Get a home ready. Together.
Housewarming is a team give-back where your group builds and furnishes complete homes — move-in ready, down to the bed, food, treats and a toy — for shelter animals waiting to be adopted. Partway through, the animals themselves walk in, and you finish their home right alongside them.
Moments from the build.
Housewarming, in a nutshell.
Most charity builds hand a shelter a bare wooden box at the end. Housewarming does the opposite: teams of ten build and furnish a complete, move-in-ready home for an animal who doesn’t have one yet — a bed inside, stocked with food, treats and a toy. Partway through, “inspectors” arrive to check the work, the doors open, and the animals themselves walk in — so you finish each home right alongside the very animal it’s for.
A real home, not a bare box
Every home leaves complete: a bed inside, food, treats and a toy — a full welcome-home a shelter can use right away.
The animals walk in
Partway through, the animals arrive — and you finish their home together. It turns an activity into a moment nobody forgets.
Built for who it’s really for
You meet the recipient before you’re done — a rare thing at work, and the heart of the debrief.
It follows people home
Every home is tagged. Weeks later, participants can receive a photo of the animal who moved into the one they built.
The details planners ask for.
- Duration60 minutes to several hours (90 min is common); can anchor a theme
- Group size10 to unlimited, in teams of 10
- FormatIndoor; theater seating with build tables
- What each team buildsA complete, move-in-ready animal home
- Furnished withA bed, food, treats and a toy
- The surpriseThe animals walk in partway through — you finish alongside them
- Where it goesHanded off to a vetted local shelter partner
- Follow-upHomes are tagged; you can receive a photo weeks later
From strangers to one team — in about 90 minutes.
A customizable opening frames the day; then your group moves from their seats to the tables to build. Here’s how it runs.
Frame it, then team up
People start in theater seating for a short, customizable opener and an experiential activity that connects to your message, then split into teams of ten and head to the tables.
Build & furnish the home
Each team assembles a complete home for an animal, then furnishes it move-in ready — a bed inside, stocked with food, treats and a toy. No power tools, no mess; everyone has a job, whether they love to build or would rather decorate.
The animals walk in
Partway through, “inspectors” arrive to check the work. The doors open and the animals walk in — and you finish each home right alongside the very animal it’s for. This is the moment nobody expects and everybody remembers.
Handoff & follow-up
The finished homes are handed off to the shelter partner, and every home is tagged — so weeks later you can receive a photo of the animal who moved into the one you built.
A complete home, ready on day one.
Each team builds and furnishes a full, move-in-ready home — no power tools, no sawdust, no mess.
The home itself
A pre-cut animal home that goes together by hand and gets decorated — no power tools, no noise.
A cozy bed inside
A comfortable, ready-to-use bed, so the home is somewhere an animal actually wants to be.
Food, treats & a toy
Stocked and finished — a full welcome-home, not a bare box.
Enrichment & comfort
Feeders, snuffle mats and comfort items that help an animal settle in faster.
Partway through, the animals walk in — and you finish their home together.
It looks like a build. It debriefs like the way you work.
The animals are the story; the wrap-up is where it becomes insight. Facilitators tie the experience to the themes your team is working on — here are the four we return to most.
Service
Every team said their home was finished — until the animals walked in and you saw who the work was really for. Then you found the extra 3–5%. Who is your work actually for, and would seeing them change how you finish it?
The unseen recipient
You built the whole thing before you ever met the animal. Most of our work is like that — done for someone we never see. What would change if you could?
Small things, fully furnished
Anyone can assemble a box. The home only matters once it’s furnished — the bed, the bowl, the toy. Where are we shipping boxes when we should be furnishing homes?
Belonging
Ninety minutes with people you may not have known, building something that matters — and the room feels different than when you started. That’s what belonging is built from.
Real beds, real food, real homes — handed to the people who’ll use them.
Everything your team builds is donated to a vetted local shelter, selected with you. No symbolic gestures. Participants see exactly who the work is for, and the animals are right there in the room. Animals that leave with their own bed and comfort items tend to settle into a new home faster — and because every home is tagged, weeks later you can receive a photo of the animal who moved into the one you built.
Housewarming FAQs
How many people can participate in Housewarming? +
From 10 to unlimited, in teams of about 10. The program scales cleanly from an intimate offsite to a full conference general session.
How long does it take? +
60 minutes to several hours; 90 minutes is the common length, and it can anchor a full event theme. We tailor it to your agenda.
Do we need power tools or a special space? +
No. The base program uses no power tools and makes no mess, and runs in a standard ballroom or event space. You provide the room, tables and any AV; we bring everything else.
Where do the donations go? +
Everything your team builds is donated to an established local animal shelter, chosen with you. Building Teams handles the coordination and the handoff, and every donation leaves complete and ready to use.
Are live animals really there? +
Yes. Live animals arrive through vetted local partners, confirmed at booking. Partway through, “inspectors” arrive to check the work, the doors open and the animals walk in — and you finish each home right alongside them. It’s the emotional high point of the event.
What does each team actually build? +
A complete animal home: a pre-cut structure that goes together by hand — no power tools, no noise — which teams then furnish move-in ready with a bed, food, treats and a toy, and decorate. Larger centerpiece builds are available for bigger rooms.
Can we brand it to our company? +
Yes. Apparel, branded welcome-home kits, matching gifts and more can make the night unmistakably yours.
How much does it cost? +
Pricing is set per participant with the charitable donation included, and depends on your group size, city and whether you add the dog-house build. Tell us about your event and we’ll send a tailored proposal, usually within a business day.
A few of the thousands of teams who trust us
The Legendary Guarantee
You’re putting your reputation on this event — so we put ours on it too. We measure every event, and across 2,000+ events since 2003 our average is 4.76 out of 5. If your team rates their experience below 9 out of 10, we’ll make it right: we’ll re-run a session, or refund our facilitation fee. No fine print, no runaround.
Bring Housewarming to your team.
Bring your team together and send animals home better. Tell us about your event — group size, venue and dates — and we’ll design your Housewarming around it.
We reply within one business day. No obligation.