JEFFERSON, WI — Some may consider fur and feathers to be all the fashion rage, but non-profits around the world are increasingly relying upon nudity to make them fundraising trendsetters — at least when it comes to calendars. A group of Yorkshire England women aged from their mid-50s to their 70s raised $2.55 million for cancer in 2000 by selling 800,000 calendars (as well as book and movie rights) featuring themselves posing tastefully in their birthday suits. Their effort inspired the 2003 film Calendar Girls, and their third calendar will include a photo of Prince Charles and the models, all fully clothed.

One of the latest non-profit organizations to jump on the naked calendar bandwagon is the Humane Society of Jefferson, WI, an organization extremely familiar with the comfortable sensation to be derived from petting a pussy or taking a strong position on doggies.

Humane Society executive director Lisa Patefield admits that the 2007 calendar was inspired by Calendar Girls and will be just as tastefully posed. Patefield, who hopes that the group’s calendar will raise $30,000 and sell out its 1,500 calendar stock, says that “For nonprofits, it’s getting tough to raise money. In order to be competitive in fundraising, you have to come up with something new, something exciting.”

In this case, “something new, something exciting,” includes animal caregiver 39-year-old Chandra Gates with a strategically placed cat against her chest in a black-and-white photo featuring her from the waist up while standing nude in a snowy December themed yard.

Louisville, KY real estate agent Linda Bayens and her husband used a similar concept to reveal the hidden talents of nude chefs this past year in order to pay almost $30,000 in medical expenses left over after their daughter’s successful cystic fibrosis surgery this past summer. Although larger bookstore chains refused to carry the calendar, smaller local businesses had them available, making it possible to sell nearly 1,300 of the 2,000 available copies, putting a $19,000 dent in the family’s medical money hole.