‘Financial crisis’ at Humane Society

BRHS leaders unsure of local nonprofit’s future

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BROOKINGS – Animals can be found in nearly every corner of the Brookings Regional Humane Society. It has cats in the office, a pair of rats in another room, dogs in the back and rabbits in the restroom, waiting to be moved.

But the futures of these animals are in doubt because long-standing financial issues at the BRHS have caught up to the nonprofit. At the moment, its organizers are hopeful that they have enough resources to make it through November; what comes in the next few months, BRHS President and board member Lindsie Bartley doesn’t like to contemplate.

BRHS came to Brookings in 1998 to help Brookings Animal Control find homes for stray animals. Unclaimed cats and dogs, previously euthanized after a brief waiting period, are now sent to BRHS for safekeeping. So far in 2017, animal control has brought in 55 percent of all the shelter’s cats and dogs.

The mission of BRHS is a simple one on paper: shelter homeless pets, run a well-managed adoption outreach program, promote the spaying or neutering of pets, educate the community and promote responsible pet care and pet ownership. But all this comes at a steep cost.

As an example, every incoming animal receives medical care. For a healthy kitten, that comes at a cost of $96 in medical care alone, not counting such other expenses as food or kitty litter. So far in 2017, the BRHS has taken in 125 kittens, meaning that conservatively, it’s spent at least $12,000 on medical care for kittens alone.

In order to encourage the adoption of the animals, though, adoption fees don’t reflect expenses. A younger-than-6-month-old kitten has an adoption fee of only $105, with costs going down for the two older age categories.

Officials figured after they count revenue from adoption fees, they need to raise another $18,000 a month to break even.

Bartley’s blunt about their current situation: “We’re really in a crisis. It’s not good.”

Plenty of misconceptions

Not helping are misconceptions that people have about the group. One persistent misconception they run into is that they are funded by the City of Brookings.

This is something that constantly surprises people, said BRHS Vice President and board member Beth Reams. “I had a gal write us a $100 check because she had thought we were funded by the city.”

Reams added, “We love what we do, and what we do is a necessity for the community. We love all the volunteers we currently have, we’re thankful for all the donors we currently have. Our main thing is to clear up some of those misconceptions and hopefully generate some interest and knowledge about us.”

Bartley broke down their expenses into three crucial categories that must be funded in order to continue their work: buying medical supplies, paying crucial staff members and paying rent on the building they occupy.

The medical supplies are necessary so that the animals are as healthy as possible, making them adoptable.

Paid staff are increasingly crucial for looking after the animals as volunteer numbers continue to decline. Volunteer hours are now half what they were in 2014.

They now have five paid morning staff members who take care of routine chores such as administering medication, reporting any signs of ill health, feeding the animals and cleaning their cages, kennels or litter boxes.

There are also three part-time shelter coordinators and BRHS Executive Director Maia Moore, who is the crucial figure in running the shelter.

Still, there is a high turnover in help since most are college students who don’t stay in the area.

“There are tons of positives being able to have vet students who know something about animals coming into this position. That’s huge, but the downside is that eventually they all want to go to veterinary school and they leave,” Bartley said.

That is costly in time and money spent training, too, and it’s one that they know they’ll go through again since two of their three shelter coordinators will graduate college this year and have already applied to vet schools.

Expansion expenses

BRHS moved to its new facility in 2013, which has allowed it to take in more animals and expand programming in the community. Those benefits are clear, but there is a cost to them. Utilities are expensive, and rent is costly, too.

That’s actually one of the biggest misconceptions people have about BRHS, that it owns the building. The building was specifically designed for this kind of use, but it doesn’t belong to the nonprofit.

With 430 animals taken in by the BRHS so far in 2017, its organizers know they provide the community with a valuable service.

Moore noted that if they had to regress to a foster-based program, it’d mean a significant reduction in what they do. She recalled a 10-year-old newsletter she found from those days, and it mentioned there were nine adoptable cats and seven adoptable dogs.

“It was simply because we only had so many places to put them. It was only when people opened their homes and fostered for us,” Moore said. “I can’t imagine backtracking to the point of being only a foster-based rescue again in a community our size.”

She and other BRHS leaders constantly brainstorm money-raising options, from more fundraising to grants. But they already fundraise frequently, almost every month.

Grants are competitive and hard to come by for a nonprofit its size. Grants specific to the field are generally catered to animal shelters that are larger or are smaller than BRHS, but officials are constantly hunting for grants.

They do apply for grants from the city and county and have been awarded funds in the past.

“We do all the things a nonprofit should be doing,” Bartley said, but it’s not enough.

Fundraising, fees

Most of their revenue comes from donations obtained through fundraising as well as adoption fees and surrender fees. And regardless of BRHS’s situation, they are grateful for the public’s support through donations.

“We still have so many people randomly drop off or mail checks or whatever. So, there is a solid source of folks who will just write checks, and that’s just phenomenal,” Bartley said.

One thing she’s interested in looking into is setting up a system for monthly giving, which would be convenient for generous citizens and give BRHS a more reliable revenue stream.

They’d also like to come up with more longterm fundraising options similar to the Rose Memorial Donor Park, which is at the corner of Eighth Street South and Western Avenue. Built in honor of BRHS founder Dr. Rose Davidson, who died July 8, 2016, donors can buy a brick to be inscribed with a message for a departed pet.

As they work to form a longterm sustainable plan, BRHS leaders encouraged people to consider donating, with cash or checks preferred over plastic options or PayPal since those come with fees. Financial donations can be dropped off or mailed to them at 120 W. Second St. S., Brookings.

Their Facebook page also lists physical items they need, such as bleach and paper towels. They also post their upcoming events on that page, and they encourage people to participate in those.

As for volunteers, they need people not afraid of getting a little dirty and putting in a little elbow grease.

They encouraged those who have further questions to email them at lindsie.bartley@gmail.com, beth.reams605@gmail.com or brookingsregionalhumanesociety@hotmail.com. The BRHS website is brookingshumane.org.

Misconceptions about the BRHS

 False: It is funded by the city. Fact: It is an independent nonprofit, and it is also independent of other Humane Society facilities. It is completely responsible for generating its own revenue apart from these other entities.

 False: It owns the building it moved into in 2013. Fact: Although it was designed to house animals, it is not owned by the BRHS. Instead, the nonprofit rents it.

 False: Work is limited to business hours. Fact: Animals must be cared for all day, every day. Volunteers and staff must provide food, clean spaces and medicine beyond those hours when it is open for business.

 False: It only takes in animals in the City of Brookings area. Fact: As the only shelter within a 60-mile radius, it takes in animals far beyond the city limits.

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.