphen
  • life-threatening — two words, hyphenated
  • pit bull — two words, no hyphen
  • Foster-to-adopt — hyphenated (ETS term)

 

Animal Terms

  • Do not routinely capitalize dog breeds. Capitalize only the proper noun portion: French bulldog, Labrador retriever, cocker spaniel, poodle
  • Use “their” for gender-neutral pet possessive: Example: “…help save their life.”

 

Geographic Style

  • Lowercase when describing general regions: southern states, midwestern states
  • Capitalize when referring to a specific region as a proper noun: the South, the Midwest, the East, the West

 

Seasons

  • Capitalize only when beginning a sentence or used in a title:
    • “Summer heat can be dangerous…”
    • “BPF’s upcoming Spring Fling…”
  • Lowercase in all other uses:
    • “This fall, BPF gave a $10,000 grant…”

 

Empty the Shelters

  • Capitalize the E and S in Empty the Shelters
  • Do not capitalize the “t” in “the”
  • The abbreviation ETS may be used after the first full reference

 

Trademark Usage

Use the proper trademark symbol only on the first reference of trademarked programs:

  • Animal Incident Management®
  • Empty the Shelters®
  • Fix the Future®
  • RescueLove®
  • Healing Heartworm™

View our trademark guidelines here.