Get a home ready. Together.
Housewarming is a team give-back where your whole group prepares real homes for animals waiting to be adopted. One shared goal, one great night, and a donation that actually helps — and when the room hits its mark, the animals arrive.
Moments from the build.
Housewarming, in a nutshell.
Most corporate team building is either forgettable or feels like work — and most charity builds split a group into competing teams and hand a shelter a bare wooden box at the end. Housewarming does the opposite. The whole room works together toward one shared goal, everyone builds the pieces of a real home for an animal who doesn’t have one yet, and the animals themselves show up before the night is over.
Together, not against each other
No competing teams, no trophies, no judging. The room builds toward one collective goal — the difference between a contest and a night people remember.
A real home, not a bare box
Every donation leaves complete: a cozy bed, food and treats, toys and comfort items, assembled into a full welcome-home kit shelters can use right away.
The animals are in the room
When the group hits its mark, live animals arrive. It turns an activity into an experience nobody forgets.
It follows people home
Every donation is tagged. Weeks later, participants can receive a photo of the animal who ended up with what they built.
From strangers to one team — in 60 to 90 minutes.
Woven right into your reception, your group goes from finding their table to furnishing real homes for animals in need. Here’s how the night runs.
Arrive & team up
Guests find their team, drink in hand. The host frames the shared goal: together, the room is preparing homes for animals waiting to be adopted.
Build the welcome-home kits
Teams assemble and decorate cozy beds, enrichment feeders, toys and treat kits. No power tools, no mess — everyone has something to do, whether they love to build or would rather decorate.
The animals arrive
The room hits its goal and live animals enter as the reward. This is the emotional high point — the moment nobody expects and everybody remembers.
Handoff & follow-up
The finished donations are presented to the shelter partner, and guests learn how to receive a photo of the animal who gets what they built.
Real homes, ready on day one.
Teams assemble the essentials of a new home, all donated as complete welcome-home kits — no power tools, no sawdust, no mess.
Cozy no-sew pet beds
Comfortable, ready-to-use beds assembled by hand.
Enrichment feeders & snuffle mats
Foraging feeders that turn mealtime into play.
Toys, treats & comfort items
Filled food and treat kits, toys, collars and comfort items.
Add-on: The Build
Want a centerpiece? Add team-assembled, pre-cut dog houses that go together by hand and get decorated — still no power tools, still no noise. Priced as an addition.
When the room hits its goal, the animals arrive.
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. It’s a real donation of usable goods, coordinated end to end by Building Teams.
Housewarming FAQs
How many people can participate in Housewarming? +
From 20 to over 1,000, 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 to 90 minutes. It works woven into a reception or as a standalone activity, and we tailor the length 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. When the room hits its shared goal, the animals enter — it’s the emotional high point of the event.
Can we add dog houses? +
Yes. The Build add-on brings team-assembled, pre-cut dog houses as a centerpiece. They go together by hand and get decorated — no power tools, no noise. It’s priced as an addition to the base program.
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.