The Wishlist feature helps your organization keep track of the items you need; from food and cleaning supplies to medical equipment and enrichment toys. You can record what's needed, how many, the price, how many are already on hand, and how much support is pending or received, giving your team a clear picture of outstanding needs at any time.
You can access the Wishlist from More > Wishlist. The Fundraising Hub also links to high-priority wishlist needs.
Wishlist items can also be shared on your public shelter profile. Public items can show product links, accept Stripe funding, collect physical item pledges, and connect donation records back to the item automatically.
How Wishlist Support Works
A public wishlist item can receive support in three ways:
- Money through Stripe: the supporter funds the item, PawPlacer records a wishlist donation, and Stripe fulfillment marks it received automatically.
- Tracked external payment: the supporter starts a PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Bitcoin, or Ethereum payment with a PawPlacer reference, PawPlacer records it as pending, and staff reconcile it after the provider transaction arrives.
- Physical item pledge: the supporter says they bought or will send the item, PawPlacer records a pending in-kind contribution with a required message, and staff mark it received when it arrives.
- Product link purchase: the supporter opens the retailer link and buys externally. If they do not submit a pledge, staff can still record the item manually.
These paths keep the wishlist item, donation record, and donor history connected when supporter information is provided. Pending checkouts, external payments, and pledges reserve quantity so the same remaining unit is not claimed twice.
What You'll See
When you open the Wishlist, you'll see a table of all your wishlist items. Each row shows:
- Item: the item name with a product image when available, a category icon fallback, and a View Product link when a product URL was provided.
- Progress: A visual progress bar showing how many units are covered out of the total needed. Covered quantity includes received units and tracked support tied to the item.
- Price: the per-unit price along with the calculated total cost for the full quantity needed.
- Urgency: a color-coded badge showing the item's priority level: Low, Medium, or High.
- Public support settings: whether the item can appear on your public wishlist and whether it accepts monetary donations.
Click any row to open the item's profile, where you can view the full information and make edits.
Filtering and Sorting
Above the table, you'll find options to filter and sort your wishlist:
- Search: type part of an item name, details, or URL to narrow results.
- Status filter: show all items, or filter by Needed, Partially Received, Fulfilled, or Archived.
- Sort: sort by date created, date updated, name, price, quantity needed, quantity received, progress percentage, priority, status, or category.
Item Statuses
Each wishlist item has a status that reflects its current state:
- Needed: the item has been requested and no units have been received yet (default status for new items)
- Partially Received: some units have been received, but the total hasn't been met yet
- Fulfilled: the full quantity needed has been received
- Archived: the item is no longer needed or has been closed out
Categories
Items are organized into five categories to help you group related needs:
- Supplies: cleaning products, bedding, toys, leashes, litter, and other daily-use items
- Food: pet food, treats, and dietary items
- Medical: medications, first aid supplies, supplements, and veterinary care items
- Equipment: crates, carriers, grooming tools, office supplies, and larger purchases
- Other: anything that doesn't fit into the categories above
Priority Levels
Use priority levels to indicate how urgently an item is needed:
- High: critical items needed immediately or running dangerously low
- Medium: important items with moderate urgency. This is the default for new items.
- Low: nice-to-have items or things that are well-stocked but could use replenishment
Permissions
The Wishlist requires the Event Manager role (or Admin) to view and manage. Users without this role will see a permission notice if they navigate to the Wishlist page.
Getting Started
- Navigate to More > Wishlist from the main menu.
- Click Add Wishlist Item to create your first item.
- Fill in at least a name, then add a category, quantity, price, and priority as needed.
- As items arrive outside a tracked donation or pledge, update Received on Hand from the item profile to keep your wishlist current.
Ready to start adding items? Head to Managing Wishlist Items for a detailed walkthrough of creating and editing items, see Wishlist Item Details to learn about the item profile, or read Public Wishlist to publish needs for supporters.
Related
- Fundraising Hub: Review wishlist needs alongside donations, donors, and setup
- Donations: Track wishlist funding and item pledges
- Donors: Connect supporter information to wishlist contributions