In Receiving, It Is Nice To Give Too
AnimalCare 
Sep 14, 2012 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
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From time to time, we review our policies to ensure that we are doing our level best with the funds that we have, to help street animals through their human caregivers.
As much as we wish we could help every caregiver who applies, we do not have bottomless coffers (our funds are limited) and we have to work very hard to maintain them. Therefore, we still need to function within some limitations as stipulated in our policies. Our aim is to help those who are really in need of financial assistance.
We do not have the resources to help everyone.
As such, our policies remain as below:
A. Our funds are open toNEEDYcaregivers of street animals.
NEEDY = Those who have no means of raising funds on their own.
B. The animals who qualify for our subsidy:
1. Newly rescued street animals
2. Community animals (living in the community but not adopted)
C. Our funds are NOT open to:
1. pet-owners who apply for their pets
2. recognised animal welfare organisations and their key members
3. animal caregivers who have the means to raise funds on their own
Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis and depends on fund availability. We retain sole discretion to decide whether or not to provide the subsidy (without need to provide reasons for such decision).
Recently, we’ve received applications from people who do not fall within the permissible categories above. After explaining our policies to them, some took it nicely and understood our limitations, but some reacted rather angrily. We could easily exercise our “sole discretion” prerogative and reject them without providing any reason, but in the spirit of goodwill, I would much prefer to explain why. In spite of our explanation, some people were still angry. (Oh well, getting angry is a choice. Not a very wise one, I must say.)
In view of this, let me clarify our policies in more detail so that we can (hopefully) work with mutual understanding and cooperation (and avoid getting angry!).
A. How NEEDY are you?
If you are an individual caregiver and do not belong to any recognised group, we have never questioned your “neediness” for the subsidy. If you apply for our funds, we trust you have acted with integrity, honesty and a clear conscience and that you are really in dire need of the assistance. We understand that sometimes, in doing all your rescue work, you do run short of funds and need our subsidy.
But do we want to be needy all our lives and depend on others for charity?
When we first started, there was an individual rescuer who used to apply for our funds. But later, after seeing how effective blogging is, she started writing her own blog to publicise her personal rescue work. Funds started pouring in for her. Now, she no longer needs to apply to our funds. She can stand on her own. The moral of this story is: We may start off by being needy, but let’s learn how to stand on our own too.
Most importantly, let us be guided by our conscience in whatever we do.
B. “Newly rescued” and “community animals”
The “newly rescued” animals are those who have just been rescued from the street and are in need of neutering or medical treatment. If you intend to adopt the animal, it then becomes your “pet” and we strongly urge you to take responsibility for it as looking after a pet is a lifelong commitment. If you are in dire financial needs, write in and we shall consider each case. In the past, we pledged to cover rescued adult animals for 6 months and rescued baby animals for one year, just to encourage adoption from the streets. But this leniency was abused and the dates provided were fabricated just so the applicant could continue getting funds from us for as long as possible. Now, this time period no longer applies. Every case will be considered separately.
Again, we urge applicants to act with their conscience.
C. Pets, Recognised Organisations and your “Neediness”
As explained above, PETS are the responsibility of the owners and owners should not apply for charity. If your pet is newly adopted from the streetand you really need the assistance, please write in for a case-by-case consideration.
We cannot fund the treatment of animals from recognised organisations as these organisations have their own funds. If you are a key member of an organisation, we would like to urge you to first approach your own organisation for funds. Wouldn’t it be quite inappropriate if you are a member or volunteer of one organisation but you turn to another for funds? Also, if you start off as a GROUP, with facebook, blogs and other social media, please learn how to raise funds on your own. Our funds are reserved for those needy individuals.
Fundraising isn’t so hard if you start off by approaching family and friends and explain your objectives. Then, publicise your work with accountability. Start small and keep it small if your resources are limited (like ours). There is no point in being a group that does “charity” but rely on another organisation to fund your work. That doesn’t make sense, does it? Doing charity involves fund-raising as well.
And lastly, whether as an individual or a group, if you have the means to raise funds on your own, it means you do not need charity anymore.Let us not succumb to the evil temptation of greed or be an opportunist just because the funds are available. Helping animals is hard work. Raising funds is part of the work. We just have to learn to do it. Like it or not, how much can we do without money? Food and medical expenses require money and these are the bare necessities in animal charity.
In the past 3 years now, we have provided sponsorship and subsidies for many, many animal caregivers. To those who have received, if you believe that our lives can be enriched by the adage, “One good turn deserves another”, wouldn’t it be nice to give back a little to our fund to help another caregiver in return?
There is an old Chinese saying that says: In receiving, one must also give.
Finally, to those who support our work with your generous giving, we thank you very, very much for making it possible for us to continue our work.
Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/09/14/in-receiving-it-is-nice-to-give-too/
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