So many shelters are in the same predicament as Ferrets Unlimited - not enough cash coming in- We too struggle with the same- we have done bake sales, dollar drives, letters to supporters, selling stuff on Cafe Press, sponsor a critter campaigns, all that and more- plus we do the animal shows for a donation as well- Still we have huge outstanding bills with the vet, have to choose whether to pay the electric bill or buy supplies some months, and yes even have to turn away animals (but never in an emergency- if a landlord calls and there are ferrets abandoned in an apt and they will be put down if we don't come get em- then oh yeah we will get them!) Anyway this line of discussion reminded me of a suggestion someone posted once perhaps on this list or another- i cant be sure - but it was to have everyone pick a shelter and send them 1$ each month - if that happened & all 2,000+ people on this one list alone did it it can make the difference for many many shelters- and of course send the same email to other ferret lists across the country- it could add up to literally hundreds of thousands potentially But I think in order to be successful it would need to be an organized situation- Maybe have a monthly reminder email to the list asking for just 1$ to be sent ( via post or email - such as paypal) to a central organizer ( perhaps SOS?) and they have a number of shelters ( 20? It would depend on the total number of currently operating shelters listed) designated each month to split the proceeds with them keeping some for their operating expenses - perhaps receiving shelters would need to send a note of interest so that they can be confirmed as current- and this is important too- i believe that every shelter participating should also commit to sending in a dollar every month as well- it sounds alsmost like a pyramid thing- but if each shelter sends in 12$ per year and recieves even say 200$ during their designated month it would be a winning combination- of course the oganizing group ( SOS or someone else with a 501c3) would need to send the monthly notice reminding folks to send their dollar at the beginning of the month, and then at the end of the month send a notice as to how much was taken in and who it went to- then have success stories of shelters that were able to stay afloat etc bc of this program- and it would be no financial burden on anyone - a dollar a month is something nearly everyone can commit to- i think ti would jsut take that concentrated effort and organization to make this really work for everyone- if we had our 501c3 i'd offer to coordinate- but we are still waiting- however we did hear from the irs that we should get it within the next few weeks- yippee!!!- but i would also be more than happy to help in any way with the implementation & operation of such a program- Please let me know what anyone thinks of the idea and who may want to help get it started etc- I am cross posting this on FML and American Ferrets for now to see what kind of support it gets - Thanks!! Beth www.crittercamp.biz [Posted in FML 5474]