Hi Maureen, I love animals and think your idea is great. If i was in the States, i would have signed up as a volunteer asap! But, I think you need to do more groundwork on how you hope to sustain 2Hands4Paws. Are the pets going to be paying boarders? If so the question about the income of your target families is important for pricing. The income from fees[barest minimum] could go towards a revolving fund for drugs and hygiene products/food. You also need to partner with Vets to provide pro-bono check ups and things like that. anyway thats my 2 cents worth. All the best!
Thank you for your kind words of support. Your feedback is appreciated and provides a good opportunity to clarify the points you questioned. No, we will not be charging boarding fees. We are a charitable organization and foster care would be provided to families who are eligible based on the mission of our organization, such as those who lost their homes due to foreclosure, eviction, or are temporarily displaced from their homes due to disasters, such as fire. We would also provide foster care of pets for those who are admitted to the hospital for an extended period and have no one else at home to care for their pets.
For the safety of our foster families and their pets, any pets being fostered would have to be up-to-date on their vaccinations before they would be accepted for foster care. The pets' families would need to provide for any medications that are required, as well as any additional veterinary care or grooming that is necessary. We are, however, working on setting up agreements with one or two vets for situations when no other options are available and the pet's well-being is at stake. Since the foster care placements are temporary, the pets' families will be kept updated on their pets condition, and will be involved if the need for medical care is warranted.
Pet food will be provided to the foster families if needed, which would be obtained through donations, as well as revenue earned from fundraising and product sales. We would ask the pets' families to make a voluntary donation so that we may help more pets, but we would not turn away any family who did not have the money to provide for their care, particularly since most of these families have lost their homes due to financial hardship. We do not, however, take in pets simply because the family cannot afford to care for them. We would refer them to other organizations who may be able to provide assistance. We only take in pets when the families are temporarily relocated to a home where they cannot take their pets.
Thank you again for your input!
Please feel free to post any other questions or comments.
I love this idea - I too am a pet lover and proud owner of 2 cats and 2 dogs. Like Amaka, I agree you will need to address the sustainability aspect of the business model. Highly innovative with the potential for huge social impact and with the right model, easily scaleable. Have you thought about revenue producing ideas rather than just relying on charitable contributions? For example, why not take in paying boarders along with non-paying boarders. I know I would love to support an organization like this in my community and it would be great to have a reliable, caring place to board my pets while away, especially knowing that the proceed/profits would be going to such a worthy cause.
Also, seems like you would benefit from exploring more partnership opportunities. Have you approached dog food companies like Iams for example, about donating food?
Providing boarding for paid customers to raise funds will be a great idea when we have a shelter. At this point, we are relying solely on in-home foster care, and unfortunately, since we are still new, we have limited foster homes available. It is definitely an opportunity we will look into when we have a facility. It is a great idea that we never thought of.
We do realize that donations alone cannot sustain our organization, and grants are not easy to come by. We have created an online site to sell pet-related items. So far, we have pet-themed t-shirts, and we will continue to add new items. In December, we organized a holiday pet bazaar with local pet businesses and other rescue organizations. We have also set up at other holiday bazaars to sell our t-shirts, as well as hand-made pet sweaters and other items that were donated by various supporters and volunteers.
We are looking into partnerships with other businesses. Just this week, we received our approval letter for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Many businesses require a copy of the letter in order to participate in their programs. Now that we have that, it opens up other avenues for us.
We have become involved with other smaller-scale opportunities, such as registering with sites like iGive and GoodSearch, which provides donations when people conduct web searches or buy through their stores. Although it doesn't earn much money, every little bit helps. We also have an ongoing magazine drive on MagFundraising, where we earn 40% of all magazines purchased.
These discussion forums are a great idea. They provide an opportunity to expand on information and also provide us with additional ideas for our success.
Comentários
Hi Maureen, I love animals and think your idea is great. If i was in the States, i would have signed up as a volunteer asap! But, I think you need to do more groundwork on how you hope to sustain 2Hands4Paws. Are the pets going to be paying boarders? If so the question about the income of your target families is important for pricing. The income from fees[barest minimum] could go towards a revolving fund for drugs and hygiene products/food. You also need to partner with Vets to provide pro-bono check ups and things like that. anyway thats my 2 cents worth. All the best!
Amaka,
Thank you for your kind words of support. Your feedback is appreciated and provides a good opportunity to clarify the points you questioned. No, we will not be charging boarding fees. We are a charitable organization and foster care would be provided to families who are eligible based on the mission of our organization, such as those who lost their homes due to foreclosure, eviction, or are temporarily displaced from their homes due to disasters, such as fire. We would also provide foster care of pets for those who are admitted to the hospital for an extended period and have no one else at home to care for their pets.
For the safety of our foster families and their pets, any pets being fostered would have to be up-to-date on their vaccinations before they would be accepted for foster care. The pets' families would need to provide for any medications that are required, as well as any additional veterinary care or grooming that is necessary. We are, however, working on setting up agreements with one or two vets for situations when no other options are available and the pet's well-being is at stake. Since the foster care placements are temporary, the pets' families will be kept updated on their pets condition, and will be involved if the need for medical care is warranted.
Pet food will be provided to the foster families if needed, which would be obtained through donations, as well as revenue earned from fundraising and product sales. We would ask the pets' families to make a voluntary donation so that we may help more pets, but we would not turn away any family who did not have the money to provide for their care, particularly since most of these families have lost their homes due to financial hardship. We do not, however, take in pets simply because the family cannot afford to care for them. We would refer them to other organizations who may be able to provide assistance. We only take in pets when the families are temporarily relocated to a home where they cannot take their pets.
Thank you again for your input!
Please feel free to post any other questions or comments.
Maureen Gendron
President
2 Hands 4 Paws
Hi Maureen,
I love this idea - I too am a pet lover and proud owner of 2 cats and 2 dogs. Like Amaka, I agree you will need to address the sustainability aspect of the business model. Highly innovative with the potential for huge social impact and with the right model, easily scaleable. Have you thought about revenue producing ideas rather than just relying on charitable contributions? For example, why not take in paying boarders along with non-paying boarders. I know I would love to support an organization like this in my community and it would be great to have a reliable, caring place to board my pets while away, especially knowing that the proceed/profits would be going to such a worthy cause.
Also, seems like you would benefit from exploring more partnership opportunities. Have you approached dog food companies like Iams for example, about donating food?
I wish you the best of luck!
Cynthia
Cynthia:
Providing boarding for paid customers to raise funds will be a great idea when we have a shelter. At this point, we are relying solely on in-home foster care, and unfortunately, since we are still new, we have limited foster homes available. It is definitely an opportunity we will look into when we have a facility. It is a great idea that we never thought of.
We do realize that donations alone cannot sustain our organization, and grants are not easy to come by. We have created an online site to sell pet-related items. So far, we have pet-themed t-shirts, and we will continue to add new items. In December, we organized a holiday pet bazaar with local pet businesses and other rescue organizations. We have also set up at other holiday bazaars to sell our t-shirts, as well as hand-made pet sweaters and other items that were donated by various supporters and volunteers.
We are looking into partnerships with other businesses. Just this week, we received our approval letter for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Many businesses require a copy of the letter in order to participate in their programs. Now that we have that, it opens up other avenues for us.
We have become involved with other smaller-scale opportunities, such as registering with sites like iGive and GoodSearch, which provides donations when people conduct web searches or buy through their stores. Although it doesn't earn much money, every little bit helps. We also have an ongoing magazine drive on MagFundraising, where we earn 40% of all magazines purchased.
These discussion forums are a great idea. They provide an opportunity to expand on information and also provide us with additional ideas for our success.
Thanks for your input!
Maureen Gendron
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