Small & Mighty Organizations

Does anyone have tips for managing resources strain in very small orgs? We are facing having to significantly dial down operations while we try and get things on a more solid footing. But it's going to be really difficult to take that step down for a year or two.

We are a group of 5; we all work so the kitten rescue work (160 kittens and a few cats)  is done in our free time.  We are the only kitten rescue in our area of Portugal so we get hundreds of requests. While we have a triage of sorts (neonatal, small/sick, small, older/sick), we are still being asked to take in far more than is possible and the emotional strain of saying no will get worse if we have to slash intake next year. People also pressure the individuals to take in animals - so one person will say no, and another will say yes. 

Financially, it's a real struggle, while we have some income, it's not enough. Very obviously we're trying to do too much without the rise in income we'd hoped for in 2023.  TNR has (frustratingly) had to take a back seat; that has been halved this year. Grant applications (not that we have many we can apply for) remain a distant dream.

How can we manage reducing operations while not turning off the donors we do have who will see we're doing less? Can we continue to be effective at all by taking a big step back? Anyone have any tips for this type of situation?

Hi Bettina, 

I am sure many in this group of small rescues can relate. Resources such as funds and volunteers seem to always be a struggle. We are a small rural farm and exotic animal sanctuary in Florida with 156 animals at the sanctuary. Although we do adopt out some animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs and birds, most of the animals will live out their lives at the sanctuary. It takes us about 4 to 5 hours daily to just feed the animals and clean their paddocks, habitats and cages. We are facing downsizing as well but because of lack of volunteers. It is difficult to write grants and work on fundraisers when you also have to work a full time job and be part of the hands on animal care. One thing that has helped us is to focus on getting volunteers to help with grant writing and fundraising. We have done pretty well this past year with raising funds. We listed our volunteer opportunities on volunteermatch.com and with our local united way. I was surprised at how many people offered to help with fundraising events and grant writing. We've also asked people on our social media pages to be animal sponsors. We have a few sustainable donors who donate $10 -$100 a month. It may not seem like much but knowing those funds are consistant makes it less stressful.  Do you have people that will foster kittens for you? I hope you are able to find the funding you need to keep doing the wonderful work you are doing saving the kittens. 

Does anyone have tips for managing resources strain in very small orgs? We are facing having to significantly dial down operations while we try and get things on a more solid footing. But it's going to be really difficult to take that step down for a year or two.

We are a group of 5; we all work so the kitten rescue work (160 kittens and a few cats)  is done in our free time.  We are the only kitten rescue in our area of Portugal so we get hundreds of requests. While we have a triage of sorts (neonatal, small/sick, small, older/sick), we are still being asked to take in far more than is possible and the emotional strain of saying no will get worse if we have to slash intake next year. People also pressure the individuals to take in animals - so one person will say no, and another will say yes. 

Financially, it's a real struggle, while we have some income, it's not enough. Very obviously we're trying to do too much without the rise in income we'd hoped for in 2023.  TNR has (frustratingly) had to take a back seat; that has been halved this year. Grant applications (not that we have many we can apply for) remain a distant dream.

How can we manage reducing operations while not turning off the donors we do have who will see we're doing less? Can we continue to be effective at all by taking a big step back? Anyone have any tips for this type of situation?