Why No-Kill Makes Dollars and…

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Sense Cents

The UPAWS Experience

2006-07

Save Rate 48.7%

Average Cost per Animal

$233

2013-14

97.4%

$340

It costs 68% more to save an animal! How can we afford that?

The Programs of the No-Kill Equation

• Rescue Partnerships• Volunteers• Foster Care • Trap. Neuter. Release• Pet Retention• Comprehensive Adoption Program• Public Relations/Community Involvement• Medical & Behavior Prevention & Rehabilitation• High Volume/Low Cost Spay/Neuter• Proactive Redemption• Hard-Working, Compassionate Shelter Director

From: nokilladvocacycenter.org

Rescue Partnerships

•Sense:• Gives the animal a whole new pool of prospective adopters

• Establishes relationships for times when the “big” cases happen

•Cents:• Frees up space and reduces expenses for direct animal care (feeding, cleaning, medical care, etc.)

Volunteers•Sense:

• Frees up staff time to fulfill other needs• Provides animals with more enrichment, exercise and socialization time

• Volunteers become ambassadors for your organization

•Cents:• Can replace the need to hire additional staff• Volunteer advocacy can increase public awareness, donations, and adoptions

Foster Care

•Sense:• Provides animals with home environment and individualized attention

• Fosters get to know the animal and can broaden opportunities for placement – vested in outcome

• Opens up kennel space at the shelter

•Cents:• Low-cost or no-cost means of caring for animals

Trap, Neuter, Release

•Sense:• Reduces number of litters• Allows cats to live out their lives in an environment that is natural to them

• Frees up shelter space

•Cents:• Reduces number of cats in shelter that are unadoptable or difficult to place

Pet Retention

•Sense:• Solving problems not only helps the animal, it makes for a better, more informed pet owner overall

• Keeps the animal in its home and out of the shelter

•Cents:• Eliminates the cost of caring for and re-homing the animal

Comprehensive Adoption Program

•Sense:• Provides for greater opportunities for an animal to be seen and ultimately placed

• Shorter stays

•Cents:• Shorter stays translate to fewer costs in caring for animal

Public Relations –Community Involvement

•Sense:• The greater the name recognition and the more positive the image, the greater the overall support and program successes

•Cents:• Goodwill, affinity, and vested interest translate to community awareness, higher volunteerism, more adoptions, more and bigger donations…. all of which affect the financial bottom line

Medical & Behavior Prevention & Rehabilitation

•Sense:• Animals should not die for treatable medical issues and behavioral problems that can be rectified or managed

•Cents:• People love to root for the “underdogs” and help those who touch their hearts; special funds and donation drives to underwrite efforts to make these animals adoptable are typically well-received

•Sense:• Fewer admissions means more space, less

overcrowding and more resources that can be dedicated to re-homing and saving lives

• An overload of puppies and kittens can overshadow many wonderful adults waiting for homes

•Cents:• Fewer admissions, especially of litters• A sick litter is more costly to treat than a single adult• Helping people in the community result in more

volunteers, good PR, and more opportunities for funding

High Volume, Low-Cost (Community) Spay & Neuter

Proactive Redemptions•Sense:

• Gets strays home faster, freeing up shelter space and resources

• Better for the animals – they belong in homes, not shelters

• Promotes goodwill

•Cents:• Reduces expenses associated with caring for animals

• Can also provide income-producing revenue streams such as microchipping, ID tags

•Sense:• A no-kill shelter is a machine with many working parts.

Without a director, staff, volunteers & board dedicated to the no-kill philosophy and committed to implementing the necessary components to make the machine run, you are left with random cogs on a wheel and a machine that won’t work.

•Cents:• A well-built machine is more efficient and effective. It

can not only save on expenses, it can also become revenue-generating both directly and indirectly.

Hardworking, Compassionate Director, Staff, Volunteers, Board

So what happened?• Improved relationships with other shelters• Organized and improved the volunteer program

• Extended foster care program• Fledgling TNR program• Implemented several pet retention and re-homing and referral services

• Improved donor stewardship efforts• Amped up fundraising and friend-raising efforts

• Improved adoption opportunities via:• Offsite adoption location and adoptathons• Variable fees and promotions• Pet adoption sponsorship opportunities• Expanded hours• Improved marketing• Moved from rigid adoption guidelines to flexibility and counseling

• Every effort made and opportunity taken to give the community ownership in the shelter, the animals, and programs

• Behavior modification techniques implemented

• Illnesses and injuries treated whenever possible

• Community spay/neuter program implemented• Improved efforts to reunite pets with owners

• Increased advertising via social media and website

• Offered affordable microchipping services – continued giving free ID tags

• Required staff, volunteers, and board members be committed to exemplary customer relations and the UPAWS mission

• Stepped up presence and community awareness

Components in Implementing the No-Kill Equation

Celebration

CommunityCreativity

Commitment

What did that do to the bottom line?

2006-07

Save Rate48.7%

(1,431 animals)

Average Cost per Animal

$233

Revenue per Animal

$240(+ $7)

2013-1497.4%

(1,579 animals)

$340

$431 (+ $91)

UPAWS Financial Statement Comparison – 2007 and 2014

UPAWS Net Assets

With all the wheels in motion…

Increased grant opportunities

Revenue-generating services & programs

Stable, knowledgeable workforce

Less stress

Faster turnovers

More adoptions

Supportive community

Increased donations

Greater number of volunteers

Fewer admissions

LESS KILLING

Contact Information

Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter (UPAWS)

PO Box 968

Marquette, MI 49855

Reva Laituri, President

president@upaws.org

906-475-4798 (home)

Lareina Van Strien, Shelter Manager

manager@upaws.org

906-475-6661(work)