Where do all the adoption fees go?Our adoption fees cover the required medical care needed for any incoming ferret and about half of the surgeries that are needed. The money for the rest of the surgeries, supplies, food and litter, we receive through fund-raisers, the support organization PFSN, grants, and donations from people like you. The key to running any business successfully and sustainably is responsible financing. Yep, being good with money. We wish we did not need to be quite so frugal, but you simply cannot last on good-will alone. If we attempted to subsidize the shelter with continuous injections of personal income, we would put a good deal of strain on our lives and inevitably reach a breaking point. If the shelter is broke and the people who run the shelter are broke -- there isn't much shelter left! We've seen several shelters shut down, shelter directors file bankruptcy and even get divorced over the strain caused by attempting to personally finance a shelter. Although we do make donations to the shelter, we, as directors, prefer to donate time instead of money. Another important reason for keeping our finances separate was to get, and keep, Federal Non-Profit status. The IRS will not grant 501(c)3 Federal Non-Profit status if you cannot show that the organization is not running to be a personal open-ended tax-deduction machine. After all, why else would anyone create an organization that obviously cannot support itself? 501(c)3 status provides our shelter with much of the credibility and donation incentives it needs to have a chance at being around for more than a few years and for making a long-term impact on the conditions of ferrets. We'd love to see the Emmett Ferret Shelter outlive us, outgrow us, or outgrow Southwestern Idaho. That could be a real possibility and could happen on its own if we lay a solid foundation for growth now. We set our adoption fees to amounts that will, on average, support the basic and necessary medical care for our adoptables, but still expect fund-raising to be necessary for administrative costs and infrastructure improvements. As it turns out, we need to fund-raise to even support some of the medical costs, but not too much--we think that's a sign that our fees are just about right. One-time CostsThe following additional costs exist for each ferret turned in to the shelter:
Then there are surgeries... Each surgery costs us about $200, which is a very reasonable price. In other parts of the country ferret surgeries can cost $800 or more! Sometimes a ferret has a problem that isn't obvious and we incur the additional fees such as blood panels, X-rays, special medications, etc. We also lose a few each year to cancer, illness or old age. If only one out of every 10 ferrets needed surgery our adoption fees would cover almost all the medical costs. Unfortunately the number of ferrets that require surgery is much higher. In 2005, a little more than one out of every four needed surgery (25%)! Here's a comparison of the up-front costs of four ferrets assuming that one needs a surgery:
Costs of Continuing CareThe following table uses these assumptions:
Remember that your costs will be higher. We lower our costs by purchasing in bulk and by receiving non-profit discounts.
Fortunately a good portion of our other supplies are donated. Ferretone, Ferretvite, bowls, and water bottles are often donated when someone surrenders their ferret. All our bedding has been donated by a few very caring and giving people. Our cage system was donated by the Oregon Ferret Shelter. We're usually just left to buy things like Ivermectin, stamps and envelopes, antibiotics and other medicines, etc. That's the theory, and so far our estimates have served us pretty well. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||