Balancing fundraising needs with program work in the developing world
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2008:
Last year after forwarding our annual accounts to Animal
People for inclusion in your annual Watchdog Report on Animal
Charities, I received a stinging e-mail from editor Merritt Clifton
pointing out that if we wished to survive we simply had to invest
more money in fundraising and marketing. He pointed out that
successful charities usually reinvest between 20% and 30% of their
income on such activities.
Whilst accepting the validity of this statement, I pointed
out that as a small foundation working in the third world, we like
many others depend almost entirely on a few volunteers to do the
work, and with increasing demands on our resources, every cent we
raise goes directly to assisting the animals we help. Working in a
poor community, we are almost entirely reliant on overseas donors.
Although there are many wealthy expatriates living in our region,
most are interested only in making money, not in helping animals.
We would love to employ a high-powered marketing manager on a
six-figure salary, but unfortunately if he did not deliver, that
would be the end of the foundation.