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]