INCOME AND EXPENSES:
At any given time, we keep about 25 pets at our shelter. In the course of a year, we succeed in finding homes for well over 200 pets that would otherwise be euthanized at our local county shelter.
When a pet is dropped off at our clinic, we test dogs for heartworms and cats for leukemia. We give them a bath if needed, vaccinate, deworm, check their stools, treat for ear mites if needed, frequently treat for the diarrhea or colds that develop when pets are introduced to new surroundings (like our shelter), and of course, keep them fed and comfortable until we can find them a home. All pets are spayed or neutered. All pets are kept flea free and given heartworm prevention, if needed, while at our shelter.
Much of our time is spent advertising our pets, raising money to pay for their care, and showing off the pets to people interested in adopting.
Where our money comes from:
1. We charge $30.00 as the minimum drop off fee. This usually amounts to about $600 per quarter of a year.
2. We charge an adoption fee of $65.00 per pet. This money helps offset costs we incur for treatment, spay/neuter, etc. Also, we like to enforce the idea that pets aren't "free" ... they require food, veterinary care, a suitable and safe home, and commitment on the part of their owners.
In one quarter, we adopted out 39 pets and collected $2,508.
3. We depend on and welcome donations from the public:
In the same quarter used for these examples, we received $2,303 in donations.
Total income from fees and adoptions costs, for the period used in this example: $5,411.
4. Other income: We have a dedicated group of supporters, known as "Friends of A.R.F." or FARF, who conduct a variety of events each year to raise money for our cause. In general, they donate about $4,000 per year to support A.R.F.
Quarterly Estimated Income - $5,411
Now, all that being said ... take a look at our expenses. These figures are from the quarter July/September 2008, so you can imagine current costs are considerably higher ...
Our Expenses:
- Food, rent for facilities, utilities, cleaning supplies, towels, telephone, etc. - $4,500
- Staff/salaries: $Zero - We are 100% staffed by volunteers!
- Veterinary care, including vaccinations, spay/neuter, medical treatment, paraside control, etc. - $4,294
- Miscellaneous costs, including newspaper ads, accounting fees, fees paid to the State, etc. - $583
Quarterly Estimated Expenses: $8,794
Net deficit for sample quarter: $3,383!
Even factoring in the $4,000 donated by FARF, with a deficit of approximately $3,400 per quarter, it leaves an annual deficit of about $9,600, which has to be underwritten by FoxNest Veterinary.
And that, my friends, is why your donations are so important to us!
Now, a word about our staffing, both paid and volunteer:
Twice daily, day in and day out, week days, weekends, and holidays, the 25-30 pets in our shelter need feeding, their pens cleaned up, the dogs walked or let out into the fenced in outdoor areas, and the cat litter boxes refreshed.
Every day, people contact our receptions with questions about taking in their pets, or about the pets we have available for adoption. People drop by and want to see the animals, and someone must oversee these visits, which sometimes turn into two or three visits to assure the family is getting just the right pet.
That's understandable, but it means a lot of time is spent by our staff at FoxNest Veterinary Hospital on behalf of the shelter.
Our payroll costs for the FoxNest Veterinary Hospital ... not including veterinarian/owner Dr. Ross are about $40,000 a month (1 associate veterinarian, 1 manager, about 7 full time staff members, and about 12 pre-vet students from nearby Clemson University who work only 10-20 hours a week each.) At least 10% of the work we do is for A.R.F., our no-kill shelter, meaning that FoxNest Veterinary Hospital is donating about $4000 a month in wages that keep the shelter running, maintained, and viable.
That's in addition to covering the costs of any shortfalls in income needed to pay for the other expenses.
But we also have lots of volunteers: We are blessed to have a number of dedicated individuals who come on a regular basis to assist us with everything that needs to be done on a day-to-day basis -- like cleaning the kennels and pens, walking the dogs, socializing with the cats and kittens, helping with laundry, taking pictures of the animals and keeping our adoption books up to date, updating our website, and so much more. We're grateful to have them, from wherever they may come to volunteer.
As we continue to grow and succeed in our mission, we hope to eventually be able to expand our facility so we can nurture and save more homeless or abandoned pets ... but one step at a time!
WHO WE ARE and
OUR HOPES AND GOALS
Both our organization and our goals are simple:
- To take in and care for stray pets until we can find them a loving and responsible new home
- To educate and promote better health care
- To raise enough money to keep our shelter solvent, and our facilities clean and in good repair
- In time, to grow big enough to save even more animals
Our finances are simple:
Our sources of income and our expenses are listed to your right.
Our History
In 1984, Roger Ross, a veterinarian and the owner of FoxNest Veterinary Hospital, found that he, like many other vets, had decided to keep pets whose owners could no longer keep them. Doing so meant trying to find new homes for these animals.
Over the years, with the help of our staff and our pet-loving clients, the number of stray pets housed at our clinic grew until finally we formally founded a non-profit, no-kill shelter organization, known as A.R.F.
The FoxNest Veterinary Hospital is still the major sponsor of the shelter and still provides all the veterinary services needed by the animals.... but the shelter is offically a separate organization and the finances are overseen by a board of responsible local citizens.
What we hope to do
if we are successful
at raising more money:
First: to be able to pay our monthly bills. The shelter income is usually about $700-1000 a month short of covering all the expenses. In the past, this shortfall has been generously covered by the FoxNest Veterinary Hospital without which the shelter would have closed down long ago. But Dr Ross, the owner of the FoxNest would like to retire soon and the shelter needs to be self sustaining.
Second: There are about 20 acres of woodlands available behind the clinic, much of which we use with permission of the present owners to walk the stray dogs. But if this land is sold to a developer we will not only lose the dog walking trails but lose the opportunity to own some of this land and building a bigger and better facility for the stray pets.
Our main need: If we are to grow and come anywhere near to satisfying the need in our area for sheltering unwanted pets, we would like to buy a few acres and erect a building with indoor-outdoor runs for about 25 more dogs and to build a separate building for cats. Such a project would cost $500,000 to 1 million dollars, depending on how much land we bought.
Such costs are way above our present circumstances but our hopes are to attract enough grant money from animal loving charitable foundations to make this a reality.
Third: To be involved in more community fairs, cat and dog events, school and service organization presentations where we promote animal welfare and responsible pet care.
