How it works
This December, the Collie House holds twelve collies behind its doors as toys. Friends and family give to bring each one to life, and when they do, the toy becomes Real.
Who can enter
Anyone with a collie they love: adopters, fosters, volunteers and supporters of Collie Rescue of Greater Illinois. Enter one collie per entry; a family with two collies makes two entries.
The doors are for collies still with their families. A collie at the Rainbow Bridge can be remembered with an ornament on the house's memorial tree when it opens December 1.
Your gift
You enter with a gift of $50 or more, paid when you enter. With a door, your gift leads the way, and your friends and family match it, up to $500, to bring your collie to life. The bigger your gift, the better your chance at a door.
You give once. The match is for your friends and family, and you're never asked to give again to reach it. You never owe more than your gift, and if friends don't reach the match, your collie still comes home on Christmas Eve.
How the doors are chosen
The 10 largest gifts get doors. Our team gives the other 2 to collies with a big cheering section, whatever their gift, using how widely each family plans to share and their collie's story. Gifts are private: no one sees whose gift is whose. The one amount we show is the gift that's in the top 10 today, on the entry form and your collie's page, so you know where a gift would stand before you give it. If two gifts are the same, our team chooses using how widely each family plans to share. We choose on November 18 and email every family either way.
After you enter, your own page shows whether your collie is in the top 10 right now and, if not, how much a raise would take to get back in, and we email you if they slip out. If you'd like a better chance at a door, you can raise your gift there until entries close on November 16; raising is optional and never needed for the match. Each raise is charged when you make it, and the same refund applies to it. Where each collie stands when entries close is final.
If your collie doesn't get a door
They still get a window on Collie Lane, the street of houses behind the Collie House, with their toy portrait in it. $50 of your gift stays as the window's gift, and we refund the rest to your card, unless you told us to keep it all as a gift.
Your photos and the art
We use AI tools to turn your photos into a toy portrait, a Real portrait and a short film, and to help write the story from your answers. Our team proofs everything before it is public and has the final say. Your photos stay private. Please send photos of just your collie; if a child appears, a parent or guardian must agree.
Your name
Your collie is shown only by the nickname you choose. You can show your family's name on the door, or stay anonymous. Anonymous families still get their own link to share.
Dates
- Entries: November 2 to November 16
- Doors chosen: November 18
- The Collie House opens: December 1
- A door opens each day: December 6 to 17
- Every collie comes home: Christmas Eve
Your receipt
Collie Rescue of Greater Illinois is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. You get a receipt by email. In return for your entry, your collie receives a digital portrait in the Collie House, so the receipt says so.