Nowzad is the pet charity of the year for the not-for-profit pet bereavement website Lost and Fond – right up until August 31, 2013 – and with Christmas approaching there’s a couple of ways to earn money for Nowzad while you shop online for gifts.

Nowzad will earn a commission of 20% of the price paid when anyone commissions a pet sketch from pet artist Jane West – after enquiring through the online form on Lost and Fond. Jane has been closely associated with Lost and Fond from the start. Elaine asked her to create the logo and web graphics for the site. She also created the little virtual gift icons that you can add to any pet tribute pages on the website. Her sketches might make a special present for someone you know.

If you are shopping from Amazon in the run-up to Christmas, and you get into the website through one of the many adverts you will find on various pages on Lost and Fond, a small commission will also be generated for Nowzad from EVERY purchase. On the Support Nowzad page, for instance, you will find Amazon ads for Pen Farthing’s books. By clicking on these and going in to Amazon, ANYTHING you buy on that visit will earn commission.

All the pet information pages on Lost and Fond about different dog breeds include an Amazon advert panel at the bottom. For some breeds, like the Afghan Hound – http://www.lostandfond.co.uk/pet-breed/afghan-hound – it shows Amazon products specific to that breed. But again, you don’t have to buy those – anything you buy from Amazon after entering through the advert earns commission.

There are also adverts for Quotezone on the website which earn commission if anyone requests a quote. More adverts, affiliates and partnerships may be introduced in the months ahead. Any adverts you see will be earning commission for Nowzad during this year.

Visitors to Lost and Fond are encouraged to make a donation – whatever they can afford – to the pet charity of the year when they create an online memorial – although it is not compulsory.

It was a desire to create an online community where people could find consolation – and share stories and pictures of their pets – which led freelance writer and animal lover Elaine Pritchard to create www.lostandfond.co.uk in 2010.

She explained: “I treasured memories and pictures of all my own pets – but I’d never found a website where I would feel comfortable sharing them publicly. Of course you can use Facebook – and other social media – but I thought a community website might be another approach. It’s wonderful to hear that it has brought comfort to many people who have used the website over the last two years.”

Elaine said: “Anyone can register on the website to create their own free online memorial pages for a pet they have loved and lost – whether that loss was recent or years ago. Many people have created Lost and Fond memorials for pets they had when they were children and say it’s a lovely way to display old photographs.”

Elaine runs Lost and Fond as a labour of love in her spare time and also uses it as a way to raise awareness of pet charities.

“I regularly post news stories about charities, but each year I also raise money for one particular pet charity, explained Elaine.

* You can also help by spreading the word about Lost and Fond to your own family and friends as the more people who visit it – the more chance there is that the money raised for Nowzad will be boosted.

For more information, email elaine@lostandfond.co.uk