Limiting factor series – Finances

Finances is the most common of the limiting factors but, identifying it as your most pressing issue to work on is the first step.

The second step is determining how far you need to go to move past finances preventing you from reaching your goal. If your goal is to increase intake, how many animals do you want to increase intake by? What is the maximum number of animals your space and staff can handle?

If you can financially accommodate the number of animals your space and staff can care for, you will be breaking through the financial limiting factor.

What does this look like in action?

Determine how much you need

Let’s say your shelter can house 100 animals per month but you can only afford to feed 90. So, to break through the financial limiting factor, you need to raise enough money each month to feed 10 more animals.

Break this down even further – how much does it cost per month per animal? In our example, let’s say $30 for each animal every month. So, to reach our goal, we need to fundraise an extra $150 every month.

Fundraising is very hard. This article is primarily focused on identifying how much you need but there are a lot of great resources available like Maddie’s Fund and Best Friends Animal Society for fundraising ideas and tips. We will go over some that are easy to implement to get you started.

• What items do you spend money on that you could have donated? Towels, cleaning supplies, toys, etc. Reach out to local businesses and schools about setting up a donation box, create an Amazon wishlist, create a Chewy wishlist
  
• Free rewards to entice donations:
  – “Name a litter” fundraiser
  – “Sponsor a pet” and get updates
  – “In memory of…” donation
  – “Gift a donation”

Give yourself a timeline for implementing these new fundraising strategies and raising funds to break through your limiting factor. Once you have accomplished this, head back to the original limiting factors article to determine what to focus on next to continue saving lives.