Provided by The Humane Society of the United States
animalsheltering.org/rescuebestpractices
*Rescue Group* will fund its operations with adoption fees, fundraising events, donations,
corporate matching programs and grants. With the exception of the executive director, all other
staff positions are unpaid. As such, the vast majority of funds will go towards either caring for
the animals in our charge or enhancing and expanding the organization’s operations. Adoption
fees are expected to account for approximately 20% of income.
In general, foster providers are expected to provide their own resources for the daily care of their
foster dog or cat (e.g., food, bowls, litter, litter pans, toys). *Rescue Group* will provide collars,
leashes and all veterinary care, as long as the foster uses the approved veterinarians. These
expectations are clearly explained to foster providers both in person and in the foster manual.
The organization will keep supplies on hand for emergency situations. Additionally, *Pet Store
Location* has agreed to provide all supplies (e.g., food, litter, litter pans, toys, cleaning supplies)
for the cats that we keep in their store. We will need to supply only bedding, food and water
bowls for the animals at that location, as well as certain additional supplies (e.g., towels, gloves
for handling cats, specific cleaners).
As such, the bulk of our expenses will be for veterinary care, trainers, transport, adoption events
and advertising. We have teamed up with two local veterinarians who give us highly discounted
rates. Additionally, we have all animals altered through the local shelter (where we have it done
at cost), a local high volume spay/neuter clinic or through one of our partner veterinarians at a
much reduced rate.
The budget for 2015 is found at Appendix B.
4.1 Marketing Plan and Strategy
Our marketing strategy is based on exposure from social media as well as developing
relationships with local vendors and media outlets.
*Rescue Group* has registered the domain name *www.rescuegroup.org* and
*www.rescuegroup.com*. The website contains all the basic information regarding the
organization (e.g., tax-exempt status, contact information, who we are, adoptable animals, where
the animals come from, adoption application, request for volunteers, request for donations).
We utilize Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Instagram to promote our animals, adoption events and
fundraisers as well as to request donations. Our goal is to achieve a growth of 2,000 followers by
the end of the year and raise $50,000 for both general funding and specific medical cases. We
also created a quarterly newsletter that we send to supporters. The newsletter includes updates on
some of the animals we have saved, pet behavior tips and other general information about the