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)