3 Questions: How you answer may decide the success of your project

Three Questions You must Answer Before you Begin
There are three questions that every business has to answer to stay in business. How they answer these three questions will determine if they will be able to stay in business for the long term and during times of economic hardship and sustain themselves for years to come.  A non- profit is no different. Take a look and see how your idea for a non-profit answers these questions.

The Questions:
1. How does it provide something that everyone needs to sustain life in the Global market? I. E. Food, clothes, Shelter?
2. Does it create jobs and boost the economy for the local community?
3. What problem does it solve?

Before we being to write out our proposals we have to answer these questions.Otherwise it just becomes our pet project and a noble idea that everyone will pat you on the back for but you wont get much in the way of financial support.

Most of us can answer questions 2 and 3. Yet, we have a lot of trouble with question 1. In fact if we can answer question 1, then we solve the biggest problem that a non-profit has: FUND RAISING!

Almost everyone I know defaults to begging for money or asking for grants when it comes to funding a non-profit. While that has its place in order to help people get involved and helping to get it started, a truly successful non-profit needs to stand on its own with both support and funding. This mean studying the successful non profits that are still around after 100 years and seeing what they do to thrive. What there seems to be as a new trend in funding non profits has been around for several generations.

As you read on hold on to your hat and be prepared to see the potential.

The Trend for Non-profits:
The trend right now in developing non-profits is to create a for-profit business in which the profits go to supporting a cause or non- profit. As I pointed out before this is not a new concept. Its one of the things that non-profits who have been successful for 3 or 4 generations have used.

Here is an example that I read about last year:

There was a social worker that discovered that there was a great need for shoes in Ethiopia and Sudan. When the poor walked around barefoot little particles of sand would work their way into the pours of their skin through the bottom of their feet and cause a condition of silica poisoning that caused the feet to swell and the person to be unable to walk well or work. Young women who  contracted this condition were doomed to a life of poverty and begging because they were deemed un-marriageable if they had this . It was a totally preventable condition that was corrected by wearing shoes.

So the social worker hit on an idea. Make shoes that will be from natural sustainable materials and market them to raise money to buy shoes for Africa. The shoes ranged in price from $40 to $75 dollars a pair and for each pair of shoes sold they could donate a pair of shoes to a community in Africa. They developed a for profit business to do this. All the profits, after taxes, would go to the charity.  It goes farther than that because not only did they have a business that sold things people needed and hired people to work they actively promoted the non-profit activity as apart of their over all marketing strategy. Every shoe they sold benefited someone by giving a pair of shoes to someone who need it. So they answered the questions by creating two entities: a for profit business and a non profit charity.

1. How does it provide something that everyone needs?  It manufactures and sells shoes through a for profit business.
2. Because it is a manufacturing business that sells a product it puts people in the local economy to work using the for profit business
3. The problem it solves is providing shoes for poor people in Africa that need them.through the non-profit chairty.

This is a sustainable non profit that also has many volunteers and many additional donors, that can weather the storm.

One other note: The success is made more poignant by the fact that  their is a theme in product and provision: Shoes.

So how will you answer the three questions to develop a non-profit for wild horses?

Cultivating Sponsors

Cultivating Sponsors

I’ve mentioned Fairs, Events, and Festivals first because these are the first points of public contact that most of us have. However they aren’t the only ones. In this day and age it is hard to find a sponsor to give the $25,000 to 30,000 it might take to create a trust fund for a horse. However, if you break it down into smaller amounts and present it to groups it makes it possible indeed.

For each Sanctuary horse on your property you know that you need to have a certain amount of money set aside to protect its security. I'm going to now give you a secret to PR that many don’t know.

A Secret to success:
Make yourself available to every single church group, community club, service organization, school and  business association , 4 h club, girl scouts, boy scouts out there to Visit them and give a talk or program to their  organization. Tell them the story of a horse and tell them how their group can become a sponsor of that horse through raising money among their members. Some groups wont be able to fund the entire horse but they will be able to fund a portion. Most of the service organizations will give you some sort of speaker’s fee or donation for your organization.

Some groups will want to have a field trip  to your  place. Do the tour for a donation and charge for box picnic lunches or provide a picnic. Have someone donate the food. Let your volunteers help host it and serve or cook the food. This is also a good time for Volunteers to have a learning experience in giving a tour and answering questions and telling stories. Every time you meet or come in contact with a new group them tell them a positive story about a horse and let them meet that horse. Tell them how they can sponsor.


By giving your talks, and presenting a positive opportunity,don't be surprised if someone in the groups suggests another group you might want to speak to.

Expand your funding base:
When you finish with one Community then move on to the next one until everyone in a 50 mile radius gets to know you. For some of us in the East that is going to mean literally millions of potential one time donors. If you are in a  rural or low population area extend your public outreach to 100 miles or so.

Remember this: the closer to the inner city you get the less money available and  the farther away from the city you get the less money available. Don’t discount going to either of theses because you don’t know that in visiting their organization or club that you haven’t inspired them to donate and become volunteers and maybe something greater. Just be sure that you balance out your travel budget so that those farther away ones are funded with out taking money from the general fund.


Here is are suggestion as to how people who want to be sponsors can be involved. Almost every company has a public service project to nurture good will for their company and their employees. One of the things you can do is to visit the company association and see if they would be interested in sponsoring  a mustang.

Just a word of warning. You have to have a professional face before you go there. And you need to have a contact person who knows your organization,  how its set up and has visited your location and even has met the horses there.  A positive person on the inside can help give your organization validation.

Donations from Sponsoring business associations can sometimes be as small as several thousand dollars and  large enough to fund your organization for an entire year.  Don’t be ungrateful for either extreme or somewhere in the middle.  If they want to sponsor  a band of horses.. meaning a stallion, several mares and younger horses ( anywhere from 5 to 20)  have that information ready for them. Some executives might want to sponsor individual horses. Have that information ready too.

Any time any one, no matter who they are, asks you how much to sponsor a single horse, tell them truthfully.  Because you don’t know who  might already have the money to do it.For the rest of the people give them options.
 
Suggestions for Individuals that might want to Sponsor:
Sponsor a horse for  1 month
Sponsor a horse of   6 months
Sponsor a horse for 9 months
Sponsor a horse for a year
Sponsor a horse from the wild to the Sanctuary
Sponsor a horse for one year plus their trust fund.

Small groups, and Children’s clubs might want to sponsor  in these ways:
Sponsor the horse from the wild to the sanctuary:
Sponsor the horse for a year
Sponsor the horse for medical bills
One time donation to the maintenance trust for the horse

Larger organizations may want to sponsor in this way:
 Sponsor a group of horses from the Wild to the Sanctuary
Fund the Medical fund for a group of horses
Fund the horse for life
Fund the establishment of a Band

 You will have to run the numbers specific to your organization to see what sort of figures you would need to share with potential donors, however, this is all information you should be able to give when asked.  I emphasize when asked. You don’t want to overwhelm them with facts and figures  let them ask and then,help them find a comfortable figure.

Don't forget to write down their contact information. Every person you speak with who asks you for information should be kept for future reference.

As you can probably tell fund raising and finding new support are full time jobs for a non profit. 
A Management strategy for a non profit that doesn’t include one person doing nothing but this important out reach full time, will have a hard time keeping  the cash flow going.

Where To Find the Sponsors

Where to find the sponsors:

If you are an already established non-profit and you are finding it hard to raise money. It may not be that you are doing anything wrong. The problem may be that you have “fished out your stream”.  That means you either need to restock your stream or you need to dig a channel to a new stream or both.

If you live in a very rural area or in a small population area this “fishing out your stream” or having used up all available points of financial contact can be done very quickly simply because of competition with other non-profits like Volunteer Fire Departments, schools, fairs, hospice, humane society, the local hospital,  Lions clubs, and other service organizations etc etc

Going to a small town the same size as yours wont help because you are then just adding more competition for  the limited non-profit money.  So think bigger.  You have to make yourself a house hold name one person at a time. That’s easy in a small town or rural area  but you are going to have to work it in a larger population area too.

A question for all the established non- profits:
 If you meet 100 people at a fair or larger event how many people will give $5 or less to your cause?  How many will give $25 to $50 how many will give over $100 How many will be a repeat giver? How many will offer to come visit your facility? How many will offer to volunteer? How many will say they wish they could volunteer but they live too far away? How many will say I would give if I had the money?
Chances are if you don’t know the answer to all of the above you haven’t got a very well established public face because you aren’t doing enough events.

If your answer was less than these below you have probably tapped out your funding base and need to find new sources
10 people will give $5
5 people will give $25 to $50
1 in fifty will give $100 or more and/or become repeat givers
2 may want to give a donation of goods or services valued at $100 or more
5 in 100 will want to visit
1 in 100 will want to know how to volunteer
1 in 100 would like to be involved but lives too far away
5 in 100 would like to give but don’t have the resources.  1 in 100  of those is really serious and needs to be shown how.

You will notice that I didn’t say anything about sponsorships. This is because generally only 1 in 500 people you meet at an open public event will consider sponsorship. And only 1 in 5,000 will sponsor for big money.

In a Targeted Event when your organization becomes high profile these figures will increase because people will be seeking you out to be involved. In specially targeted events where only people interested in sponsorship are in attendance, generally the numbers will be much higher.  1/3 will become sponsors before they leave the event and another 1/3 will become sponsors  with in 30 days. How many sponsors you get will depend on how many other non profits are in attendance and how many people show up.

Reality Check
Just for fun let me run a few numbers. Lets say you are participating in an Agricultural Fair or Festival  of one day. The anticipated event is expected to draw 5,000 people and it doesn’t rain and your location is good. Maybe 2000 people will pass by your exhibit. Of those 2000 maybe 500 will stop by your booth and look . 250 will look longer than 30seconds. Those 250 are your  stream.
From that event  you may have garnered the following:
$1150 in cash donations
$200plus in goods or services
3 potential short term sponsors
3 potential Volunteers that have some significant time  and skill to give
2 potential volunteers to help in events and fundraising
5  opportunities  for  donations, sponsorships and fund raising help once they visit your farm
50 new contacts for your mailing list to promote activities and opportunities.

Every person that  you talked to and were personable to that day and either gave or expressed a desire to be involved  is worth nurturing because they will at some point  give to your organization if you make them feel wanted and show them how to be a part of it.

Just a note: in a time of economic down turn your goods and services donations usually will go up and offset the loss in cash donations but you will have to nurture it.

Avoiding the pit falls of person to person fund raising
You will notice that I put a lot of emphasis on  the contacts. It only takes one wealthy donor to open the door for more. In this day and age you might not recognize them out right. So its best to be kind, positive and helpful to all right from the start.

If you have political, religious, or personal cause prejudices put those on the back burner and leave them home. Highlighting your pet peve or talking about your target frustration group in public settings where you are trying to fund raise  will not only offend the group you dislike, but it might prevent people who would normally give you money from considering your org because  they  will be distracted from your good works by your ire. The people you want to attract to your organization are people who attract positive financially stable people. People who are attracted to conflict,drama, and confrontation are people that will bring that type of behavior into your organization and they usually are not financially stable.

Be careful not to discourage people from donating
Another thing that will lower your result numbers is that you might accidently discourage people from donating by not  giving them an opportunity to donate. If they ask how they can donate, dont change the subject or allow yourself to be distracted by some one else, until they have a chance to give. Dont let the moment pass. But also know the difference between someone who wants to donate and someone who just wants information. You dont want to be too high pressure, because that might persuade them not to donate in the future.By learning to be sensitive to the person you are talking with it will increase your fund-rasing success.

Next Blog Post: Cultivating Sponsors

The Nitty Gritty of Direct Sponsorship

Sponsorships
One of the most highly used forms of fund raising comes from sponsorships. I’m going to talk about it later in my blog regarding different aspects of running a non-profit. But for those who are already set up and those who plan on starting small or already have your infrastructure in place, I am going to talk about the sponsorship of Wild horses.

Sponsorship programs are not just to get the money of the sponsors. Sponsorship programs are to give people without the time, knowledge or facilities, the opportunity to be active in a wild horse's life. Happy sponsors who feel like they are an important part of the organization are your front line in Public Relations and bringing people new people into your organization.

Before I begin giving you information about this there are several things you need to know up front.

First, The way you set up your non-profit and the laws regarding non-profits will dictate how you run your program. If you have been reading this blog from its beginning you will already have made first contact with a State Agency and possibly a Lawyer about the information you might need regarding the setting up of your non-profit.

The contact that you have at the State level is an important one to nurture because that is the person you will be dealing with throughout the life of your organization. How you treat that person, hopefully cordially and professionally, will determine how easy it is for you to go through the process and glean any important information about reports, taxes, and other information you need. You can ask this person what the requirements are to set up a sponsorship program. They will either tell you out right or direct you to the proper documents online or in a public library.

Second and most importantly when you set up a Sponsorship program you don’t want to drop the ball or it can spell disaster for your organization. From the very beginning in your active budget set up money for the hiring of a Sponsorship Relations Person. This person can hold multiple jobs in your organization such as office manager,  book keeper, Volunteer coordinator, and fund raising support. For a small organization this person can do all of these jobs. But as your organization grows they will have to be split between several people. I cannot say it enough:  there must be excellent communication and transparency in your organization for it to thrive. So the right person involved in your Sponsorship program will not only bring in great sponsors but they will also keep those sponsors happy and coming back for more and bringing their friends.

Thirdly: Set the boundaries of participation clearly and early. While you want your sponsors to be active and participate, you also do not want them to interfere in the daily operation of your organization. Nor do you want them to actively try to undermine all of your good work. Sponsors like Advisory committee members and other volunteers are there by invitation. There purpose is to give and participate, however you and your staff are the heart beat of the operation and you make the policy and are ultimately responsible for the decisions you make as well as the outcome.

Sponsorship is generally the financial support by an individual, family, business , non-profit or group.
Sponsorships can be of individual horses
Sponsorships can be of an entire family or Band of horses
Sponsorship can be for a year
Sponsorship can be for the life time of the horse
Sponsorships can also be for smaller amounts of time or for specific needs
 
A good sponsorship program will have these qualities:
~An active connection with a specific horse or group of horses
~Monthly Updates about the horse or group of horses they support
~First call opportunities to participate in volunteer training and activities that will give them more opportunities to see and interact with their sponsor horse/s and others who also are in the program.
~Open visitation during all public hours
~Participation in Annual Volunteer Function and awards for all those who participate in the running of the non-profit

Some Sponsorship Perks are for Larger Sponsor Donations
Special VIP tours or activity days for their friends and families
The opportunity to give input in the form of termed membership on advisory and activity committees
Reduced tickets to all fundraising events depending on the size of their sponsorship
You can really add anything that is legal, in your state, as a sponsorship reward that is unique to your organization.
A word of caution don’t give away anything that you have to raise money to fund. Give from what you have.

 Next Post:  Where to find the sponsors:

How to fund an individual Horse. Part 1

Formula for Security for the Horse

There is a certain amount of money that you must raise before you try to support a single horse. This is the formula for that one horse budget: 
(Foundational Care +  Travel and Prep+ Vet Care+ 6 months of full care ) X number of years you want to keep the horse in sanctuary = security for the horse The estimate is going to vary for each location, as we know already.

How to Fund An individual Horse Part 1
So how are we going to raise that money? How you set up your non-profit is going to determine how you set up your public face and how much the public can be involved.


People want to belong. The want to contribute and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

 Case Study:

There is a Husky Rescue here in my part of Virginia.  I was incredibly impressed with how they did everything. When I met them in 2008 they had a 99% adoption rate.Wonder how they got that??

First they make the animals appeal to the public. What would make a furry dog, that is more suited to the colder climates, be a perfect dog for a  person living in the city in the south where we have hot  humid weather?
 
They don’t just make these dogs special,they make the dogs special to the people in the location.  If the Dogs need training they get it for the dogs. If the people need training they offer it.  If the potential adopter  cant figure out how to keep the dog and give it exercise, then the rescue becomes a source of information and resources. The rescue always makes sure that the public face of those dogs is well groomed, well behaved and  there is never a photo of them anywhere where the dogs don’t seem to  be smiling.


So the rescue offers training,  customer service, resources, present the animals well, and lastly gets people involved in the whole process.  This particular rescue has no paid employees. So every cent of money goes into care for the animals. In other words they have a very solid financial foundation in place, however they still have to raise money for the operation.

The rescue is all volunteer and every one of those volunteers has to go through rigorous training or equivalent, before they are aloud to foster animals, help with training, care for them or take them on public events.  The fact is that the Volunteers also have some basic PR training, so when they meet the public they don’t just sit behind the table and gossip, they actually are fountains of stories and information the general public needs and wants to hear.

The woman I met , who was in charge, has a pension and works a part time job. Most of the money she makes goes into her rescue efforts. She doesn’t just lead by interacting with people, she leads by doing. The sacrifice is worth the effort to her.


When I met her, she told me She  has low over head because she runs everything from her home which is paid for and in the country. Since animals are only there short term or because she sends them to foster, she doesn’t have a need for large numbers of loud animals on her property that might be considered nuisance.
Her largest expenses are usually vet bills and transportation. Because each person who fosters an animal pays for its feed and upkeep that is a donation in and of its self to the effort. Records obviously have to be kept regarding the foster program.

She is continuously going to events to show case, not her rescue, but the results of the rescue and the animals themselves. Quite often on these location events people who have successfully adopted an animal from them have the animal with them and tell their own story to the public. Their rescue had animals on hand for the public at no less than 32  public events a year at the time I met them. On weekends they don't have festival, fair, or other events they tour Pet stores that will allow them to set up out side. The idea is to generate new contacts and keep the faces of the dogs before the public.

I'm telling you this because there are 6 very interesting things in this antidote that will help you raise money for your operation.

6 Things that will help you raise money:
1. Your commitment of time and money to your project.  What are you willing to sacrifice to make your organization a success? Are you willing to sell all you have and do with out everything but the basic necessities if necessary? How much of your life can you give to it?
2. How you present the animals to the public Are they well groomed, well behaved, Do they have their ears pricked, is there a pleasant look on their face? Is your facility clean, neat and look safe?
3. What is your plan for getting donors directly involved?  How will you educate them? Use their resources and time? How will you put their skills and talents to work? And what will their reward be? Will you try to keep those who have your services on the front row at events and activities you participate in in the name of your organization? How will you build your relationships with past donors, sponsors, adopters to keep them involved?
4.  Efficient use of resources:  Will you buy or rent? How will you maintain the location? Will you use the foster method? Will you have a  permanent location?
5. Results and success stories. How will you get stay in touch with your donors? How will you share with them the victories and the failures? How will you make them a part of the success and show them how  their contribution got the organization there.
6. Getting your projects out where people can see them. People are always interested in hearing the success stories. They also want to know the animal’s background, where they came from their story. They want to meet the animals they heard about. And they want to know how they can help. But if you aren’t public they won’t know about you, your animals or how they can donate. How are you going to get what you are doing to the public on a regular basis, so people know about you and can donate?

***

Take a look at how Safe Harbor Husky Rescue is set up at their Web sight. This only represents a small portion of what they do. You will notice that they took on Cats as a satellite to the Husky rescues. Sometimes its necessary when you end up with one animal to take on all the family pets. And just a note to all of us who intend to help mustangs through non-profits, it is possible that the animals in our care will not simply be horses, we will have a few satellite animals as well.
Notice  also they put just the minimum info they need about their organization to help the public. The majority of the information is about the results.

The key ingredient to their success is a combination of getting those animals and stories out to the public and the caliber of the volunteers training.
When I met this group at a location, when I was exhibiting some of my pet portraits in 2008, they literally had 1 volunteer for each 2 dogs. The people interacted with the public and the dogs. I was told that of the 10 dogs on sight that afternoon, they adopted out 3 and had pending applications for 4 more.
 The Pet Harbor Rescue and Referral Inc http://www.petharbor.org/aboutus.htm

Presentation IS half the battle.
Ask yourself as you are looking through their information? If I can’t get my horses out to the public how can I get the public to my horses. Do I know enough about my horses to tell their story?  How can I present it? What kind of resources do I need to  provide or refer to people  I meet that will help get mustangs adopted or donations into my sanctuary? How can I do this without spending  large amounts of money?


Imagine this if you only had one Mustang to start with that was well trained, did funny little tricks, liked to meet the public. This one horse could be the first educational experience your public has. When people meet the mustang for the first time they want to know more. Tell his story. Tell them how they can give and what you are hoping to accomplish. First thing you do is find the willing people and teach them how to tell the story and how to be involved. Some will do it because they were astonished and some will do it because they just want to spend time with the horse. Make it pleasant and get out and greet and meet. Make sure that every interested person has something in their hand to take home maybe a list of where to adopt mustangs, it might be a short brochure on what you want to accomplish, but it should have all your contact info on it and where to donate as well.  That is an important step to positive public relations that you can do early in your organization and the first public funding of your organization.

**One more note. Not everyone is going to be able to run a non-profit that has no employees, especially one with large animals with special needs. However you can show  how the donations represents the direct positive effect  in the care of the animals.

Next post( Nitty gritty of direct sponsorship per horse)

Foundational Care Part 3: The Argument for the $10K

Why You need $10K when you already have a sustaining income for the horse.

No one can tell when a horse might have a catastrophic illness or injury. If you have a 20 horse or a 200 horse operation and 10% of your horses come down with the same problem you can’t expect the local vet or vet college to fund your catastrophe for you or they will soon be out of business.

Vets are amazing people who are always looking out for ways to help out on non-profits, especially where animal rescue and sanctuary is concerned. But you as the non-profit organizer and founder need also to be responsible for the horses in your care. And unless you are independently wealthy or are in a profession that makes a lot of money for you, you need to fund every aspect of your operation to the best of your ability and manage it well.

So with this in mind, there is a 4 in 1 chance that any horse you bring new on to your property is going to have some sort of devastating illness or injury with in the first 3 months of arriving. 1 in 10 is going to have some catastrophic injury or illness on its way to your location.

So, If you don’t have that $10,000 to fall back on how will you fund the treatment and recovery? Are you willing to take a chance at $2,500? How about at $5,000? What about an insurance policy? Is insurance an option until you can raise the money? Over a 20 year period would it be less expensive to pay for insurance on the animal or to raise the $10,000. What about co-pays and deductibles? What can you afford with what you have available?

These are things you need to investigate yourself and see what applies. Just remember it doesn’t matter if you paid $25 for the horse or $35,000 for the horse, If that animal becomes ill or is injured its cost to your organization will be the same.

Some people are going to tell you that they have been running rescues or sanctuaries for years and have never had any problems like I am suggesting here. But the truth is in this economy and in this environment, we don’t have the luxury of not having a management plan to make sure the animals in our care and people in our employ are cared for if needed.

Personally, I suggest you start small and work your way to larger. Raise what you can of the $10,000; say up to $2,500, before you bring the horse to the farm. Then allow the interest you don’t use in the up keep of the horse be reinvested until your reach that figure. All the other money over the amount you need to keep the horse can go into an escrow account for the next horse and upkeep for the designated horse. The goal is to have every horse funded completely for its entire lifetime.

Ok now we know the formula for keeping a horse so how do we raise the money?
Next Blog post: How to fund an individual Sanctuary/or Rescue horse.

Foundational Care Part 2: The Formula and how to use it

  The Formula and how to use it to sustain a specific living horse.

And how to make sure it isn’t used for any other purpose except care of the specific living horse.

First lets run some numbers:Lets say you are living in the East.
Full board in these areas runs about $300 in bigger barns in the country and $600 plus in the city or suburban areas.  So to set up this foundation for your horse you will need to adjust your figures according to the location.  Lets say  in a 50 mile radius from you Full board runs about $450 a month.
$450 x 12 months = $5,400.00 for a year at full board.  This money either needs to be in an escrow savings account or in a special foundation account where the money will be invested wisely and interest generated.

The average mustang running on good quality pasture is going to cost less than $50 a month to sustain. In the three winter months in the south or south east you might want to add Hay depending on the conditions of the pasture in winter. So that might add another $15 to $35 a month for grass hay depending on hay prices.

So the total amount for keeping a healthy mustang at grass is about $705 a year or spread over a year about: $59.00 a month.

So the interest on the $5,400 needs to cover a minimum of $59 a month just for basic, no frills ,horse care. However, you need to pay someone to check the horses ever day, to rent a locations and the horse’s up keep. Add $30 a month for an employee per horse and $109.00 for facility and maintenance.  

So basically out of that the interest needs to be $200 a month per horse to sustain each horse’s basic quality of life. Some months that will be a larger amount and some a smaller amount.

The hard cruel fact is you need to have the “full board for a year” amount of money in the bank to sustain that horse before it ever comes on the property. And as long as that horse is on the property the money designated for it should not be used on any other horse. Putting the money in a foundation or escrow account will prevent it from being used to over fill your operation. Over filling is how sanctuaries and rescues fail.

The rule of thumb is: Don’t do it if you can’t sustain it! The amount of foundation money of course is going to vary from location to location so here is the formula again.
The Formula for Foundational Care
 
(Full board x 12) + $10,000 per horse x Number of years you need to keep the horse = monthly sustained life time care for one horse
*A Rescue Horse on average will stay with the organization non longer than 3 years on average.

*A Sanctuary horse to live out its life might be anywhere from 7 to 15 years  on average depending on the health and age of the horse.


This means you will have a suggested amount  somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 per horse  per year in residence in escrow to sustain one horse once you have raised the money. The horse will live on the interest for its lifetime and the money will be designated to that specific horse for as long as it is in your organization and cannot be used for any other purpose. Once the horse leaves the organization that money can be assigned to another horse. You also cannot barrow against the money, nor can your creditors take it as an asset.

You can talk to your bank about the details of how to set up such a foundation so it can benefit a number of horses, how your state and federal laws will apply to it and how it can be best managed to the benefit of incoming horses as well as established horses. Each state is a bit different so be sure to do your homework on how to make this work. Be sure to ask about the Specifics of what it will cost to set it up and maintain it.



Next blog: The Argument for the $10K

Formulas For Management : Foundational Care Part 1

What is Foundational Care?
Foundational Care is having a solid form of support for each animal that your organization is responsible for that cannot be used for any other purpose.

Chances are most of us are going to either have small parcels of land or rented land when we begin our sanctuaries or rescues. Actually this is not necessarily a good thing if you plan on providing life time care to any horse. These days, with all the modern advances food and health care, it is quite possible that even your sanctuary mustangs could live to be 40 or more years. Generally, that means that for each horse you intend to take in you must have a solid form of support designated to that animal, and to no other, for an average minimum of 20 years.


This way you will give the horse an opportunity to survive and thrive no matter what the economy is and no matter what your personal situation is. The best way to figure out what that amount of money should be is to look at the area in which you hope to establish your facility and see what the average cost of full board is for one horse in a 50 mile radius.


Now I realize that most mustangs aren’t going to be requiring full board. In fact most sanctuaries are going to want to put those horses into as natural a situation as possible with minimal contact from humans, minimum handling and the minimum natural care to keep them healthy, sound and thriving.


Some people will look at these numbers I’m about to give and say “that’s ridiculous. You only need to use pasture board figures for your estimates.”  The truth is there are times in the lifetime of the horse when their might be some sort of catastrophe that will require full care in an isolated space. You need to be prepared.

When you make up your budget for management you want only real care figures. But before you get to that point you have to have  Foundational Care figures.


Foundational Care figures are amounts that are set side and invested so that they earn interest or money for the horse toward its life time care. Here is how it works.

Full board x12 months plus $10,000 per horse will give you the annual figure you need to sustain one horse for its life time. Any month that you do not need to use money from the interest generated to care for the horse, that interest goes back into the fund for that horse as a hedge against inflation. Once your total goal for sustaining the horse is reached then the remaining overflow can go to help sustain another horse.


What do I mean by full board?
 

Full board means the following:
Daily stall care and bedding
Pest control
Worming
Daily grooming
Turn out
Exercise
Feed
Supplements
Hay
Salaried groom for care and stall cleaning twice daily
Administration of medicine or wound care
Regular teeth floating
Regular hoof care
Administrations costs (record keeping)

When You are calling around to get estimates, find out what they charge extra for. You will need to add the extras in if they are on the list above but not covered by  the full board figure.
Full board does not include any training or showing activities, tack, blankets, toys or special facilities/equipment needed to be created just for your animal’s needs or transportation.


So what is the $10,000 for?  The $10k is for catastrophic injury, illness and/or other emergency, that might put the horse in a life threatening situation where in order restore it,  long term nursing care and medical attention might be necessary. Or in case of a natural disaster a way to evacuate the horse and provide for its temporary stabling  and care, or any other unforeseen thing that might happen out of your control.


I know some of you are freaking out at these figures, however, remember the goal here: No more Failed Sanctuaries and no more Failed Rescues.



Next Blog: Foundational Care Part 2: The Formula and how to use it to sustain a specific living horse

While you are gathering info: The Experience Factor

Right now while, you are gathering up your information and background statistics on your project, this would be a good time to reassess your experience and see where you are weak. If you don't have the proper experience to run a non-profit, you either need to get the experience or you need to be prepared to hire some one to work with you that has the expertise you don't.

There are three ways you can get experience:

-Take classes at the local Community College

-Volunteer at a local Non-profit that benefits Animals

-Work for or operate a For-profit business that is similar to the one you want to found as a non- profit.

Part of the background information gathering you are doing can include spending time volunteering with a group or organization that is doing something very similar to what you want your organization to do. Taking classes or working toward certification as a riding instructor or in animal management wont hurt your cause. While working on the basics of your non-profit, including the funding, you can also be working toward educating yourself in as many aspects of  everyday management as possible.

This can be done in several ways.

First search the phone directory to see who is local. You will be doing this anyway so you don't run unnecessary competition to other horse organizations.  For instance if there is a local equine rescue  then volunteer in the fall or winter when they have a shortage of volunteers because college or high school is in session. Make sure that they know that you are thinking of starting an organization for Mustangs and that you want to have the experience.
 
 Please, also understand the ethics. it wont go down well if you try to steal their funding sources or mailing lists and if the need arises where there may be horses that come to you that need to go to their rescue they may not want to cooperate if you haven't been honest with them. You want your organization to be mutually beneficial and vice a versa.

If you cant volunteer with  a horse organization  then Volunteer with a local humane society or other animal rescue. Sometimes Dog and Cat rescues will receive larger animals and if they discover that you are in the process of establishing your own non-profit they might support you in exchange for a place to hold the over flow. Generally they do pay or collect money for upkeep if that is necessary.

If there are no animal organizations then try to volunteer with organizations that have a thrift store or food bank. These can be valuable experiences in dealing with the public and seeing how fund raising works.


The more variety you have in your experience the more helpful it will be both to those who will be investing in your project and in the success of your project.


Another thing if you are planning on doing a specific type of rescue net work and try to find one that is successful and established and find out if they would allow you to visit and ask you questions. If possible, and they are doing almost exactly what you hope to do see if they will let you  spend  a few months volunteering at their organization. This may require that you have  three to 4 months of living expenses saved up or you can write it into  part of your budget as ongoing  education expenses. It will be worth it and your organization will benefit from the experience.

I suggest that you get the most variety as possible in your experience that will help you do exactly what your goal is.

Here are  a few classes that might be helpful in managing your non-profit
Small Business Administration
Writing a Business Plan
Accounting
Grant Writing
Large Animal Maintenance
Vet Tech training
Farm Management
Horse management
Riding Instructor Certification
Pasture maintenance
Eco system management.
Plus any number of  courses that might be offered  that would apply but are not listed above. They are creating new courses every day. Some are continuing eduction courses and others are toward certificate programs.

Remember anytime  you make a contact like this through a class, gather and keep as many business cards and contact information as possible for you reference resource book.


Next Blog Post: Formulas For Management ( getting ready to do that proposal budget)

Starting the Organization from the Ground up: Making A List and Checking It Twice

There is basic information you  must have before you can begin the process of setting up a non-profit. This means making a list then researching each point on that list. Then organizing it so you have the information at your finger tips. This needs to be done before you apply for your corporation status or obtain a single horse for your project.

Being a non-profit does not mean that you don't use good business sense in making your organization and putting it to work. Bad business practices will not ensure the horses in your care have a permanent safe home. Our goal here is  No more Failed Rescues and No more Failed Sanctuaries!


By the time you have gotten to this post you probably already have an idea or you may have already started and are functioning as a non-profit. If this is your first time out, this information I'm about to give you will help you avoid a lot of funding problems down the road. If you are already a non-profit or business run for charity this information can help you correct organizational issues you may already have. It never hurts to go back to basics if thing don’t seem to be reaching their potential.

To get started you first need to have your idea.
Second make a list of all the thing you want to do  and need to accomplish the idea.
For example:
If your idea is to run a recreational /training facility with a sanctuary for Mustangs Your list might look like this:

  Mustang Heaven (fictitious name)

Sanctuary

Trails Recreational Program

TIP Program

Riding lessons

Now you are going to figure out the list of what you will need for each of these. This is your wish list so get detailed. You might not be able to do everything right away but it will help see what you need. Here are some short list suggestions.

Sanctuary:
Handling area, feed area, fenced paddock, quarantine area, Horses,
Trails:
Trained trail horses, trails to ride on, insurance, equipment, stabling, pasturing ,trained guides, tack repair, horse trailer, vet care, feed, licenses, safty protocals, first aid training
Tip Program:
Horse trailer, special corrals and facilities, feed , training equipment horses, licenses, vet care,
Riding lessons:
Trained horses, Saddles and bridles, insurance, riding ring and outside courses, stabling, feed, pastures, paddocks, Horse trailer, maintenance, equipment, tack room, class room, lounge, certified teachers, PA system, parking area, restrooms etc. Zoning permits, waste management plan, safety equipment, special training

Now do the RESEACH and Documentation
This is really important because out of this information will come your 4 most important documents:
Your Business Plan
Your Management Plan
Your Marketing Plan
Your Articles of Incorporation

 Suggestions on How to Proceed and Collect info:
I suggest you get a notebook binder that has clasp openings.
This is going to be your resource book and it can be upgraded and organized as you go. Be sure you get a minimum of 2 sources for each product or service you need if possible. 3 or 4 is better.
Always look at Full Price, Discount and free sources and include them in your information

Some Suggested Questions:

These questions need to be answered for every item on your list including your marketing. Dont forget that your particular project might have additional info so adjust this list to meet your need. These are just some of the basics. Some of the questions will be N/A obviously or  does not apply

Regulations and Zoning:
 Will this part of the project be profit or non-profit
What are the local, state, and federal regulations?
 Who are the contact persons in each branch of the government?
Will an advocate be needed to go through the process?
Will a Lawyer be required?
Do you need to join an association?
Will accreditation be necessary?
Will you have employees?
Workmans comp and other insuraces?


Public Support: ( I will write in details about some of this later so make your answers general)
Who will benefit?
Who will you market it to?
How will you market it?
Will you out source your marketing?
Advertising options?
How will it impact your community?
What is your exact competition?(Get names Addresses and Telephone numbers)
What does the community perceive is your competition?

For equipment and infrastructure:
Who supplies it?
Where to get it?
How much will you need?
If its custom made how long will it take til delivery?
How much it costs?
Is it something you can get used, for free, or must it be purchased new?
If I’m not going to buy it out right what will it cost and who will supply it?
How you will store it?
How you will maintain it?
How will you replace it?
Is this something you need at the beginning or is it something that you can wait to purchase later?
Can you purchase some items that can only be used for one purpose or will they be multi purposed.?
How will it be used to generate income?
Can this be outsourced?

And any numbers of questions that may arise regarding your project's implementation that are not mentioned here, simply add them to your process to meet the needs of your individual project.

The Binder and why its important.

This resource binder will include names, addresses, emails, web address, notations, recommendations. And prices for what they supply.( you dont want to have to go back and do this again when you are making your budget for your business plan) Each page should have a different resource and you can organize it as to what part of the plan it fits into. Remember also that this is a living document meaning that you will be adding to it, and updating it as time goes by.

Its always good to put the government information in the front of the binder because you will need this on a reoccurring basis throughout the life of your organization. Regulations change all the time to avoid penalties and fines its always good to stay updated.

Grant it this part of the process will seem a little overwhelming to some, however going through this process will be an invaluable management tool for your organization and it should be guarded as an asset. If you do this now it will save you tons of time in research later and it will have all the resources you need at your finger tips.

Reality Check

Part of this process is to give you a realistic picture of what you think you want to do. It might be more advantageous to figure out one point and build your organization on that. Then later add the other portions in a step by step fashion. This will also help you understand what sort of resources and funding you actually need in real figures.

Additionally you may decide that you want a combination of interconnected organizations that service each other For instance your you start your sanctuary and then set aside an area to lease out to tip trainers or out fitters. This generates income for you organization while streamlining your area of management.
At any rate if you make it through this part of the process you will prove to yourself that this isn’t just a dream but that you are very serious indeed in making this a reality.

You will notice that I haven't mentioned property yet in any of these posts. There is a reason for that. Unless you have all of this information ready to go you wont know exactly what type of property you need and wont be able to answer how it is going to be used. The last thing you want is property that is suitable but zoned wrong. In addition the goal here is to have a free and clear land holding with no mortgage or leans, so we have to be able to raise funds for it. All of the collected information is going to get you to the point that you  can get the land you need for the purpose you need in the amount you need. But you have to be able to prove on paper that you have a viable plan.

Next Blog Post: Formulas For Management ( getting ready to do that proposal budget)

How to Avoid 16 Fund Raising Fails

Right now creative funding is not an option it’s a necessity. It means a change in thinking.  
I give permission for my readers to make a one time copy of this and keep it where they can review it. Everytime you try to negotiate funds and come away empty handed, look down the list and evaluate  your pitch or fundraising project. 9 chances out of 10 you will find you have hit at least one of the Fund Raising Fails.

1. "If I cant raise the money I can always borrow" Get away from the notion that we must borrow to make our dreams come true. The quickest way to sink a non-profit is to barrow money. Usually because the bank expects a guarantee from an individual donor. When the non-profit fails, the bank gets the land and you still have to pay it back out of pocket. That payback money is the financial future of your horses. If you have to barrow money to keep your doors open and feed the horses that means you have probably tried to expand into your dream rescue too fast and haven't made provision for the care of the horses you have. (In a future post I will show you how to insure the care of the horses no matter what happens to the land or the funding)

2. "People will give be cause I'm a neat person, with a great personality and I have an awesome idea to save horses." Get away from the idea that if you come up with a fantastic idea people will just give you money. In years when surplus money was great people would give to anything, Now they are very careful about what they give to because of the uncertain economy.Sometimes they have to choose between feeding their families and giving to your cause. If there is high unemployment in your community even if they wanted to give you money they probably cant.

3." I have a dream about saving horses" This project isn’t about our fantasies of owning horses and doing something special that the world thinks is amazing. The project is about showing donors how we are going to help benefit  the donors and solve a problem that directly affects them and then making them part of the solution.

4." The means justifies the ends when it comes to a good cause" There are ways to get what you need that do not include manipulation, stealing and credit. Using these three to build your organization will eventually give you a bad reputation and tap out your donation options and destroy your volunteer force.

5. "If its expensive its the best, we will just have to raise the money to get it"  There are two rules for purchasing in business and non-profits: Never pay full price. Never pay for things you can get for free. One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever got came from the man that started me in the horse business in 1979. He told me, "you can get anything you want for the price you want to pay if you are willing to wait for it." Patience is not only a great virtue it is the way non-profits thrive.

6. Negative Talk: speech that makes it sound as if you don't believe in your project or yourself. If you are rejected it might be because you are projecting failure and speaking in defeated language, check your language and practice positive speech no matter how scared, frustrated or disappointed. Never voice your doubts in public ever. Doing so will spread seeds of doubt to your potential donors.

7. Keeping Critical people around. Do not share what you are doing with critical people, they will quietly undermine you from behind your back.

8.Prejudice against people with different political ideas than your own. Never assume that the people who disagree with your politics won’t support you. 99 times out of 100 the people who have some major issue of disagreement with you are the very ones who will be most generous with support, unless you openly criticize them. More people loose funding over criticism than any other single issue.

9."The aggravation of being around people who listen but seem to reject the project so it feels like a waste of time." If they don’t seem interested in your project its because they cant see how it improves their own life and agenda or they need an opportunity to connect with it emotionally. This is your chance to educate, develop a friendship. A genuine friendship that builds on confidence will eventually get you funding.

10. Demeaning of people who give time and goods but not money. This is one that will comeback and bite your organization if you aren't careful. People who give time and money save non-profits a ton of money every year and they are imperative to the  workforce of your organization and its projects. The good- will they bring in will make or break your program. Donations of Time and goods need to be counted as important as money grants.It doesnt hurt to keep a log of  volunteer activities and at the end of the year do special awards or some sort of VIP party for all involved.

11. "Miscalculating the financial resources of the communtity. "If a communty is big in land but has few in population its easy to tap out the resources. A non-profit needs to  expect that in some communities that will happen very fast because of the population. A population of 600 is going to run dry a lot faster than a population of 60,000. And if that 60,000 is in a depressed area they will run out fast too. Its important to figure out the demographics of your donors before you commit to an area and location. If the property is available in one location but the demographic isn't there for donations how will your organization compensate?

12. "Too many Rescues in the same Community".The quickest way for your project to fail is to be in direct competition with already established similar organizations. Make sure your location isn’t in direct competition with an already established organization. If the organization that was there first has any sort of good reputation it will dry up your money source quick. Sometimes the opposite will happen and you will be the established organization.

13: Making new contributors feel unwelcome and like they are outsiders" You will always offend someone but the quickest way to undermine your funding base is to be unappreciative and exclusive. You must make everyone who contributes feel needed and important if at all possible. But also make them know that while their input and ideas are appreciated more time needs to be spent on the goals than on nurturing their ego. It takes tact. New people coming in all the time are going to see that you have already built a relationships with volunteers and those you have built history with through donations and experiences.  They need to not only be made to feel welcome but they need to be embraced and included as part of the group.

14: "Hiding things". While it is true  that some things in your organization are none of the business of the public;  there are certain things with will get you in trouble with the public if try to hide them or dont address them openly. Be as transparent as possible about horse care and facilities building. Give the public frequent access and opportunity to be there and be a part of the activities. This will cut down on negative things and misunderstandings. Make sure that when money is donated to designated things that it goes there. And show them where it goes.

15: Excluding donors and volunteers from the decision making process". That is not to say that you should allow them to make all the decisions you are responsible for ,but by having an advisery committee made up of volunteers and  donors it not only empowers them but it gives them an opportunity to contribute to the process. When you have advisors who know how decisions arise and why, they will often be your biggest advocate when needed.

16: "Listening to the wrong people" when dealing with good causes, you  will always come across people who try to convince you that you must act now with out checking out the validity of the source, because its a life and death situation. People like this tend to cost you time and money that could be used for  better purposes. They will try to convince you to use the funds set aside for up keep of current horses to save more horses, when actually they are making money for dealers. If you misappropriate funds long enough, at their urging, it can cause the demise of your organization and plans. These same people will also wittle away at your support base until they isolate you and try to take over control of everything. Any time someone comes to you like that have them go find out the details.. the whole, who, what, why and how. If you have a business plan and management plan for your organization stick to the plan and tell them that  if it isn't part of the prospectus you cant do it. A lot of times they wont come back. If they are really out to destroy your work they will try to find out who your board of directors is and pick them off one by one. This is the reason one must stay in good communication with all in authority and all who donate and volunteer. Confrontation isn't pleasant but as soon as you start to have some success this type of person will show up either to get the power or because they think there is money available they can benefit from.

There are probably a few more Fund Raising Fails that haven't been listed. I have just listed some of  the black holes that can easily be rectified. However, if allowed to go on can under mind your entire project and put any horses in your care in jeopardy. For those with already established Organizations some of these might explain why your funding is less than you had hoped and you can take steps to find new sources of funding or build new relationships that will pan out later. If you don't have a business plan in place there is no time like the present to put one together and fill in all the blanks. Remember the end result we are trying to find is: No More Failed Sanctuaries and Rescues.

Next Post: Starting the Organization from the Ground up (First Steps)

First Things First: a special note to Already Established Non-Profit Orgs

Right now, in this time, in the United States of America funding for private organizations is at an all time low. The reason has to do more with the economy than ever before.  Here is the fact, if you dont have funding your organization has failed before it starts. So you either have to rethink your organization and streamline it to what you, your friends and family can fund with your limited resources or you need to begin to think outside the box. 
Two reasons Non-profits fail
Why is it that some organizations have been around for over a hundred years, even during depressions and wars while others last barely 5 in the midst of plenty?. Whats worse is that when things start to go bust the founders begin to get discouraged and try to lay blame when in truth they have two main things wrong.
1.they havent connected with the community 
2. they tried to do their fund raising after they began their project. 

With out these two stones in place, funding and connecting with the community,  the foundation collapses. In the case of Wild Horses or any horses for that matter, if your sanctuary or rescue fails, the horses are just as badly off or worse than they were when you began.

So I'm going to share with you what I know about building a healthy non-profit and then with your experiences and the experiences of others you can figure out what you want to do and how elaborate you want it to be based on your resources.I'm also going to share with you ways that I and others have used to fund their projects.

One other thing. No one says that inorder to save a mustang you must become a non-profit. No one is saying that if you want to make a difference you have to start a rescue.  Infact anyone with money and land can put animals on it  that they have rescued or adopted if they fund it themselves. The thing is that if you decide to do it this way and dont incorporate what will happen to the animals if something happens to you? 

Anyone can incorporate and anyone can put together a non-profit org. Even if you only have two or three horses. The idea is that you want the animals in your care protected and safe and in their own place no matter what happens to you or your family. However, even a non profit cannot keep your animals safe if it doesn't have a way to feed them, provide for their care and a have a permanent place for them to live. So the first goal in any sanctuary is to obtain land and infrastructure and a care fund..  And you need to do this before you even get your first horse. I will post more about that later.

Next post: How to avoid 15  fund-raising fails: