From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2008:
Raising money during crises is an area that I have had a
particular interest in since college-not just the impact of the
economy on donations, but also the effects of war, natural
disasters, terrorism and even positive “good feeling” events such
as, for example, the 1969 first human landing on the moon.
Today animal charities are asking, “What impact will the
recession in the United States have on donations?” There is a
prevailing fear that the effects will be considerable. However,
this fear is not well grounded. While recessions have a definite
impact, historically charitable giving, overall, has not declined
during recessions.
Different sectors of donors and potential donors react
differently, and different types of charities are affected
differently.

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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.

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