Subaru Donated $25,000 to the ASPCA Through iHeartMedia's Ad-Spend Partnership ProgramNulo Lands Hollywood Feed's 179 Stores Starting November 2Phillips Pet Food Consolidated Northeast Distribution and Added 8,000 SKUs in One MoveBurgess Pet Care Launched a White-Label Dry Food Line for Independent RetailersKennel Connection refers clients considering a sale to Cantara Pet AdvisorsPremieRpet put R$150,000 into a 12-month maned wolf study through OnçafariSparkle Grooming Opens Johns Creek Salon as Wellness Franchise Enters Atlanta MarketSkiptown is franchising Georgia territory after signing five-unit deals in Colorado and TexasSubaru Donated $25,000 to the ASPCA Through iHeartMedia's Ad-Spend Partnership ProgramNulo Lands Hollywood Feed's 179 Stores Starting November 2Phillips Pet Food Consolidated Northeast Distribution and Added 8,000 SKUs in One MoveBurgess Pet Care Launched a White-Label Dry Food Line for Independent RetailersKennel Connection refers clients considering a sale to Cantara Pet AdvisorsPremieRpet put R$150,000 into a 12-month maned wolf study through OnçafariSparkle Grooming Opens Johns Creek Salon as Wellness Franchise Enters Atlanta MarketSkiptown is franchising Georgia territory after signing five-unit deals in Colorado and Texas
On the ShelfBy The PetRetailNews Desk3 min readOctober 19, 2026
Subaru Donated $25,000 to the ASPCA Through iHeartMedia's Ad-Spend Partnership Program
The automaker's $25,000 donation to shelter animals came through iHeartMedia's nonprofit-partnership division, a structure that ties cause funding to advertising spend.
Subaru of America donated an additional $25,000 to the ASPCA through iHeartImpact, iHeartMedia's community impact division that connects corporate advertising spend to nonprofit funding. The donation expands a partnership that started in 2008 and has delivered more than $75 million to national and local pet organizations, supporting more than 900,000 animals through adoption, rescue, transport, and health programs, according to the company.
The iHeartImpact structure and what it changes
The donation came through iHeartImpact, a division iHeartMedia built to let corporate brands route advertising dollars to nonprofits. Subaru selected the ASPCA as the beneficiary. iHeartMedia will use a national broadcast initiative to promote Subaru's October campaign and drive awareness of shelter pet adoption and fostering opportunities, the company said.
Jenna Craig, President of iHeartMedia's National Media Team, said the company's platforms reach nine in ten Americans monthly. Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Subaru of America, said the additional donation and recognition from iHeartMedia will support vulnerable animals and help shelter animals find homes.
The structure ties nonprofit funding directly to media buys rather than separating sponsorship checks from advertising spend. For Subaru, the mechanism lets the company fund shelter work while buying broadcast reach for its October pet-adoption campaign.
The 19-year partnership and the October retail program
Subaru has partnered with the ASPCA since it launched the Subaru Share the Love Event in 2008. The company says it is the largest corporate donor to the ASPCA. Each October, Subaru retailers work with local animal welfare groups to prepare shelter pets for adoption, using ASPCA-administered grants and hosting pet-focused community events.
This year's campaign includes the company's eighth annual National Make A Dog's Day on October 22, which Subaru created as a day for dog owners to celebrate their pets and for prospective adopters to consider taking home an Underdog. Subaru uses the term Underdogs for older and disabled dogs, animals that typically face longer shelter stays because potential adopters pass them over.
The ASPCA reported that 5.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters and rescues in 2025, with many animals waiting extended periods for placement.
Our read: the ad-spend structure is the variable, the shelter work is the constant
The $25,000 donation is incremental to a partnership that has already moved $75 million and supported 900,000 animals over 19 years. The iHeartImpact routing is the new piece. It formalizes a structure where advertising spend and nonprofit funding flow through the same channel rather than sitting in separate budget lines.
For pet retailers, the consequence is indirect but real: corporate-funded shelter-adoption campaigns at broadcast scale shape the baseline expectation customers carry into the store when they buy for a newly adopted pet. A customer who heard a Subaru-funded ASPCA message on the radio before walking into your store expects the conversation to acknowledge adoption, not just purchase. That expectation doesn't change your assortment, but it does change the framing of a first-time-owner sale.
The October timing matters. Subaru runs its retail partner events and its National Make A Dog's Day campaign in the same month shelters see seasonal adoption volume. A store that stocks starter kits, puppy and kitten consumables, or premium first-time-owner products sees that volume too, and the ambient messaging funded by partnerships like this one primes the customer before they arrive.
Meredith Galli, Director of Corporate Partnerships at the ASPCA, said the donation will strengthen the organization's work to improve outcomes for vulnerable animals across the country. The partnership continues, the structure evolved, and the October retail window stays live.
Get the next issue in your inbox. Free, weekly, no fluff.