We haven't gotten to the point of not taking in new dogs, but we've also taken a huge hit financially over the past year. Heart surgery, hips, elbows, thyroid, a "super-bug" strain of kennel cough that went to pneumonia. We try to work with one vet that gives us really generous discounts, but it isn't always possible. The range of prices will make your head spin. We've had to ask fosters to be much more conservative with vet care. We still want the dogs to get all they need, but skip the $10 nail clip and the $35 ear cleaning.
We just keep trying new fundraising ideas for rescue as they come up. We're sending our Annual appeal letter in the summer this year instead of at the holiday season hoping that will be a less financially stressful time for donors (and maybe they'll feel more like they can afford to give something from the stimulus payments). We do really well anytime we sell hot dogs at events. We invested in a hot dog machine, but have used a grill in the past. The pesty part is making sure someone has the space to store everything.
I'm also thinking of suggesting something I did with another group. Until recently my paying full-time job was with a nonprofit in inner city Philadelphia and we used to do an e-bay event every year. It isn't hard, but takes time. We usually could count on $1,000 from that. Staff, family, friends would donate items and a surprising number of businesses would donate things. A few of us would manage posting the stuff, shipping, etc. It actually was kind of fun - why is that man buying those bustiers?
I listen to NPR a lot and there have been a number of stories about the impact this economy is having on nonprofits and charities. In fact my past job is my past job because of funding disappearing. Until now we've been lucky and always had a nice balance in the bank, but now we're paying a lot more attention to every penny. It always sucks to say no to taking a dog, but especially when the no is because of a budget crunch.
