These days, lots of people are researching rescues prior to donating to them or adopting from them. Gone are the days of automatically thinking that because it’s a registered non-profit organization that it automatically has the horse’s best interests at heart. Sad and regrettable, but true nonetheless.
That said, here are a few ways to help you identify some potentially bad rescues; some red flags, if you will.
I’m not saying that these guys don’t have a legitimate need for “jack link beef steak original” but I’m wondering if they’re aware that horses are herbivores… Last I heard “nutri grain cereal bars” weren’t used in refeeding starved horses. That said, I do think it’s totally awesomesauce that horses like “Tootsie caramel apple pops” because I too am a fan. Squee! I have something in common with the horsies!!!!! eeeeeeeee!
I do love that they say they need money to be donated “or at least buying something on the list” – because if you don’t want to flat out give ‘em your hard earned money, you damn well better be prepared to buy ‘em something. But not just anything! No siry Bob! Something from the list!
I wonder if they got confused and typed their grocery list instead of the stated feed, vet bills and farrier services. Hrmmm. One could hope, right?
NOPE!
lol ok wow, it’s late and I’m sleeeeepy! hahaha So the lovely reader that sent in this ad mentioned that it could also be read as they want “donators” to buy that stuff from them. Upon reflection, that makes a little more sense. But I thought it was pretty funny the other way so I’m leaving it in 
Now I read it as “anyone want to buy some used groceries? Real good quality. Top notch food stuffs for a heck of a deal!”
*facepalm*
Either way you read it, it’s probably time to move on to the next rescue.
Get it? (I sure don’t)
Got it. (Got what?)
Good. (What’s happening?!)
Class dismissed. (Oh thank Gawd)
26 Comments
I think they’re trying to sell candy too.
Here’s a better idea for your fundraiser – throw a bake sale. At your barn (that way you might attract potential volunteers and adopters too). Many people who don’t have that much money might be willing to bake a batch of cookies or brownies. (And hey, it works for the girl scouts
).
Okay so according to you no rescue must sell items they have in stock as a fundraiser because it is a red flag.
You sure are loosing it. I used to like your posts. This is horrible.
So you’d be ok with going to a rescue and buying the random food they have sitting around? They don’t mention it’s a catalog (although, now the numbers beside the items makes more sense). The disorganized, pleading (feed our starving rescued horses!) ad is a red flag. A “rescue” that needs to write ads like that indicates they don’t have the necessary funds to take care of the horses they have. So then you need to ask why don’t they have the funds? Are they misappropriating donations? Mismanaging funds? Are they not budgeting adequately for the number of horses they have? Why do they have more horses than they can handle? Is it a quicksand situation and they just got in over their heads? or are they falling into the hoarder mentality? My point is that you can’t just take the “rescue” title for granted and trust that they’re doing what’s best for the horses. And if they’re not, the best way to help the horses, unfortunately, is to NOT donate and contribute to perpetuating a bad situation.
I’m not paying $21 for a box of sixteen Nutrigrain bars that I can buy at the grocery store for $4 to save a rescue from tanking. Sorry.
I think the issue is because instead of this rescue making themselves reputable, this ad basically says:
“I don’t have any money for hay, but I have this candy sitting around from Halloween. If you, craigslist reader, don’t pay my absurd prices for cheap candy under the guise of saving “rescued horses”, you are a bad person. At least buy something off this list of old shit my kids won’t eat so I can buy an HDTV for my bedroom.”
Pretty sure this ad is a total red flag.
*scratches head*
I’m not quite sure where that was said, explicitly or implicitly.
That being said – do you really think someone who is selling random grocery items (without extensive explanation as to why…) shouldn’t set off a “red flag”?
lol, I totally read it the other way at first. When you explained it it made a little more sense…. Still ridiculously overpriced.
I have 3 projects right now, two more than I like and one more than I should (I got mad at the KB and bid)! I need to buy more feed so I have been selling my stuff, stuff I don’t use much or need, on CL. Or trying to work more hours.
…Also they should probably say “were being abused or starve to death”, the ‘being’ makes it seem like they’re the ones doing it.
mmm, Nutrigrains.
But – if they’re so short of money, why do they have $100+ of junk food lying around?
No matter how you look at it I think school fund raiser not rescue center in need of money and help….
How much do you wanna bet that these people have no idea on how a rescue is run? Just because you have the funds and you can rescue horses doesn’t mean you’re a rescue unless you know how to BUDGET and BALANCE your rescue. If you’re in such dire straights that you need to sell your junk food, you need to honestly take a look at your ‘rescue’. Oi vey. *head desk* What we really need is more train wreck rescues. We really need to press for Global federation of animal sanctuaries for rescues to be called rescues and before they can be certified non profit. Not train wreck rescues that animals just suffer even more. Ugh.
Wooo GFAS! Someone should start offing up guidelines for starting/running a rescue. Online courses or something. I’d like to believe that a lot of these silly little places have their hearts in the right place, but just don’t really know what they’re doing. Some education could help. Might not be the worst idea ever to compile the knowledge of successful rescues and put together info packets, sell online, proceeds to the rescues that helped develop it…
The Homes for Horses Coalition is doing just that, working at helping rescues become more solvent and more professional.
Google “degree in nonprofit administration” if you want to see the programs out there. 501(c)3 is a TAX DESIGNATION, not a business management style!
Geesh…..sorry, honestly not yelling @ anyone here, just idiotic organizations worldwide. “What do you mean, you want us to act like professionals? We’re a rescuuuuuue!”
Whether it’s horses or widgets, you still need to manage your operations sensibly.
Thanks for letting me rant
I respectfully disagree that GFAS should be required for a horse rescue to be legit or for it to get 501c3 status. GFAS is geared towards animal *sanctuaries* (hence the name, Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries). GFAS is great for things like a sanctuary that takes retired TV chimpanzees. However, GFAS doesn’t focus on horses, so they don’t necessarily understand horse-specific issues. GFAS seems to focus more on long-term sanctuary care, not a shelter or a rescue, which do have different goals & requirement. I was curious and researched their process & criteria to see if it might be helpful for my local horse rescue. And while I’m sure it’s great for something like an elephant sanctuary program, it wasn’t the best fit for a smaller, local equine adoption program.
Also please understand that to get GFAS approval, the organization must pay for the process including flying in their inspectors. When many horse rescues are smaller and working as hard as they can to save horses, where do plane tickets and hotel rooms fit into the equation? Sure, it could be done if a charity has a huge budget. But for a start-up, it’s impossible. Does it make sense to make it mandatory for a new 501c3 when it already costs almost $1,000 to file state/local paperwork just to get the 501c3 letter. Add in legal or CPA fees, possible state/local licensing fees, and other start-up costs — all before the 1st horse arrives or the first grant is applied for. Knowing that, I think there’s just now way any brand new organization should be eager to pay $$$ to fly [non-government, non-mandatory] inspectors in & pay for the certification process. A question to ponder: where do you think the money comes from that 1st year to operate a new charity?
I do love the sentiment that educational resources should be made available to animal charities. However, I can tell you I have looked hard, and there isn’t much out there. I can’t find any non-profit classes at either local college. My local SCORE and SBA “don’t do” non-profit counseling. There is a for-non-profit organization for the state, but it’s $ to join and they don’t offer much besides networking luncheons. Equines rescues that already existed in the region were not interested/able to mentor others. I read quite a few books. But the truth is that even with my strong for-profit business background, there is no other way to gain a real understanding of non-profit admin than serving as an officer or Board member to one. If other equine rescues are facing the same challenges finding good advisers, do we flame them for making small mistakes? Or would it be more constructive to find out why there aren’t many “how to run a successful non-profit” resources out there? Or if a particular reader sees an ad that doesn’t make good business sense, why not contact the org and tactfully offer to teach them or to run a good fundraiser for them?
GFAS has been focusing on equine rescues for about a year and a half and has an entirely separate set of criteria for their management. They did not charge us for the visit, in fact, we ended up with a $4000 grant. I have an advanced degree in public administration (including non-profit management), so I know that what they are looking for in Accreditation Standards is also fairly standard management practice. You are correct in assuming that most start-ups won’t qualify. They are looking for organizations with a stable track record (no pun intended
and good management and that is what they are Accrediting. Ours is a small rescue that adopts horses out, so size has nothing to do with it, but they will look closely at how you mange your adoption program. What you are seeing on the web site looks intimidating, but they really do try to help. Our experience with them was a pleasant, helpful one. Other than that, I agree with much of what you are saying. It should not be a requirement to be even Verified by GFAS. It isn’t a requirement to belong to the BBB (in business) either, but it tells people who can’t personally visit your organization something about you that they wouldn’t otherwise know. GFAS does a thorough on-site inspection so donors and people surrendering animals not only know you are for real, but also that you operate at a certain standard.
Calico -
Almost completely off-topic, some SCORE chapters do offer appropriate counseling for non-profits. If your chapter doesn’t, they may have a dearth of mentors with experience in this area.
At any rate, non-profits should be run as +businesses+ first and foremost. The feel good, tugging the heartstrings, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach just doesn’t work. As with any business, there are costs associated with entering the ‘market’. Those include start up monies, expertise, certifications, a business plan, sweat equity, etc. All the standard requirements. The free and low-cost resources that SCORE, the SBA, etc. offer are quite valuable for everyone trying to get into business.
As a professional in the non-profit arena, I tend to take a deep breath and move on when it comes to discussion of the vast majority of ‘rescues’. Sort of like suspending my disbelief when watching The Princess Bride…
Are we sure Jack Links isnt made out of horse?! (sorry, sick joke)
If this is a fundraising plea, then it should have been labeled as one. It doesn’t say anywhere that they are selling these items (that could have been donated by Costco or Sam’s Club or some corporation like that) to raise money to help their rescue horses. Would have made much more sense if they had. Also, WAS this ad placed by the rescue itself or by a well-meaning individual who wanted to try to sell the items to help the rescue? Our 4H club once recieved donated pre-packaged baked goods from a local mass-producing bakery to sell for a community service fundraising project (we raised money for our local humane society). After selling about 75% of the stock, what didn’t sell was stored for a few months to be consumed by the club during State 4H Horse Show weekend. Win-win for all involved.
So in the summer when my weird mare gets tough to keep weight on, I should pump her full of lollipops, Altoids and jerky? I’ll keep that in mind!
All joking aside, another way to tell a nice rescue could be to talk to the volunteers. You can get an idea of what the place is like and what kind of people are working with the horses (i.e. if the volunteer is dumb as a doorknob when it comes to horses, or they excite in telling you how their wonderful trainer beats the horses or uses abusive methods to train them, you’ll know that’s not a good place). I know for our sophomore year in my Animal Sciences class, we had to do an agriculture related project. One girl volunteered at a rescue and was put in charge of two horses. The rescue (and her!) did a wonderful job of rehabilitating the horses, making sure they were healthy and either rid-able or safe to handle (in case it was a horse that for whatever reason shouldn’t be ridden) and did a super job of making sure their horses went to a safe home. And what I liked was if it didn’t work out, they always kept a couple extra spaces open so owners could return the horses and they wouldn’t have to worry about not having any room.
Then they changed ownership. The old woman who ran the place died and her son stepped in. The girl in my class said he immediately filled every stall and pasture with horses, fattened them up then sold them to the first person that showed any interest in them. No attempt to train them. If they were a broke schoolmaster, they were sold as such. If they were a crazy, barely halter-broke horse, they were sold like that. She immediately stopped volunteering and spread the word about them. Several other volunteers did the same and they ended up going out of business.
I’d say that’s a pretty bright red flag that’s possibly on fire and shooting fireworks in every direction with spotlights waving around it.
I have no idea who posted the ad, so I am not taking sides.
But it’s entirely possible this is a legit fundraiser. They may have gotten the food items given to them for free. Sometimes it’s a rescue member who worked for a store that was writing off some merchandise. Sometimes it’s a member whose spouse works as a sales rep for a food company and has a boatload of sample/discontinued/x-cheap boxes of stuff. It could be that a friend’s bodega is closing and they gave a pallet of stuff to a charity.
Example: Near me is a big church resale store full of food, pet food, and cat litter. They get it for free somewhere. They sell it for about 2/3rd of retail price, ensuring buyers get a good deal. The money they make goes to the church programs.
Or take for example my local school booster club: the make most of their money by getting the kids to resell candy bars and pizza kits.
When I read the ad, I don’t get the idea that people are supposed to buy the candy to GIVE to the horses. Maybe it could’ve been worded better?
That said, it could be the rescue is just really bad with money and doesn’t understand the difference between running a fundraiser vs acting as a grocery store.
Ok that post (theirs not yours) was super confusing. I totally read it as they wanted people to purchase things off the list for them (that seems to be the way those things go usually right? “We need buckets, halters, hay etc”), but then I read the list and was like…HU???
I’m really confused as to why they would go the craigslist route of selling this stuff. If they were having like a bake sale, or a food booth at a show etc, they could probably get those prices for a pack of food because they would be selling Nutrigrain bars for $1.30 each and Carmel Apple Pops for under $0.50 and in that situation it actually makes sense. Offering a $4 box of Nutrigrain bars for $20 online is just… weird.
Fundraising, they need to work on it.
How could this blog possibly be more hateful and less helpful? Of course this is a fundraising technique — time honored for those of you who have ever purchased overpriced candy bars or gift wrap from the neighborhood kids or, for that matter, overpriced cookies from the Girl Scouts. You get something and the organization takes the profits for the difference between what THEY paid for the boxes of goodies at Sam’s and what you paid. IF the theme of this blog post had been constructive suggestions for how rescues can be more professional — and more effective — in their fundraising THAT would have been something worth reading and contributing to because, yes, this isn’t very well thought out or professional. Think of the great fundraising ideas this horse community could generate! But another JUMPING THE SNARK post that starts slinging criticism and insults before you even realize what you are saying (come on, admit it, you actually thought they were asking people to buy that stuff FOR THE HORSES! and started typing before you even thought about it)….honestly, I’m considering starting a snarky blog about snarky blog fails. People who actually think that someone is taking the junk food out of their cabinets and selling it on CL to raise money would be great snark-targets.
lol go for it. Should be good for a chuckle.
If you really asked the first question, you haven’t spent a lot of time on fugly horse of the day over the years have you?
Also, you haven’t met a lot of the really dumb people on CL have you? Because I’ve seen some really stupid stuff.
I also think this is a reg flag. They’re selling stuff, and marketing it in an awful way, that they probably bought at the grocery store. Not stuff they made, not stuff it sounds like they were given, and they’re doing it on CL. Not door to door or in front of stores. They need to work on the wording as well.
They say nothing about their goals, saved horses, rehab stories, training, no rescue name, no link to more info, etc. Overall, nothing about this screams “legitimate rescue”.
“We may not be professional horse people, but we’re experts in sarcasm!”
Sorry, but I never read that as ‘we will always make helpful suggestions!’ Snarky found something she considered confusing, questionable, and amusing, so she made fun of it. Her blog, her prerogative to address these things with whatever tone she’d like. Truly, I don’t think Snarky or any or her readers want to criticize the ‘time honored’ tradition of buying goods at an inflated price to benefit a worthy organization. But I do think this particular CL ad is an example of what not to do–there is not enough information, and what is written has been presented oddly–so regardless of the original writer’s intentions, the ad is a good target of a bit of sarcasm.
It’s people like you why we always have enough to snark about.
You seriously don’t see what’s wrong with this ad, do you?
Ah, well.
I too read it as a list of things they wanted purchased *for* the rescue, then was like WTF when I saw the things on the list. What a confusing way to advertise.