Honestly, unless you give to the SOS, does anyone know where their funds are going? I very rarely ask for money directly for that reason, I ask people to purchase ferret related items that they would normally purchase from a large chain store. If you would rather give to Corporate American then a shelter, go for it. This way, if I am not doing what I am suppose to be doing, then you still go an item you normally would have purchased anyway. I ask people on my web page, if they are donating cash, please send it directly to my vet with my shelter name in the memo section. This way, they have the piece of mind, that the money is going to what I said it was going for. I also supply references on my web page of people who have been here and have adopted. Not many shelters do this. I did asked for money this last time for postage. I DO have receipts to back up that the items were shipped. Anyone can see them. Anyone can see my current vet bill also. All you do is simply have to ask.......... This is a concern across the board, not just with my shelter. Does any large organization asking for money do what I want with money I donate, or do they pay high paid executives to run their organization? Either way, my vet bill MUST be paid and payments must be made on a monthly basis. I have my vet information out there for all to see. Anyone can call my vet to find out whether or not I have an account with them. If I don't fundraise and make money, the payment that month must come out of my pocket. I can't stiff the vet. If I don't have money for woodpellets, food or medical supplies, that money has got to come from somewhere, guess where, our home account. If we have a Ferret emergency and the funds are not there, I have to pay for the issue some how. Small shelters put alot of money out of their own pockets, far more then any of the donations or sale of their items that they make or buy. I currently have 37 ferrets in my shelter right now, I would have to adopt each one out at $100 each (yes even the 6-7 year olds) in order to even remotely break even right now. This is far from a Money making adventure.....and any small shelter will tell you that! I left the group because frankly, no matter what I said, it was not good enough. That is how alot of people operate. Guilty until proven innocent. And honestly, I have ferrets who need me, I can't spend hours after hours defending myself to people who have never met me nor do they have a clue as to who I am. You can even tell me what my house looks like, so how can you say I am not using the funds where I said I am. I certainly do take lavish vacations, or live a lavish lifestyle. We don't even have $2500 right now to fix my husband car. We like alot of shelter parents live paycheck to paycheck. And HONESTY, IT IS DOWNRIGHT INSULTING for anyone to think that we (meaning small shelters) take donations and use them for other things. People are constantly having to defend themselves on these boards. It is just sickening. It is such a waste of time, and so many people have left the ferret community because of it. People who are GOOD people. What this all boils down to is that you simply do not know me/or others you question, and you are passing judgments BEFORE getting to know me/or others. Get to know someone BEFORE passing judgment.............You maybe surprised, you might like them. I work very hard at fundraising. When I decided to start my shelter, and knew I could not obtain 501c(3) status. I took $2000 that I had from a previous "money making business" and invested it into ferret related products to sell at shows. This initial investment is what I use to purchase bedding, yarn to make eggs, and a whole host of items to sell. I take the profits I earn from each show, put that on my bill at Horsham and the initial investment gets reinvested for the next show. This works for me and keeps my shelter going. Do I have money in my shelter account, yeah $6.00 if that. $4.00 in my shelter paypal account. And guess what, I need to buy woodpellets today because I have no more bags left. Guess where that money is coming from............ I rescue this simply because I love ferrets.........Not to become a Millionaire. Marguerite From TinyPrints Ferret Rescue Life is not how many breaths you take, but how many times it takes your breath away... TinyPrints Ferret Rescue PetFinder Web Page http://www.tinyprintsontheheart.petfinder.org TinyPrints Ferret Rescue Store http://www.tinyprintsontheheart.com/onlinestore.htm Aloha Ferrets Ebay Store http://stores.ebay.com/Aloha-Ferrets-Store [Posted in FML issue 5006]