How to Start An Animal Rescue Nonprofit (featuring @SavingGraceNC!)

Thinking of starting a non-profit animal  rescue? I have a special treat for you today! In this video we will recap the steps  to starting a non-profit and then hear directly from the founder and executive director of a  successful non-profit animal rescue for tips on how to get going when you are just starting  up. Watch out for some puppy cameos! [Music] Welcome or welcome back! My name is Amber Melanie  Smith and I'm a non-profit founder and executive director who makes these videos here on Y

ouTube to  help folks like you who want to make a difference in the world whether that's through starting  a non-profit or social enterprise or socially conscious business or being a leader in your  community or other ways to make an impact I hope you find this useful and helpful and probably  cute today because we're going to see some puppies here in a minute. Don't forget to give this  video a like and subscribe to my channel for more content like this. Also if you are looking  for resources a

nd tips on your making an impact Journey possibly as a non-profit leader or  other type of community leader don't forget to check out my Newsletter - it's linked right  below this video in the description. I send out funding opportunities and resources and tips  and updates on things that are going on so you definitely want to be a part of that newsletter  and of course you can upload out anytime all that out of the way let's go check out our friends at  this animal rescue that I want to introdu

ce you to tucked away in the town of Wake Forest North  Carolina is a vibrant colorful animal rescue shelter Saving Grace animals for adoption  I first heard of Saving Grace when I went looking for my own fur baby to adopt everyone  I asked said you've got to try Saving Grace over the years they've built up a strong local  reputation for matching dogs with forever families sure enough Saving Grace is where I found my best  furry friend Kira about five years ago look at her she's so cute I love h

er so much Saving Grace  began in 2004 at a private residence and farm and since placed over 30,000 animals let's take a  look now quick interjection here in this video I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the  legal steps of how to form a 501c3 non-profit organization in the United States and that's just  because I've done that in a couple of other videos If you're looking for some of that information  definitely check out my other video called how to start a non-profit and succeed fo

r the more  in-depth process there but I will do a quick recap checklist here just to make sure that we are  up to date on a high level for that stuff let's do that real quick real quick here is the checklist  for the steps to form a non-profit in the United states of course some of these steps might be  changed around in order based on your particular region so always check with your Regional laws but  quick checklist number one assemble your board of directors make sure you have the correct nu

mber  of board members according to state law make sure you're finding people based on skills for  that you need for the next couple of years for your organization two choose a name make sure  it's not already picked by another Corporation three write your bylaws which are your governing  documents four have a board meeting with your new board of directors where you vote on your  bylaws and be sure to take minutes five file your Articles of Incorporation for your state and six  apply for federal

tax exemption as a 501c3 you're going to be using form 1023. I'm here with Molly  Goldstein founder and executive director of Saving Grace I'm so excited to have you all hear from her  today and hear her story so Molly tell us a little bit more about how you got started when you got  started and what Saving Grace is all about so I got started right out of college about 2001 when I  graduated college and of all the things I could go pick and do as far as where to work I went to the  local animal

shelter which was also Animal Control at the time in Wake County and I learned so much  about Sheltering and animals and adoption and saw the big need uh you know at that time there wasn't  as many rescues and opportunities for adoption and there wasn't as many shelters that were really  focused on adoption as much as just animal control so I saw so many people who were looking to adopt  a good companion family dog but we didn't really know a lot about them and the shelter wasn't  really a frie

ndly easy place to visit so I started Saving Grace just to have a place where people  could come and visit and adopt that's amazing and so let's get a little bit more into the status  of the organization now fast forward several years um what kind of help do you have do you have  staff how many staff volunteers so we currently have 10 full-time staff we have five part-time  and we have about 400 volunteers yeah about 400 active volunteers and that's everybody from  the people that are on site ea

ch day caring for the dogs we have two shifts a day just for dog  care so that starts first thing in the morning they're rotated out in play groups they get all  their medication they get fed all of all of that care and then another shift in the afternoon so  those people are everybody from who actually has Hands-On time with the dogs to a lot of behind the  scenes people I think probably people have no idea how much behind the scenes work it actually takes  to keep everybody's medical records u

p posted on the website coordinating our transports just who's  gonna go to different vet clinics each day or go to events go to shelters you know picking them up  from different shelters so there's a lot behind the scenes that take it takes to run a shelter I  can imagine so I know that I've covered starting a non-profit in several of my other videos the  legal steps Etc but starting an animal rescue non-profit has got to be kind of different from  other types of non-profits so I'd love to hear

more from you about your experience with that what  are some of the special considerations that people who might be thinking of starting an animal rescue  might need to have from legal permitting insurance special training for your board and volunteers  just walk me through it so it really depends on well I guess there's two parts of it there's what  you want to do like what is your mission there's in our area in North Carolina we are still  the third highest euthanasia in the country so we sti

ll have a huge overpopulation problem  so what we try to do at saving grace is find the most adoptable dogs who are going to be a  really successful family member and that not only has you know sets them and the family up  for success but it also encourages a lot of other people to adopt because they see just  how many great how many great dogs there are a lot of people think oh shelter animals have  issues or they were brought in for behavior problems that might be the case in some areas  where

they don't have an overpopulation problem so in North Carolina that's just not it for us  I mean we just have so many nice animals that are just the product of not today any neutering  and not having any sort of guidelines regarding or enforcing spay neuter in our state so that's  for the shelters and also for Citizens so some states some states do and they've really  gotten a lot of The Unwanted pets they've really minimized that so our goal is to look for  the most adoptable and try to identi

fy those and get those into homes so somebody in another state  might have a different mission they might want to work with dogs who you know are fearful or maybe  who have medical needs or something different so I think just determining what is going to be  your goal and what's going to be your mission here is really important and then there are some  guidelines some In-laws in the state and those vary with each each state so finding out what you  have to be accountable for is really important

so in North Carolina there's really not a lot that we  wouldn't comply with anyway we want to make sure that you know we don't have dogs in conditions  that aren't Humane and that we provide all the necessary care you know that they have water 24  hours a day and they have a dry clean space to live and they have enough interaction with people  so those are all things that we would do anyway we've also had to you know insurance has always  been an issue as far as making sure that you're covered n

ot only with the people coming to Saving  Grace but when we go out and about to events or for different drivers who are going on transports  or taking dogs different places so we had to get insurance for all of that and not every insurance  carrier wants to ensure you but there are some out there you know and it is not cheap um trying  to factor all of that into your fundraising and your budget is really important so you know a lot  of times people are like why is your adoption fee so much well

it doesn't just cover the medical  care your animal got it covers all the services that it took to get an animal to you so that's  really exciting because what she just described is assessing your true costs and that's what  we've talked about in a few other videos is it's not overhead it's part of what she needs to  do in order to carry out the rest of her Mission so right good job so okay so we we talked about  some special legal considerations some insurance um what else what else do people c

onsidering  starting a non-profit animal rescue need to consider I think one of the best thing  that I did was work for a shelter a County shelter before I ever started Saving Grace I  worked for a County shelter and I also worked doing a lot of dog training and some Behavior  work and so I got to see from the county side just how um their position too so our main  partners are different counties that don't have adoption programs and they rely on their  their dogs to come to saving grace to have

a chance for adoption and that's true with a lot of  shelters all over you know the United States is we want to partner with the rescues but the rescues  also have to know just what those people are up against so knowing that you're going to get dogs  that you might not know a lot about knowing that they are not they are not at the Leisure of  holding until you have a foster so it's up to you to say you know crank it up and find more  Fosters or say you know we can't accommodate those which is

always you know sad there's  always more dogs than we can accommodate but um you know also knowing the the county or  state requirements so that you can adopt out under the same rules as they are required  to enforce so I'm really glad that I got to know from their side what they deal with  and also I think a lot of times they feel a lot of judgment because you know we do have a  lot of euthanasia still in North Carolina and I I don't hold them it's not their fault it's  not the shelter's fault

because our state has not enforced spay neuter they really are the  ones cleaning up the problem so I think they get um they they are they receive a lot of negativity  sometimes about what happens in shelters and it's not it's not them so I want them to know that  we're going to work with them and do the best we can for as many dogs as we can together yeah so um  I'm really glad that I worked at a shelter first right so having that real life experience knowing  what it's like uh good for you I'm

sure good for your volunteers too and your staff yes yes so we  have a lot of people who volunteer and they have to come on site and do an orientation and so  they learn all about saving grace just kind of get an overview and then the ones who are going  to work on site they get paired with a mentor for two different days so two different sessions  they come out and they learn how to do everything as far as the feeding the cleaning that sort of  thing and they're always paired with somebody who

's going to know know what to do if there's um  you know a situation that they might not that they might know they're going to be with somebody  who does know um and we have a spay neuter clinic so we have a veterinarian on site and we  have people who come in and volunteer there as well and so they have a tech that they work with  that make sure they are trained and know how to um you know care for each animal after surgery  it's like a One-Stop shop it is so and and like I said there's it take

s everything from events and  fundraising so if there's somebody who doesn't want to be on site caring for the dogs then we  match them with somebody who can help them and train them to do what they're interested in doing  all right obviously you have done an amazing job growing this organization over several years  but think back to when you were just starting out and think of other people who might be in your  position How would someone go about raising money as a non-profit animal rescue star

tup so there  is never enough funds for what we need to do um when I first started out I was doing a lot  more of the adoptions the one-on-one too and so I always made a note to remember what that  person did um you know now I don't do as much as the one-on-one adoptions with people coming in  but when I was doing the adoptions and meeting a lot of visitors to Saving Grace I always you know  had a conversation with them and just got to know them like what their lifestyle is trying to find  a goo

d dog for them and I often would remember oh well they work in marketing or they have an  events business or you know so I would make a note because anybody who adopts they have a  lot more invested in us uh emotional investment they're usually really grateful for their dog  and the journey that they had at saving grace to bring them together so they are usually really  willing to help us if I reach out with a need and say you know I have this need can you help me or  people who really loved cer

tain breeds you know like I have some beagle lovers if I get a dog  in that's injured like a beagle that's injured being able to say you know I have this little dog  that you're a type of dog even though you can't adopt it could you sponsor and remembering people  personally there's there's a lot more people now so that's really hard but to get me to that point  I think having the personal connection with a lot of people was really important and helped me get  that far so I really hope people kn

ow still now even though I might not talk to them personally  or as an individual we get a lot more donations now because we have a lot more animals that we're  caring for so I hope they will always know though that their donations really do make a specific  impact and we try to do a lot of Storytelling and nothing like we don't do as nearly as many stories  as there could be like every day all day there's really great stories of dogs coming in that you  know have had nobody ever love them and n

o care and then they get really great homes you know so  I hope our donors can see just a little piece of that just to see what the a difference they  make and even though they might not be able to come out and volunteer on site you know their  gifts are just as important to to bring the full adoption Journey you know together for these  dogs because we have people who can come out on site but not you know don't have the funds to  give and then we have people who give and you know might not be a

ble to come out so making  everybody understand just how their peace is important yeah I think I'm having an emotional  reaction right now so I know that that would work for lots of donors and yeah I think what you said  is perfectly spot on you know it's all about that relationship building it's getting to know making  people feel human and connected to the mission and so when you're getting to know these people  and building relationships back when you were starting out did you eventually get

some kind  of like fundraising uh donor database to start keeping track all the notes that were in your  head oh I need to do that um yeah so we have a fundraising team so I have some people who help  like just with the thank you notes and then some people who help us as far as keeping you know our  software up to date for how to give and that is something that I think we definitely need to work  on is being able to have more of the one-on-one um relationships that I used to have and I still  ha

ve a lot of them yeah but there's a lot of room that we could improve to so so it takes a team  I think it definitely takes a team and we've found some people that have a lot of fundraising  experience as far as being able to help me keep it organized and make sure we get our newsletters out  on time and their stories are getting out because when you're the one that's actually working in  the middle of it it's all you can do just to take care of everybody some sometimes so having those  people t

hat can help you put it together to get it out whether it's social media or newsletters um  we have definitely found that different Avenues reach different people so like one story you want  to send out through Instagram and and tick tock are going to reach somebody that is not going to  see that if you mail something right so trying to reach all of those people is something that  we have really tried to make sure we do because you know our older donors they rely on mail the  mail yep um we have

a lot that look at email that might not look at mail or Instagram and social  media so we try to cover all of those things segmentation okay so let's talk some Logistics  you know you've helped so many animals at this point how do you find all the animals it is not a  problem they just flock uh there are so many they flock to Saving Grace it feels like so maybe not  the animals as much as the people who are seeking help so we work mostly with North Carolina some  South Carolina shelters we work

with the most rural shelters the most underserved so I really  want to be able to reach out to those shelters who have nobody some of the shelters I go to I am  the only person going in there as far as a rescue partner so I want to reach out to those because  I think those dogs need the most help or the biggest chance to to be adopted and so I go and  I visit and some days I go in and there might be um 50 to 100 dogs and I might have five  spaces to bring dogs and I'll just have to choose who i

s the the most adoptable you  know who gets along with other dogs who's friendly to people and it depends on how many  adoptions we've had so it's always important um you know that's how we always our preaching  adopt you know choose adoption because not only are you adopting and rescuing the dog that you're  taking home that day but it also opens up a place at saving grace where a dog comes from a shelter  so there's always there's always dogs waiting for a spot here so I go to those shelters a

nd go  through the dogs and choose who's going to be the best fit for our program so at saving grace you  have to be dog friendly you have to be able to get along with the other dogs co-housing you have  to be able to be safe with people we have lots of people in and out and we want to make sure that  we are giving dogs you know setting our adopters up for a really great experience too to get a dog  who's going to be friendly and and be able to join into their lifestyle and most people want to g

et  a dog that they can take with them to sporting events or walks or you know be part of their  neighborhood so we really try to focus on choosing those dogs and there are more than I could ever  bring to Saving Grace so we partner with about 20 different shelters and I just go there and visit  with them and I get calls every day all day from these shelters saying can you come yet can you  come yet because they really want their dogs to have a chance to be a Saving Grace dog um you  know and th

ey have to make decisions there on how long they can keep their dogs because there's more  coming in right behind them so um getting dogs is not a problem and when you were first starting  out how did you find the animals that you were going to help so I just went to the shelters  and I said this is me this is what I'm doing um would you like for me to work with with your  dogs and see if there's anybody who might be a fit for our program I had several veterinarians  write letters for me so sayi

ng it's a good idea yeah so just a reference letter saying that you  know she's somebody who's going to take care of the dog and do a you know be responsible as far as  placing them spay neuter medical care so I had a reference letter and that I would take with me and  also a 501c3 so once I got my letter I think that took about six months yeah to get the letter and  a reference from a vet they were really happy to have a place helpful so I actually think that's  a really great segue and to Part

nerships and collaborations you know it's clear from hearing  you speak that that's a really important aspect of a lot of what you do so talk more about how  you're forming these Partnerships especially from the perspectives of someone who might just be  starting out so well we work a lot with the county so those are the those are the facilities that  are bringing in all the trays or the surrenders we also work a lot with the different organizations  the smaller rescues so in our community and t

hat's a lot of times like maybe we have somebody who  wants to donate a truckload of food to us and it it feels like a lot of times we either have so  much of something or we have nothing you know so it's like we are out of food and we make an ask  to the community and then we get you know all this food donated and then like a week later a big  food company calls and is like hey can you take a shipment of food and we might not have room but  having connections with people in our community that m

ight be a smaller organization that you know  doesn't really have a reputation yet for some of these big companies who want to donate a truckload  of food food trying to keep our resources kind of piled together or pulled together in the community  so that we can share has definitely worked really well I think for us and for the smaller rescues  who might not you know again be able to accept a donation that you know is more than they can  handle but we could split it among different ones or some

times you know there will be like a dog  that we get in at saving grace that jumps a fence so we can't really have a dog I mean we can that  jumps fences but it doesn't really get out a lot um you know a lot of our our volunteers they  might take dogs for for walks but by far most of our dogs get all their exercise just by  being out in the fenced areas so we might do like a trade with another shelter that's only  indoors and doesn't have outdoor spaces and so that dog is more likely to get adop

ted there  so maybe like a shelter in town um in a busy City so where people only walk their dogs on a  leash so that dog might get adopted there and you know we could swap them for one that maybe  you know needs a yard and needs more exercise so I think um definitely as the years have gone  on and people have become more aware of each other and pulling the resources together that's  been that's been really great and there's also um a lot of effort to move some of our Southern  dogs to the North

east okay they have a lot of spay neuter laws up there and so there's not the  overpopulation that there is here in the Southeast so you know sometimes if we have a dog like I said  that would do better in a city then we might all get together and send 20 dogs on one trip um  to the Northeast so you know I might not have 20 dogs to send somebody else might not have 20  dogs to send but to be able to help the most dogs we want to send all 20 so we'll pull together and  make that sort of thing hap

pen so definitely reach out to different organizations and say this is  me this is you know I'm here this is what I have and this is what we need so if they get things  they can't use they can let us know too it's like non-profit Go Fish it really is it really  is I mean and there's people you know who have all kinds of resources that that they offer and  ask and maybe it's something we can't use but somebody else can yeah yeah and I love that and  what you were talking about earlier about sendi

ng dogs to the Northeast I think that's a really  great example of how you say going Upstream to try to tackle the problem sort of more on a  systems level you know that yes maybe advocating for policy for that spay and neuter stuff here um  that combined with the day-to-day matching of the animals to their forever homes I think that's  how you're able to make a really big impact and we bring you know a dog back sometimes like a  lot of uh some dog rescues are just a specific breed so like there

's beagle rescue or there's  German Shepherd rescue so you know I might see a dog in a shelter that's two or three hours  away and I'm there and I see a dog that would fit their program and say you know hey can you  take this dog because if you can take this dog then I can take one of the mutts over here so just  trying to pull together so we can help the most um the most get the care they need I love that  yeah and we also refer people to adopt other places you know if they come to saving grace

  and there's not a dog that they find which is absolutely okay we give them a list of other  places to visit because we want them to rescue a dog it doesn't matter if it's with us or another  organization as long as they give a dog a home that needs one yeah all right so for you folks if  you're thinking of starting a non-profit animal rescue let's just talk about general advice  on overcoming some of the unique challenges advice for startups Etc so I think um just have  a realistic expectation

of how much work it's going to take and how long it's going to take  for you to establish the relationships then um you know and have an established organization  because it takes a really it takes a long time and um a lot more work than I think you probably would  really expect especially when it's animals because they get sick 24 7 365 days a year so you can  definitely go on vacation a lot of people are like do you ever get a break yes but not  until I had a really good team established coul

d I really take a break um so now that I  have a good team established I have somebody who can answer and say you know well I'll help  you with this dog that's in an emergency because emergencies happen all the time um and it's always  uh you know you have to help that dog at that time so um yeah so having having the needs and I  think also the funds to be able to help in an emergency in the beginning that was hard because  it was like okay you know we're just trying to to go week to week and ma

ke sure everybody's had  the medication and the needs they had and you know I couldn't consider myself an employee for  about the first 10 years it took about 10 years so if you want to do it full time then um you know  having the expectation that's going to take a lot of time before you can actually support yourself  doing it um I think is really important so once I got to that point we um you know have a lot of  different incomes um a lot of different Avenues they come in so whether it's peopl

e who want to  support each animal um you know like you can go on our website and choose a dog that you want to  support for um everything from like a six dollar vaccine all the way up to a thousand dollars for  a heartworm treatment so finding different price points I think for people to be able to give  and identify something for them to actually um associate that their gift mattered you know  when we break it down and say your six dollar uh gift paid for a vaccine for a dog yeah um and  kind

of help people understand like just how much each thing cost it really makes them feel like  they gave a specific dog something and they did um they did so kind of breaking that down and then  having like we do like our calendar so people can buy a calendar each year yep so you can put your  either your dog's picture in there on a day or either the whole month so that again has different  price points for different people and you know we have our store so that is a really great thing  that gives

back to our dogs because when people get a new dog the first thing they do is go and  get all their supplies and I was seeing all of them you know go to some of the big chains and  get their supplies which is fine but we were able to eventually set up a store where not only can we  me get those proceeds back towards our animals but we also have people there who are really familiar  with our dogs and the adoption process and kind of help the doctor with what do you really need for  this dog vers

us what you don't need you know so instead of buying a big fluffy bed let's just  start with you know some blankets and see how that goes and see how they can treat their stuff  as far as chewing it or you know accidents and getting them acclimated so the store was really  great and um you know like at Christmas and for birthdays we encourage people to do a donation  and honor or in memory also when people pass away um some people want to work with us especially  before they pass away and a lot

of times Legacy given I think is hard for people to bring  up because nobody wants to talk about well when you're gonna die can you help us out  through that but people are really open to it if you say you know this is how you can make  a difference to animals so providing them with um ways to make an impact through you know  everything through what you're doing now day to day or even after they pass away people like  that you are going to show them that their life mattered so approaching it fro

m different ways  is always really interesting too and I think well received by most yeah giving each person sort of  the unique personalized a personalized yes yeah amazing all right Molly so how can someone  support your amazing Mission here at saving grace so they can adopt volunteer or donate and  um a lot of other ways to sponsor us and they can find out all that information on our website  at savinggracenc.org and also our social medias which is Saving Grace NC I hope that you're  inspired

by Molly's story and all of the impact that she's been able to make so far if you're  thinking of starting a non-profit animal rescue definitely you know take a chance to reflect on  all that she's shared and think about how you might be able to you know assess the needs in your  community and make an impact in your own way too I hope that you found this useful don't forget  to give it a like And subscribe of course as I mentioned before and don't forget to join my  newsletter linked below if y

ou are starting a non-profit need additional helps on the steps  or developing a sustainable fundraising plan check out my website foundertofulltime.com or  have online trainings that can help you out with that and of course check out my online  community at change the world or bust - it's currently on Facebook - you can join us  there! We've got several thousand people from around the world making an impact and I  hope you can join us. See you next time, bye!