Dear Supporters,
Thank you for all your support in 2015. We've had an exciting year of ups and downs and improvements at our facility. Thank you again to those who have supported us in our Year End Appeal. So far, we've raised roughly $25,000 from your gifts. We're hoping to make our goal of $40,000 before December 31st- that's the last day you can donate and get tax write off for 2015!
We feel that it is very important to respect all our supporters and be transparent about the costs we have here at the wildlife rescue. It costs roughly $350,000 a year to run our center. Of this, $160,000 goes directly to animal care. But we help the community in more ways than exclusively caring for animals. Another important part of our mission is educating children, our decision makers of the future, as well as people who just want to learn more about wildlife. It costs almost $40,000 per year to make our education program happen.
So if half of our budget is animal care and education, you're probably wondering where the rest goes- and it's not what you'd expect! We operate an exclusion service to enable people with wildlife problems to humanely coexist with wildlife. This costs us about $66,000 every year. It's another $80,000 just to keep our doors open. This means we actually have a place to rehabilitate wildlife- and can keep the lights on. Some of the money goes to maintaining the existing structures. We also use this money to buy gas and have vehicles so we can pick up food for the animals, rescue them, or release them. We have to pay taxes and insurance, just like everyone else, as well as keep the computers working and the phone lines open. Various projects account for the rest.
So if you're good at math, and I'm sure many of you are, you're thinking, "Where does all the money come from?"
We received $57,000 from those of you who responded to our Spring and Year End Appeals in 2015. We received $6,000 from the donation boxes that businesses have graciously allowed us to put in their stores. Thanks again to those of you who popped a little something in the box! $9,000 came from people who brought in injured animals and decided to give for their care. We brought in $3,000 from folks who decided to become a member of SCWR.
The same programs that we've developed to help the community are also bringing in money to help the animals. Our Education programs brought in $21,000. The Exclusion Service made $72,000. Our Barn Owl Maintenance Program added $25,000. Lastly, our big Pints for Paws event, sponsored by Lagunitas, brought in close to $5,000.
You'll notice there's still a gap of almost $150,000. Sometimes generous patrons can fill this gap, other times, they can't.
Think about all that SCWR does for you. We're there when you have an animal that needs help. We can fix your house if you have unwanted wildlife living in your attic or basement. We can install barn owl boxes in your vineyard to eat your gophers. When your kids visit SCWR, they come home full of excitement about the animals in their own backyard. Isn't that valuable to you?
So if you haven't donated yet, think about how much your donation would mean to us. We'd be able to keep being there for the wildlife and people in our community.
And if you're struggling just to make your own ends meet this holiday season, we give you our blessings, because we've been there too. We are still there for you if you need help with a sick, injured, or orphaned animal, 24/7, 365 days a year.
Happy Holidays from all of us, to all of you.
