Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption Photo/Calendar Contest: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption Calendar Contest and who runs it?

Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption is a dog rescue based in Northwood, New Hampshire, and the calendar contest is its annual fundraiser built around supporters' own pets. Owners enter their dogs, the public votes during an April window, and the top vote-getters are photographed for the rescue's printed calendar. The rescue sums up the purpose on its own text: "By entering your dog into our contest, you are helping many southern dogs who would otherwise not receive the lifesaving care and homes they deserve."

The organization operates from 984 1st New Hampshire Turnpike in Northwood, the address its own site prints, and its contest pages open under the tagline "Calling All Dogs: Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption Calendar Contest Awaits!" Photos submitted to the ballot lean toward copyrighted or professional images, according to the small print carried on the contest pages themselves.

The ballot sits on the rescue's dedicated contest site at https://www.gogophotocontest.com/marysdogsrescueandadoption. Its menu carries Participate, View Entries, Contest Rules, Prizes, Rules and About Us links, plus Sign In for participants managing an entry. The current round is titled the "2026 Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption Calendar Contest," and the site labels it a "Fundraiser for Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption." Among New Hampshire public votes it belongs to the pet side of the field rather than the reader surveys.

Which editions of the contest are confirmed, and when does the vote close?

Years on the ballot

Confirmed editions ran in 2021, 2025 and 2026, and each round centers on April. The 2021 confirmation rests on live ballots tied to this same contest address, which makes it the earliest run the published trail carries for the program.

In the 2025 cycle, voting ended on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, with a 9:00 PM Eastern cutoff, and the page stressed that votes must be registered by the online system before the deadline ends.

The 2026 round kept the same closing pattern: the rescue wrote that the top dog "will receive the coveted cover spot" for the 2026 calendar at the close of the contest on Wednesday, April 30th, at 9:00pm, and the ballot now flags the contest as ended. Across the 2026 pages, neither a day-level opening date nor a category list appears; confirm on the live ballot each cycle. No nomination round or staged schedule is named anywhere on the ballot either. Whether a 2027 edition follows has not been announced.

How does a supporter vote in the calendar contest?

The mechanic is donation-powered. A visitor opens the ballot's View Entries page, selects the dog to back, and gives money through the contest itself. Each dog appears with its photo on that entries view, so the choice is visual rather than a hunt through a list of names. The printed exchange is blunt: "For every $1 raised, your dog will receive one vote." Dollars, not repeat button presses, move a dog up the board.

Because the entire exchange happens on one site, a supporter never leaves the rescue's contest address to finish the job, and no account is needed beyond the Sign In link that participants managing an entry use. Casual voters can move straight from browsing to giving in a single sitting.

The outcome chain runs from the count to the printer. The leader when voting stops takes the cover, twelve winning dogs sit for portraits with Sandra McCarthy Photography, and the finished calendar goes up for purchase in late fall for the 2026 year.

Where does this ballot fit among New Hampshire's public votes?

New Hampshire's ballot landscape leans heavily on reader-choice surveys. Neighbouring programmes on this site cover Best of Mount Washington Valley, Best of the Lakes Region, Best of the Seacoast, the two Best of NH listings and CommunityVotes Manchester. Those races are best-of surveys, spreading attention across wide fields of local businesses and services.

Mary's Dogs' contest differs on every axis: a single cause, a single species, a dollar-per-vote engine and a calendar cover as the prize. A reader clicking through a best-of ballot divides attention across many categories; a calendar voter concentrates on one dog and one April deadline. That focus explains why the fundraiser draws pet owners and their networks rather than the general business crowd the neighbouring surveys court, and why its standings move in dollar steps instead of free clicks.

What actually lifts a dog's total in this fundraiser?

Because the exchange is dollar-for-vote, reach beats repetition. The supporters who move standings share their dog's entry link widely, ask many people for small gifts, and concentrate pushes early in the window rather than in its final hours, since the online system stops registering votes once the deadline passes and dollars arriving afterward change nothing for a dog's standing. A dog backed by many small gifts outruns one waiting on a few large checks.

Timing matters as much as reach here. An April close rewards campaigns that build momentum week by week, because the entries view lets a backer watch where a dog stands and adjust asks accordingly.

The rescue has printed no statement on outside voting assistance, so anyone considering purchased support should weigh it against the ballot's own rules first. Background reading: how supporters earn more votes online and the general vote-purchase market.