All non profit organizations should keep detailed accounting records.
For my shelter, I have a complex spreadsheet that keeps track of
absolutely everything, since Ye Olde Memory isn't what it used to be. :)

As for publishing, each year I publish a small report in our last
newsletter of the year. It's a simple tally of income versus expenses,
with expenses in perhaps 6 categories. I also include stats for the
shelter about how many critters we took in an adopted out and so forth.
To be honest, no one has ever asked for any more detail than what I've
put out, so I haven't ever published anything more detailed, although
I could easily. Heck, after quickly removing donor's names (the only
information that I wouldn't make public), anyone could ask to see my
complete spreadsheet at any time. And I certainly wouldn't be upset
about being asked for financial records; in fact, I would be happy to
share with a supporter. After all, I always want to know where my money
is going when I donate!

I can't imagine asking publically for thousands of dollars of support -
no matter what it's for - without some sort of accounting of the
situation. And certainly none has been done to date with this DMK
situation. It astonishes me that Lori has stated that $19,000 has been
raised, yet absolutely no mention at all about where all that money has
gone, except that little list from her message. Has anyone asked for
Lori's accounting records for the year? Non profit records are supposed
to be available to the public on demand. ??? As I said, I would have to
take a minute or two to delete the column on the Excel sheet that shows
a donor's name, but otherwise I have our information ready to go for
any inquiry.

I'll refer to another post, the long one from 12/03/07 FML: excellent
points raised in this post and I was thinking some of the exact same
things...

Hired help? Did I read that correctly? Lori hired people to work and
paid them with donated money? Are you kidding me? Well that's an
entirely new can of worms for this Shelter with IRS reporting, as now
they have to deal with having employees. I just can't imagine anyone
who donated was expecting to PAY people for helping to care for the
ferrets. Who on earth would be qualified to care for the ferrets that
wouldn't volunteer and demanded to be PAID? Egads.

When I heard about this situation we were in no position to take a
group of ferrets. I did have about 15 cages that I could have sent in a
pinch, were they needed for an emergency. A few months ago a now closed
Shelter north of us had offered us a dozen or so cages. I never heard
anything more about that until I was contacted by someone arranging a
transport that was travelling past us on the way to Linx. Apparently
those cages that were to be donated to our rescue were on their way to
Lynx, and more room was available on the truck (that individuals paid
for, drove, etc...just another serious expenditure of resource for this
DMK effort). I tried to make arrangements with the transporter but we
just couldn't connect. Good thing, because a couple of days after they
made that trip, I caught a message that said no further cages were
needed. You bet I would have been pissed had I sent the cages only to
hear word a couple of days later they weren't needed, 'cause I reckon
they wouldn't have been brought back to us! So what happened to the
tonnage of supplies that were sent to Lynx? Did the Shelters who picked
up ferrets take cages and such, etc?

Again from Lori's list:
water
electric
plumbing for water faucet

Um, for those of you who don't happen to run a 501(c)(3) organization
(snicker): any construction or modification is not a Shelter expense,
it's a home improvement. Our Shelter is in our home. If we were to add
a sink in a ferret room, it is NOT a Shelter expense - it's a home
improvement expense. Believe me, we could really use a new floor in the
ferret room - but when we put one in, it's out expense - NOT a Shelter
expense. Non-profits don't function the same as a home business. While
you can deduct your home office expenses from your home bills, you
CANNOT deduct for a non-profit. We host the Shelter out of the goodness
of our heart, period, so says the IRS. I think this IRS rule is because
otherwise I could declare my home the Church of the Almighty Ferret and
deduct everything. ;)~ The IRS is very specific about this...so add
that to the fact the Shelter now has paid employees and they're going
to have to file a return this year - and it's going to have to be very
detailed.

You know, if I wasn't familiar with this situation (as much as
possible, since information is so sparse), after reading Lori's message
I would be thinking that her Shelter has had $33,000 in expenses -
when we all know that's not remotely true. And I've yet to see any
information about what Shelters took ferrets, how many, what their
vet costs will be, how much help the Shelter needs, etc. I would have
expected, since Shelters across the country busted ass to help these
ferrets, that once they were gone Lori would have refocused her efforts
into seeing those Shelters supported - as she expected the ferret
community to support her!

The other thing that bothers me is the initial circumstances for this
rescue. Now from the message I referenced I see that $7000-9000 was
initially spent to get the ferrets? I must say I assumed that figure
was far lower. Something about paying a feed bill for a short period of
time while the ferrets were being moved out...? But $7000-9000?!? I'm
glad I didn't send any money. Even if every dime had been accounted
for, I just cannot agree with paying that much to the McKay's. You see,
I'm in the Detroit area. Ferrets have been legal since 1994, which
means lots of folks went to Ohio to get ferrets before that time. We've
met many people who got ferrets from McKay over the years...including
one friend who got ferrets there more than 20 years ago. We have long
known the conditions at that place; they've been the same for as long
as anyone we know who's been there can remember.

This is a sad situation that will indeed be bad publicity for the
reputable Shelters out there. It also may affect our ability to
raise money in the future. But this situation is it's own unique
circumstance. Surely other Shelters who have to deal with crisis (say
the "regular" crisis of 50 backyard breeder ferrets, which would be a
tough challenge for most of us) can do a much better job and regain
the public trust about asking for help with emergency situations.

I'm glad to hear people finally speaking up about this mess - and I
must say, I think it's long overdue.

Nanci
Motor City Ferrets
www.motorcityferrets.org 

[Posted in FML 5810]