Animal Welfare Professionals

Has anyone set up a thrift store to raise money for the non profit?

#FundraisingandDevelopment

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Karen Kirsch
Founder
Spayed and Aid
KY
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Not a bad idea if you have the space.  It would bring individuals to the shelter/rescue and raise money.   It would be a lot of work making sure items are worthy of resale.  The most we have done is have a large parking lot "garage" sale.

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Cynthia Williams
President, Board of Directors
[Catio Cat Lounge, Inc
Nashville, TN
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The Animal Protection Association in Jeffersonville, IN has done this! https://www.apa-pets.org/

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Megan Scoggan
Volunteer
FCARL
IN
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2024 09:49 PM
From: Cynthia Williams
Subject: Thrift Stores

Not a bad idea if you have the space.  It would bring individuals to the shelter/rescue and raise money.   It would be a lot of work making sure items are worthy of resale.  The most we have done is have a large parking lot "garage" sale.

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Cynthia Williams
President, Board of Directors
[Catio Cat Lounge, Inc
Nashville, TN
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We've had one for years. We recently moved to a much larger space but at the previous location of about 4,000 square feet we brought in about a million...but only netted around $150k. So I would say look at your population, the number of thrift Stores that already exist (and how they are doing), and what your overhead would be. Also consider asking your existing supporters what they think, particularly your major doors--because you want slightly more high-end donations if you can get them.  And don't underprice your items. 

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Erica Webb
Director of Outreach & Volunteer Services
Animal Humane New Mexico
NM
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Did you have paid employees? If not, besides rent, what were your biggest expenses? 

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Marcie Fernandez
President
Haven on Earth animal league Inc
FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2024 08:56 AM
From: Erica Webb
Subject: Thrift Stores

We've had one for years. We recently moved to a much larger space but at the previous location of about 4,000 square feet we brought in about a million...but only netted around $150k. So I would say look at your population, the number of thrift Stores that already exist (and how they are doing), and what your overhead would be. Also consider asking your existing supporters what they think, particularly your major doors--because you want slightly more high-end donations if you can get them.  And don't underprice your items. 

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Erica Webb
Director of Outreach & Volunteer Services
Animal Humane New Mexico
NM
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We have not set up a thrift store for our rescue but I do know of  two dog rescues and a horse rescue in our area that have thrift stores. The horse rescue has space on their property while the dog rescues both have space donated to them. All seem to be doing well. We have only had yard sales and online silent auctions to sell items that are donated to us.  

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Lisa Burn
Co-founder/VP
Farmhouse Animal & Nature Sanctuary
Myakka City, FL
https://farmhousesanctuary.org
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Brother Animal Rescue has one and it has not only raised money for the rescue, but it has become a community staple for those in need.  We take all things imaginable, and price rather low to keep foot traffic.  It also opens people up to actually coming into the shelter when they realize we are connected when they may have just had a day thrifting and now they're checking out the animals.  As a customer service agent,  I work as an adoption counselor, and working the thrift store, it also helps your employees have other opportunities within the work week! I am a strong strong believer that our thrift store has helped us substantially making a name for ourselves in town. 

Here is our website https://www.bwar.org/second-chances-thrift-store/

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Lily Korpella
Adoptions Counselor / Customer Service Agent
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
Asheville, North Carolina
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I took over an animal related non-profit that had a Thrift store that had been losing money! I was able to turn it around in 2 years but we really stepped up our game.

We made sure the place never smelled like a thrift store first (ever notice that smell from many places). We call them "Benefit shops" here, which can take down the expectation of just cheap stuff. People who donated wanted us to get as much money as possible for the organization so we had good prices but not cheap at first. You can always reduce prices if an item doesn't sell. 

Feel free to PM me if you decide to do it and I will share what I learned

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Roxane Fritz
Veterinary Program Coordinator
San Mateo County
CA
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