Where does Labrador Rescue spend its money?
Not for profit work is often challenging, and as board members we find ourselves constantly having to make decisions on how Lab Rescue operates. It can be a small thing about where to put a dog when our foster carers are full, to whether we should spend money on blood tests for an elderly lab. Over the years we've stuck to a list of priorities that we frequently turn back to. Lab Rescue would like to share these with the public to encourage accountability and transparency, particularly when we spend money.
1. Health and Welfare of Labradors
We always, always prioritise our dogs health over everything we do. We NEVER EVER scrimp on vet work. We NEVER EVER put a dog to sleep because of something that will make it difficult to rehome. We have found through experience that even the most impossible dog to rehome (say only 3 months left to live) will find a perfect home with someone. Therefore we never give up on our labs and genuinely care for them by spending the majority of our money on vet care for our labs. Obviously to control this cost we have a network of Labrador Rescue approved vets that we use to be able to keep these costs at a minimum. This also includes temporary care for labs. If we can't take a dog because of space, we pay for kennelling until we have space. We never scrimp on spending money on keeping dogs alive and healthy. We also spend money on transporting dogs interstate to an available foster carer. We do not pay for transport when a dog is being adopted, this is absorbed by the new family and shows commitment on their behalf.
2. Support for our Foster Carers
Our success is directly related to the engagement and confidence of our foster carers. If we have a carer who has a young child, we're not going to expect them to work with a potentially aggressive dog. We always have an emergency backup for our carers if they need it, occasionally this means spending money on commercial, ethical kennels. We also run training programs for our carers, bringing in well known, respected dog behaviourists to teach our foster carers more about caring for labs. We also equip our foster carers with necessary gear for caring for dogs such as, flea and tick protection, collars, leads and harnesses for walking the dogs safely, even muzzles for dogs exhibiting unwanted behaviour. Our foster carers show their commitment to the rescue dogs in that they open their homes to the dogs, feed them and provide bedding and toys at their own cost.
Every foster carer within Lab Rescue is aware that they aren't on their own. We honour this commitment with financial backing and in return have a fantastic, long term relationship with all our foster carers. The more committed our carers, the more dogs we save!
Where does Labrador Rescue get their money?
Income from adoptions
We have a strong belief that to be sustainable as a not for profit rescue group, we need to recoup routine costs from our adoption fees. The majority of the time this happens. We use our younger dogs to cover costs of older dogs who require extra treatment.
For example a young dog costs $600 from us. It will probably have transport costs up to $100, vet work is usually $3000, flea, tick and heart worming for $50. So for the younger dogs we usually make approximately $150 profit. This goes towards the older dogs in our care. For example an old dog in our care at the moment has had up to $500 in vet care already and we will only get about $200 of that back as a donation.
We cover all our routine costs by adoptions. That's why each year we look at our costs and re-evaluate them to see if they meet our expenses.
Income from fundraising or donations
We are very fortunate to get donations from members of the public who care about labs and want to help us out financially. This money, unless donated to a specific cause, goes to the pool of money that we use to cover our first two priorities.
We sometimes ask through Facebook for donations to specific causes. This can be training days for our foster carers or very expensive health care that we can't afford through our regular income. We will always find a way to pay for these things without any of our other dogs going without.
What's the big deal about donating money to rescue organisations?Labrador Rescue has been alerted to a few occasions where members of the public are donating money towards labs in our care through an external organisation. Often this is through an internet forum (Dogz Online) or Facebook. Please be aware that NONE of the money contributed in this fashion goes to Lab Rescue. That's why we're asking you to be smart with your donations.
If you get a request to donate money to a specific dog, make sure you do your research on the rescue group that has requested the donation. Does the rescue group actually have the dog in care? Or is it just running an awareness campaign and collecting money to fund the awareness campaign? If this is the case, we strongly recommend you contact the rescue group who has the dog in care and donate specifically to them.
Lab Rescue would like to take this opportunity to explain to the public about where we get our money from and where it is used. If you have any questions, please email us.
1. Health and Welfare of Labradors
We always, always prioritise our dogs health over everything we do. We NEVER EVER scrimp on vet work. We NEVER EVER put a dog to sleep because of something that will make it difficult to rehome. We have found through experience that even the most impossible dog to rehome (say only 3 months left to live) will find a perfect home with someone. Therefore we never give up on our labs and genuinely care for them by spending the majority of our money on vet care for our labs. Obviously to control this cost we have a network of Labrador Rescue approved vets that we use to be able to keep these costs at a minimum. This also includes temporary care for labs. If we can't take a dog because of space, we pay for kennelling until we have space. We never scrimp on spending money on keeping dogs alive and healthy. We also spend money on transporting dogs interstate to an available foster carer. We do not pay for transport when a dog is being adopted, this is absorbed by the new family and shows commitment on their behalf.
2. Support for our Foster Carers
Our success is directly related to the engagement and confidence of our foster carers. If we have a carer who has a young child, we're not going to expect them to work with a potentially aggressive dog. We always have an emergency backup for our carers if they need it, occasionally this means spending money on commercial, ethical kennels. We also run training programs for our carers, bringing in well known, respected dog behaviourists to teach our foster carers more about caring for labs. We also equip our foster carers with necessary gear for caring for dogs such as, flea and tick protection, collars, leads and harnesses for walking the dogs safely, even muzzles for dogs exhibiting unwanted behaviour. Our foster carers show their commitment to the rescue dogs in that they open their homes to the dogs, feed them and provide bedding and toys at their own cost.
Every foster carer within Lab Rescue is aware that they aren't on their own. We honour this commitment with financial backing and in return have a fantastic, long term relationship with all our foster carers. The more committed our carers, the more dogs we save!
Where does Labrador Rescue get their money?
Income from adoptions
We have a strong belief that to be sustainable as a not for profit rescue group, we need to recoup routine costs from our adoption fees. The majority of the time this happens. We use our younger dogs to cover costs of older dogs who require extra treatment.
For example a young dog costs $600 from us. It will probably have transport costs up to $100, vet work is usually $3000, flea, tick and heart worming for $50. So for the younger dogs we usually make approximately $150 profit. This goes towards the older dogs in our care. For example an old dog in our care at the moment has had up to $500 in vet care already and we will only get about $200 of that back as a donation.
We cover all our routine costs by adoptions. That's why each year we look at our costs and re-evaluate them to see if they meet our expenses.
Income from fundraising or donations
We are very fortunate to get donations from members of the public who care about labs and want to help us out financially. This money, unless donated to a specific cause, goes to the pool of money that we use to cover our first two priorities.
We sometimes ask through Facebook for donations to specific causes. This can be training days for our foster carers or very expensive health care that we can't afford through our regular income. We will always find a way to pay for these things without any of our other dogs going without.
What's the big deal about donating money to rescue organisations?Labrador Rescue has been alerted to a few occasions where members of the public are donating money towards labs in our care through an external organisation. Often this is through an internet forum (Dogz Online) or Facebook. Please be aware that NONE of the money contributed in this fashion goes to Lab Rescue. That's why we're asking you to be smart with your donations.
If you get a request to donate money to a specific dog, make sure you do your research on the rescue group that has requested the donation. Does the rescue group actually have the dog in care? Or is it just running an awareness campaign and collecting money to fund the awareness campaign? If this is the case, we strongly recommend you contact the rescue group who has the dog in care and donate specifically to them.
Lab Rescue would like to take this opportunity to explain to the public about where we get our money from and where it is used. If you have any questions, please email us.