The NAPRP Blog

Jul 3

Written by: NAPRP Admin
7/3/2009 6:49 AM

Last week's post (Always Be Marketing) touched a chord with a number of people. Hearing about a non-profit that has to close for lack of money is certainly disturbing. Unfortunately, it's not unusual. The reason is not for lack of dedication, it's more often lack of time. In fact, a member of NAPRP wrote in with a question along these lines:  "The day-to-day operations and problems take so much time and effort that there is little or no energy left for fundraising. How can we inspire and motivate people for fundraising and grant writing?" Here are a few tips:

1. Avoid burnout. People remain inspired and motivated when they aren't burned out. Burnout generally happens when too few people try to do too much. If you are a small organization, it's tempting to try and "do it all." Or to think that for a given task, "no one can do it as well as I can." It's vital to realize that you CAN'T do it all and you MUST delegate. You must take care of yourself. Eat right, get enough sleep, and spend time doing things other than your rescue work. Having a life outside of rescue is key to keeping your sanity.

2. Hire slowly and fire quickly. A lot of the "problems" that arise in rescue that cause mental exhaustion are not animal problems, they are people problems. Political bickering and infighting is common. You need to be willing to have the hard conversations and simply get rid of volunteers and employees that cause problems. (Author Christine Comaford calls these people "energy vampires" and I think it's an apt term!) Know that you WILL be able to replace these people. Again, your mental health comes first.

3. Plan to fundraise. Just as you make time to feed your dogs (or cats, or other critters in your care), you must make fundraising a priority. Nothing happens without a plan. Schedule regular fundraising meetings. Start off by brainstorming ideas for the rest of the year. Then write down action plans for each event/activity. Vague plans don't happen, but written plans do.

This subject is SO important so I'll write more about fundraising planning and delegation next week. If you have questions, please let me know.

Also for those of you on the east coast, I'll be at the Taking Action for Animals Conference in D.C. at the end of this month with my new book Funds to the Rescue: 101 Fundraising Ideas for Humane and Animal Rescue Groups. Please feel free to stop by our booth and say "hi." Last year, I met a couple of people who read this blog at the show and it was SO much fun to "talk rescue" in person!

As always, thank you for all you do to help the animals ;-)

~ Susan Daffron
Founder & President, NAPRP
 (To contact us, please use this link to ensure I get your email)

 

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