Donations.. Sticky subject but what do you do when people dont give anything?

[lollylou]

Really anyone with an ounce of common sense would understand that the donation is not for profit making, but is the bare minimum that keeps a roof over the heads of the cats, keeps them warm, vet bills, and food in their belly....dependant on how long the cat has been in care I would assume that £50-£70 doesn't even begin to cover it.

Goodness, if I took a cat from rescue I wouldn't hesitate let alone question a donation....as someone else said, if the cost is an issue maybe committing to care for an animal for their lifetime is inappropriate, as you need to have some contingency in place for an emergency vet bill not just food, toys, litter etc which is also pricey.

[Kate]

When I adopted my last 2 cats (both now sadly passed, they were oldies) I paid the £75 recommended donation times 2 so £150. this is a lot of money, especially as they still needed their booster vacs. But I would not have thought of not paying it. I would worry that people who won't pay a smaller donation say £30 could not afford a cat or would hesistate to pay for what the cat needed. Having said that, I felt a better scheme, rather than being asked for £150 upfront would be to be asked to sign a direct debit for say £10 a month, which I think most people would not cancel and CP would have a constant source of income. But I epxect I am not the first person to think oof this so perhaps it's not such a good idea.

[Ela]

it was a 'charge'

Someone who does not claim Gift Aid obviously as you cannot claim it on charges, only donations.

[Bryony84]

When I adopted Amber and Chilli, the week before I picked them up, I asked what the best way to pay my 'donation' would be. The lady was very short with me and told me it wasn't a 'donation', it was a 'charge' before telling me how much and payment methods!

[Dawn F]

all of mine have had a minimum donation attached to them, only fair in my opinion, a person I know paid £70 each for kittens from a pet shop (price dependant on colour the silver tabbies were £100)

[Ela]

Thoughts pls... or what you do..

Nothing, when I speak to people I do say that although we don't charge we do like a minimum donation of £30 as all our cats/kittens are up to date with flea and worm treatments, microchipped, injected and adults neutered/spayed. I also say that the donation is not written in stone and a good home is more important. I may think if you cannot afford the £30 then perhaps you should not have a cat, but don't. To be honest though, on most occasions we do get a donation and sometimes more than the suggested £30 per cat. Also as you know there is a box on the homing form asking the amount of donation so this sometimes I think reminds people.

[Desley (booktigger)]

We do have a set donation, and we dont let cats go without it, direct
 rehoming is a different matter, and we do have to hope that people will give the donation they say (I never ask for our set donation then, as I don't think it is fair).
I do like PB's suggestion though, I sent out an e-mail to people who had adopted from me at the start of the financial year telling them about fundraisers etc, and got a lot of donated food and some bric a brac, so maybe I should include one when I send out the newsletter, and send it to everyone, as I suppose if only one person responds with a donation, or an offer of help, it is better than we had before.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

Its a bit of a catch 22 as one person a few weeks ago gave us £60 for an adult cat as we dont have any set donation fee, but then equally we get a lovely home with a elderly lady giving us £10.... However, there were some pairs of kittens last year that despite lots of good words about donations never gave us anything (but they paid for the eventually spaying, when i rang up and checked)...

We dont have any set minimum amount at all....Its really very hard. I like Pinkbears suggestion but as in all these things it would involve someone compiling a list. Jane our secretary used to give everyone who donated free membership for the year, but our mailing list (and hence stamp and newsletter printing) went up accordingly and it was getting silly.. We decided that if people where being very generous then we would add them to the list but other then that we would ask them to join the branch when we send out the thank you letters.

Actually its the people that can afford it the most are the people that dont give anything!!

However, we have now started to ask people who need to get their cat rehomed via family, personal or health reasons to ask if they would be prepared to fully vac and (even in some cases chip) the cat. If the cat is not already vac then we can at least save some money by us not doing it and also it saves us running around to vets etc.. Most people have been more then happy to do that.. even if its the first vac it saves us something.... I think we are quite justified in this and of course real strays get the works anyhow that we pay for completely.. But pre owned cats i dont see that we are being unreasonable... This seems to be working but you do have to stick by your guns and not believe the truth one bit when they tell you the cat is fully vac but cannot provide the evidence of a vac cert to prove it...
One case we took in lately agreed to fully vac both cats (both courses) and chip both cats before they came into our care. They got rehomed in no time...The course and vac could of cost us nearly 150 quid and he was more then happy to do that...

[Sheli_80]

It must vary from branch to branch, we adopted from CPL and were told that for cats under 10 it was £45 (which I was more than happy to pay) and we could just make a donation for an older cat. When we offered to "pay" for our old man the fosterer was just so happy he was getting a home she said it wasn't necessary. Really when you add up the costs it makes sense to give a donation to a rescue. Once you add up the costs of vaccinations, spaying/neutering (appreciate some kittens won't be neutered due to age) and microchipping it comes to a lot more than £45.

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

The point I feel is that we should at least state a minimum donation for kittens. People do seem to shop around for kittens and I know, for example, that my daughter's boyfriend's family are looking to adopt, but when they went to 'that' rescue in East Kent they were told the fee is £75. This, they felt, was unrealistic and would have been happy to pay around £40. Unfortunately, they only want 1 kitten and we only rehome in pairs.   This family is now scouring the private ads as they make the point that give it a few weeks and you won't be able to give kittens away with Green Shield stamps. I did try to tell them getting kittens from a newspaper only encourages amateur breeders and profitteers, but they say high adoption fees forces them to this route.  

For adult cats its tough. People really do think they are doing us a favour by taking an adult cat from us. I suppose rescues complain so much about work load and the amount of unwanted cats in the world, they think we're just grateful for the pen space back. Even though we do give them letters explaning we only keep going because of donations, there's something about the human brain which convinces them we are talking about other people, not them.  

I think much more productive than a stated minimum donation is to put these people on our mailing lists and get them involved in long term practical support. We have got some of our best fundraisers and home checkers by doing this.  

[Bazsmum]

Having never been to a rescue to aquire a cat I have just believed that you pay your donation then you get your cat (obviously after home checks etc!)

I am now rather shocked seeing this is different! 

I also took it that the donation was a set one of £40? Maybe its different up in these parts? The North East! 

[Angiew]

we tell them from the start we ask for a donation of £30 and we sort of hold our hand out when the cats are homed - usually works.

Bear in mind we don't vacinnate or chip - though we now offer chipping at an extra £10.

Sometimes we win sometimes we lose.

We normally get this money, only twice this year has no donation been received.

As far as kittens go, if you see the silly prices people are asknig on those websites I don't see why you have so much trouble getting donations.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

We have a letter that we give out with our rehoming packs that says something like that, it doesnt give costs but it does say that we could only treat and care for the cat they are adopting because of donations and to give a donation helsp another cat... But some people still dont (or say they will send a chq in the post) and never do...!

Other then write them another letter (and thus we  have to post it) etc to remind people I am not sure what else we can do.. it would also be embrassing if they got a letter and then we found out they put a donations in the post but it hadnt been received yet!...

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

 I don't know how people have the nerve not to offer a donation.  I offered a donation for Rossi and she never actually made it to the rescue in question.

Would it be possible to provide all new adopters with a list of what treatments had been carried out on the cat with the cost to the rescue: eg Wormed (£), Deflead (£), Microchipped (£) ......   Total cost to xxx rescue = £xxx

Then at the bottom of the page have a box with Donation given = £xxx


This might make people realise the costs involved.

[Desley (booktigger)]

I have to say, I find it much easier to pay for sudden illnesses due to credit card, and have actually only 'paid' for one of my cats - and got given money when I took one on!! Admittedly, all the rescues the cats came from have had donations after adopting the cats (that probably came to more than what a recommended donation would be), it was just something I didn't realise at the time.

[Millys Mum]

I don't deal with the donations when the cats are re-homed, but I know it has happened when people who obviously can afford it don't donate which is frustrating, even though it's a home which is great.

That makes me wonder what happens when cat suddenly gets ill or hit by a car, routine things can be put into the budget. People always say oh if it was an emergency id find the money but a donation is just as important to make sure the next one in need can be helped.

I can't imagine when people say no to that, i'd be dead embarrassed!

Me too, some people have no shame!

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

I don't deal with the donations when the cats are re-homed, but I know it has happened when people who obviously can afford it don't donate which is frustrating, even though it's a home which is great.

To be honest I don't think that there's anything that we specifically do as we do state that it's not a set donation fee and then cant really complain if they take us up on that! I remember that when I re-homed my cat. We were going through the paperwork whilst Katie was sniffing around and Liz asked if I wanted to make a donation. I can't imagine when people say no to that, i'd be dead embarrassed!

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

Hi all
I know that CP policy is that we ask for donations and dont give any set fees, when we rehome cats.. but what happens when you dont get anything....!! Despite telling people on first contact on the phone and at the homechecks.?

Last year we  had over 50 kittens in our care and some were fully vac, flea,wormed and chipped but despite people telling us they would donate they didnt.. But the cats still got loving homes... However, one reason we nearly went skint was big bills but no much money coming in..

Do you state somewhere "reasonable donations" of something figure, for cats and kittens or what? We never have.. but equally we cannot afford to do all that if we dont get any donations to help cover some of the cost..

Thoughts pls... or what you do..