A couple of days ago, someone mentioned that they wanted to open up their
own ferret shelter.  I applaud you for wanting to extend yourself to a
worthy and noble cause...
 
There are, however, some cautions I would like to bring forth for anyone
interested in opening and running their own shelter.  Some of you who
already run and operate a shelter may find some of these things are
happening in your neck of the woods, so perhaps you can relate.  If you
have other things to offer, please feel free to bring up anything I may
have missed and post it here.
 
Start Up Funding: It is imperative that no one start up a shelter without
first having a nest egg from which to withdraw from.  Once the word is out
that you have a shelter, the surrenders will come.  By listing yourself
as a shelter, it will be assumed that you will have the ways and means to
provide care where others could not, and this includes emergency medical
care.  I understand that some shelters have started from scratch, with no
funds, straight from home, with no help and literally nothing to start
with, but somehow you survived.  I don't disagree that these situations
can't happen... but we have to be realistic and understand that not
everyone will succeed this way.  We have only to read here on the FML
the number of shelters that close annually.  Don't let yours be one of
them... be prepared.
 
Continuous Cash Flow: In order to keep your shelter operating, there has
to be a continuous cash flow.  Fundraising is the best way to do so, but
if you are a small shelter, it may be impossible.  Larger shelters have
the advantage of having a large membership base, and therefore a large
number of people to use as volunteers, and thus, a great way to cover a
large part of a city if they are spread about strategically.  Smaller
shelters have to be more cunning in bringing funds to their organization.
I suggest trying to create an alliance with other small shelters (cat,
bird, reptile..  whatever) and join forces.  The money issue will have to
be discuss in how to split it, but if it can be worked out, you'll have a
good place to start.  Or better yet, try to get a company to sponsor you
for the first few months in exchange for advertising.
 
Keeping Accurate Books: Nothing makes a shelter look bad than not opening
the books to its members, or to people who want to make a donation, but
would like to see how your shelter is run.  Keep accurate and up to date
records.  Make sure you separate your own personal expenses from the
shelter ones.  Keeping accurate books will also give you a basis of
understanding, and a way to budget for future months once you have some
time behind you.  There will, of course, be good months and bad months,
but if you can budget appropriately, the good months idealistically
should carry you through the bad ones.  Idealistically...
 
Having Appropriate Space: Bob Church once talked about how some shelters
are doing a disservice to caged ferrets by stacking them in small rooms.
This was based on the ferret's strong sense of smell, and not being able
to get away from other ferrets as they were always in close proximity with
each other.  I am severely condensing his presentation and certainly not
giving it justice, but the long and short of it is, if you do not have the
room to house ferrets, you will need to find a place that can.  Personally
speaking, I hate caging ferrets and I hate seeing them caged.  I have seen
over the years the difference in attitudes that freeroam and caged ferrets
exude.  I have also seen and been witness to, strictly single ferrets
well integrated into a large group.  For anyone wanting to run a shelter,
please, please, please consider, using cages only for bedding, hammocks
and food stations, and giving them rooms to run about in all day.  If this
is not possible, then you should be at least providing large enough cages
that allow some proper exercise with ample bedding.  You will also need a
quarantine room, a storage room for extra cages, and a spare refrigerator
for medicines, food and other items.
 
Getting Help: Volunteers are the basis for the success or failure of any
shelter.  Try to get as many people to volunteer as possible.  Having one
or two do all the work only ends up making them overworked, overly tired,
under appreciated, and generally useful for only short periods of time.
The more people you can get to share the work load, the easier it will be.
 
Become an Organization: Okay... your volunteers are growing, your club
membership is growing, the number of ferrets coming in monthly is steadily
increasing.... It's time to put things into perspective.  There needs
to be a leader chosen who can balance the needs of the ferrets with the
growth of the organization.  A true leaders can delegate work effectively,
and place trust in those who will say they do the work.  Individuals who
want to do the work of many are not only defeating themselves, but they
are doing the ferrets a disservice by wearing themselves thin.  Every
organization has to start somewhere... start with the individuals who
have proven themselves to get the work done, and then progressively
expand.
 
Rotate all Positions/Duties on a Regular Basis: It is important to realize
that everyone has an opinion, and everyone has a way of doing things.  By
rotating positions, it gives everyone who is interested in being a part
of a shelter, the opportunity to see how all areas are run.  Each set
position should have a person in training that will take over when the
rotation is set to move on.  The trainee becomes the lead person, who
then takes the next trainee to place under his or her wing, and so on.
This is an effective way to keep an organization on its feet.
 
Create a Mission Statement: Your organization needs to stand for
something.  Make a list of all the things you want your shelter to be
known for and use them as a guide to flesh out your goals.  This
statement can be as long or as short as you want, but it should reflect
what you want the shelter to be known for.
 
Create A Policy Book: Too often, policy is written on the fly, as a
situation is deemed or needed.  It is only when things happen down the
road that these quick decisions come back to haunt those that made them
too eagerly.  Policy needs to be based on the mission statement and each
policy needs to be reviewed on a regular basis.  Policy is often based in
emotion and by the people who are writing them.  The problem is that as
your shelter grows, your membership and volunteer base will grow and
change too.  Policies need to reflect growth.  Policies should never be
based on personal biases.  What may be good for one person, may not be
good for another.  Always refer back to your list of goals whenever
writing policy... it could save you heartache in the long run.
 
Check Your Ego At the Door: No organization will run for very long if
the goals are not kept in check.  It is important to realize that
contributions come from many places and not just from one or two people.
The last thing you want to do is alienate the very people you will be
needing help from and that means keeping ego's in check.  If you join or
create a shelter so that your efforts in the ferret community will be
recognized, or to gain the spotlight, you are definitely in it for the
wrong reasons.  Most shelters spring up because of need and because
select people wanted to make life better for unwanted, or abused ferrets.
If your recognition is more important than them, then you need to find
something else to do.  For the sake of the shelter, if a person is deemed
to be wanting pats on the back all the time for a job well done, it is
time to give the position to another person and move on.
 
Did I miss anything?
 
betty and her blur o'fur
for the love of ferrets...
missing Bella
[Posted in FML issue 3717]