The contestant with the most votes at the close of the contest will be the first-place winner. They will receive a professional photoshoot with pet photographer, Luca Bear and Friends Pet Photography, and will be featured on the cover of the 2026 “Paws Around the ROC" Calendar. The winning pet must be physically present at the photoshoot to be scheduled within the two weeks after the contest ends. If the first-place winner is not able to meet the specified guidelines and scheduling requirements for the photoshoot, the contestant with the next highest number of votes will be chosen for the cover.

In addition to the photoshoot, the first-place winner will receive four tickets to the A Year of Hope: Calendar and Cocktails event, and four copies of the 2026 calendar.

There will be 12 second place winners. The twelve contestants with the most votes after the first-place winner will receive the second-place prizes. They will receive a professional photoshoot with Luca Bear and Friends Pet Photography. Each second-place pet winner will be featured on one of the months in the 2026 “Paws Around the ROC” Calendar. The winning pets must be physically present at the photoshoot within the two weeks after the contest ends. If a second-place winner is not able to meet the specified guidelines and scheduling requirements for the photoshoot, the contestant with the next highest vote will be chosen to take their place.

In addition to the photoshoot, the second-place winners will also receive two tickets to the Year of Hope: Calendar and Cocktails event and two “Paws Around the ROC” Calendar.

There will be 12 runners-up. The twelve contestants with the most votes after the second-place winners will be runners-up. The runners-up will have their own photo submission and description of their pet featured in the 2026 "Paws Around the ROC" Calendar featured in a 1 ½ inch space.

The top 80 pet fundraisers will have a thumbnail sized photo they submitted of their pet featured on the collage page in the 2026 "Paws Around the ROC" Calendar.

We are excited to announce the theme of our calendar, "Paws Around the ROC."

Pets are encouraged to enter the calendar contest and fundraise for Rochester Hope for Pets. The top 13 fundraisers will win a spot in the 2026 "Paws Around the ROC" Calendar! The pet with the most votes will be featured on the cover, and the 12 pets with the next highest number of votes will be featured in one of the images for each calendar month. Winners must be able to attend the scheduled photoshoot after the contest ends. The photographer will work with our winners to decide on the date and time that works best for them.  Photos will be taken on location throughout the city of Rochester.

Voting for your favorite pet will help them win a spot in the calendar! $1 = 1 Vote. Be sure to utilize your "vote bank," which will allow you to easily distribute votes to contestants as you browse the contest.

Show your support for Rochester Hope for Pets by participating in this special fundraiser. All donations will support our financial grant and spay-it-forward programs, which help all pets live happy, healthy lives with their loving families!

All local pets are encouraged to enter the contest to win a spot in our 2026 "Paws Across America” Calendar! In order to enter your pet, you must include:

• Your Pet's Name
• Your First and Last
• Your City and State (Must be able to travel to Rochester, NY for your pet’s photoshoot)
• Your Contact Information
• A paragraph (limited to 120 words) which tells voters something fun or interesting about your pet. Remember that if your pet wins, this information will be shared in our calendar, so be sure to make it engaging!

All contestants must submit their photo to the GoGo Photo Contest website. We cannot accept applications or photos in person at this time. All contestants must be entered in the competition by 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time) on Monday, September 1, 2025.

The entry fee for each contestant is $10. While multiple pets can be entered under one contestant page, we highly encourage pet owners to enter each pet separately. If there is a winner with multiple pets in one entry, only one of the pets will be able to attend the photo shoot. The owner must decide which pet in the group photo can attend the photo shoot and appear in the published calendar. Each $1 donation will count as one vote to the selected contestant. Donors must donate a minimum of $5 (or five votes). A large number of votes can be stored in the donor's "vote bank," which can be distributed at a later time and to multiple contestants before the contest ends. The deadline to submit all votes online is 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time) on Monday, September 1, 2025.

Rochester Hope for Pets is a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Tax information will be sent through GoGo Photo Contest after the donation has been made. All donations are final and non-refundable.

• Acceptable picture formats are .jpg, .png, and .gif.
• Pictures should only feature the pet being entered into the contest. Do not share a picture that has multiple animals or people.
• Pictures must be in color.
• The pet featured in the picture may not be edited or altered, other than minor color, contrast, or sharpness adjustments.
• Pictures must not be copyrighted.
• Any image that includes content that is deemed inappropriate, indecent, or obscene as determined by Rochester Hope for Pets may be removed from the contest.
  
  

Please visit www.rochesterhopeforpets.org and follow the directions to upload a photograph of your pet along with up to 120 words describing your photo. By uploading your photo, you give Rochester Hope for Pets all rights to print, publish, and reproduce the image.

Winners will be determined by the number of votes received per contestant. Once a photo is submitted, it will appear in the online gallery and will be open to voting by the general public. The voting period will end at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time) on Monday, September 1, 2025. Votes must be registered by the online system before the deadline ends to be counted for the contest. If you are submitting votes close to the deadline, please keep in mind that processing time is necessary to register votes. We recommend using your vote bank to ensure that credit card processing has happened before. It is best not to wait until the last 30 minutes of the contest to submit a large number of votes.

To vote go to the contestant page you wish to support and donate a minimum of $5 for five votes. When voters donate, they will be given the option to apply all of their votes to one contestant, spread their votes over various contestants, or store votes in a "vote bank" to be used at a later time. If you would like to pay by cash or check, or would like to fundraise offline, please contact Krista Brown at info@rochesterhopeforpets.org or by phone at 585-523-7406. All votes are donations to Rochester Hope for Pets and are fully tax-deductible as permitted by law. All votes for photo submissions will be tabulated and displayed online.

The 13 contestants with the most votes (donations) at the end of the voting period will win a special photoshoot with award-winning pet photographer, Luca Bear Pet Photography, and will be featured in the calendar. The contestant with the most votes will be featured on the cover of the 2026 "Paws Across America" Calendar. The 12 pets with the next highest number of votes will be displayed in one of the images for the calendar months. The 12 pets with the next highest number of votes will be runners-up, and will each be given a 1 ½ inch space for one of the months using the photograph submitted to the contest.

To help you have the best chance of winning, we've gathered a few tips and hints to help you:

• Use the social media links within the contest to promote your pet to your friends and family, and encourage them to share on their pages as well! Remember, the more people who know about your entry the more likely you are to win!
• Create business cards with your direct link (QR codes work great) to pass out wherever you go over the two-month campaign period! Sites like Vistaprint offer specials all the time, so be on the lookout!
• Get cash sponsorships! You can collect cash donations for your pet from friends, family, and acquaintances, then simply apply the amounts yourself, using your own login information and credit card. This is one of the easiest ways to get support, because you are collecting the funds directly and your supporters do not have to create their own account. Most people are happy to support Rochester Hope for Pets, and you can collect any amount—from $1 to $5,000! If you have check donations, or would like to make an offline donation of cash, please visit www.rochesterhopeforpets.org to see where to send that donation.
• Consider a campaign party to raise money for your pet!
• And finally, the most important thing you can do to increase donations to your entry is to remind people that every vote is a donation to Rochester Hope for Pets! We do not receive government support and rely completely on donations from our community for the success of our programs. Thank you for your support—we couldn't do it without you!  
  
  

The winning participants will be contacted by Rochester Hope for Pets and given instructions on claiming their prizes. The top 13 winners are required to attend a professional photoshoot with award-winning photographer Luca Bear Pet Photography. Photo styling is determined by Rochester Hope for Pets and the photography team. Winning contestants will be notified of the photoshoot date which will happen within two weeks of the end of the contest. If a winning contestant is unable to participate during the designated photography schedule, the contestant with the next highest number of votes will be selected as a winner to be featured in the calendar. Winners will be contacted to set up an appointment time.

The top 13 pets will receive prizes in addition to being featured in the printed calendar. Please visit our prizes page for complete details.

For questions about the 2026 "Paws Around the ROC" Calendar Contest, please contact Krista Brown at info@rochesterhopeforpets.org, or by phone at 585-532-7406. Thank you for supporting Rochester Hope for Pets!