here are my thoughts on fundraising in rescue..personally i like planned, predictable events spaced out appropriately thru out the year. up until now we have hosted the pub night in march, the open house in june, the gala in sept. and the xmas letter/donations at the end of the year. there are other fundraising efforts hosted by others...the plant sale in may/the bank bake sale in nov/Helga's annual garage sale plus ongoing fundraising programs like animal sponsorships and 1000 saints.
it is the predictability and consistency of these events that allows us to reliably plan ahead and pay our bills.
the change in date of the bake sale this year is a bit of a hit but next year we can switch the timing with the pub night to the fall and the bake sale to the spring to compensate for this.
we do offer lots of ways for people to support us in various ways...our fundraising events, our sponsorship programs, and making individual donations whenever they want.
part of the reason for planned events spread out and ongoing sponsorship programs thru out the year is to be respectful of our donors and prevent donor fatique. in my mind the last thing our donors need is saints hitting crises after crises and continually sending out begging pleas for more and more money.
I have always been reluctant to fundraise additionally for specific emergencies...a dog needs surgery, we need two new roofs..the septic system is crashing, or can't pay our current bills. I think it sends a message that we cannot manage our budget and live within our means.
of course the issue is depending on donations, depending on the success and predictability of our fundraising efforts, depending on which crises strikes next..it is difficult to always know (and sometimes guess) what is coming in and going out. a crystal ball would be handy for this.
in any case...I do think it is important to attempt to keep to some predictability and consistency in our fundraising efforts and not to cry wolf unless the wolf is right at the door and about to come in. so far we have managed to take a deep breath, stretch and juggle and figure things out to keep the wolf away from eating us.
funds in rescue are almost always feast or famine depending on the time of the year and where we are currently sitting between fundraising events and there is no doubt that this causes a lot of added stress.but it is what it is..and nothing about rescue is ever easy so we do need to learn how to deal effectively with that stress.
I am continually working on this.
anyway..if folks could please keep voting in the petfinder shelter challenge (and I personally know how difficult this is cuz I can't even get in there to vote without getting their error messages!)..without the bake sale this month we are really going to need some extra money. winning the petfinder challenge may not be as much, but every little bit will definitely help.
thx.
For the first time in over a week the VOTE button displayed and I was able to vote today!!