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HORSE NON-PROFIT RESOURCES - CREDENTIALS & PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

HORSE NON-PROFIT RESOURCES - ADVERTISING & MARKETING

HORSE NON-PROFIT FUNDRAISING 

HORSE NON-PROFIT VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT

On This Page

Equine Non-Profit Agencies - Industry Overview 

Getting Started Rescue - Specific Manuals  Legal Non-Profit Entity Filing with Your Secretary of State

Business Plan

Taxes

Liability Insurance Director and Officer Liability Insurance

Property & Casualty Insurance  Care Custody and Control Insurance 

Summer Camp Insurance

Workers Compensation, Critical Illness, Disability, or Key Man Insurance and Pet Trusts

Banking, Financing

Accounting and Business Management Tools  Horse Record Keeping Tools

Accounting Software for Non-Profit Organizations  Fund Accounting Software

Service Statistics Recordkeeping and Reports State and National Statistics and Reports

Board of Directors 

Officers

Succession Planning and Founder/Executive Director Retirement 403(b) Plans / Tax-Sheltered Accounts (TSAs) Roth 403(b) Plans

Other Employee Benefits (Health Insurance, Vacations, Career Development, Retirement) Expense Reimbursement

Scheduling Tools, Communication, and Software

Barn Management Tools Horse Record Keeping Tools  Meeting Coordination Tools

Event Planning 

Safety, Emergency, and Disaster Planning Security as Safety Fire Prevention

Public Relations and Publicity Free Publicity Crisis Management

Corporate and Other Partnerships

Cost-Savings Environmental Stewardship and Community Relevance

Other Resources 

NEWS FLASH-OUR 2008 Best Humane Business Innovation Award went to the National Black Farmers Association for Project Wanted Horse

Equine Non-Profit Agencies — Industry Overview            (Top of Page)

The last decade from 1998 to 2008 has witnessed a phenomenal increase in non-profit horse-related organizations.  Beginning with hippotherapy centers and boarding and vocational schools that offered Equine Studies programs, and culminating in the recent rise in horse rescue and adoption facilities, trail riding clubs, and mounted law enforcement agencies, this segment of the horse community has become a force to be taken seriously.  That is, the valuable services these groups provide, and the large horse population of which they are a segment (the 60% not involved in breeding, racing, showing, or farm/ranch work) have garnered the attention of manufacturers and retailers of equine products and services.  These vendors follow closely the economic and industry trends and best practices of other North American businesses.  Providers of everything from liability insurance to feed supplements and farriery services and online classified ad sites now count non-profit agencies among their customers.  This increase in equine-related non-profits fits into an overall trend of the growth of the non-profit sector of the American economy:

Equine-related non-profit agencies have yet to receive much attention from traditional non-profit horse groups, namely breeding associations and racing, show, rodeo, and auction services, equine industry and farm and ranch political action groups, and their service providers, who remain focused on the horse production industry's needs and goals.  That horse industry works within a ten-year lifespan of the horse that harks back to a pre-internal combustion engine business model, and is unable to grasp the reality of the modern horse's 25-35 year lifespan, the totally transformed roles and needs of both the over age 10 horse, and the horse owning population that maintains one or many.  Consequently, the two disparate horse communities are at loggerheads in a mutual blame game that is unlikely to evolve into cooperation and mutual success any time soon.  The "old" horse community intractably follows formulas that are several generations out-of-date, while the "new" horse community, unfettered by how great-grandfather did it, embraces modernity without understanding how to communicate effectively with the old industry that continues to depend on a New Deal Depression Era economic model of government subsidies and short horse life spans. 

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of horses have found a purpose and/or a respite with horse non-profit facilities.  Here, we intend to serve those horses, donkeys, mules, and people.

Further, the horse industry and the horse owning community, are far behind other business sectors and social or sports communities in embracing environmental concerns — the other fastest growing non-profit sector and now one of the criteria many people consider when evaluating charities to give time as a volunteer or money as a donor. 

Additionally, both groups, producers and owners, remain well behind their non-equine counterparts in using business tools of any kind; accounting software, marketing tools, sales and client management tools, to manage their commercial and non-profit horse businesses.  This is not surprising, but it means many equine non-profits founded by non-horse professionals lack horse expertise, and those founded by horse professionals tend to lack business expertise, even if they had a commercial equine-related business.  Most would-be farmers and ranchers in other agricultural enterprises take more college business courses than do most would-be horse professionals, and the courses offered to them or required of them tend to be more substantial than the industry "surveys" typical of the Equine Science programs.  (For some Eq. Sci. programs that offer meaty business courses, visit the Horse Non-Profit Credentials and Professional Associations page.) The vast majority of horse professionals have little or no formal business or technology training. 

If you are not depressed or dissuaded yet, take heart!  If you already have solid non-profit or for-profit business management experience, as well as the specific skills for rescue or equine-assisted activities, and a driving passion for your cause, you can succeed.  If have passion, but you don't have much business or fundraising experience, you can acquire these skills.  There is a great deal of help available, and many tools for non-profits.  

As you explore the Del Camino website, you will find helpful inexpensive books, links to useful websites and internet tools, and much more.  Also, more webinars and online courses are offered every month as the technology improves, more schools embrace eLearning, more businesses market their products by educating their customers, and more people have more powerful PCs and high-speed internet access to be able to take advantage of them.  This is a tremendous boon to equine operations of all sorts, because caring for horses is a 365 day, more than dawn to dusk job, and small businesses are always time-challenged.  The ability to take advantage of "hurry up and wait time" to learn, or to do so after hours, is a long-awaited benefit for equine entrepreneurs and charities.

Del Camino helps non-profit horse facilities and services find timely information that benefits their program and success.  We want to see horse sanctuaries and retirement stables grow and prosper. We would like horse rescues to be well-operated and fully supported by their local communities.  The benefits of horseback riding to humans is a well-established fact, and the therapeutic benefits to individuals, and cultural benefits to the wider society, mean every effort should be expended to develop viable humane businesses that use well-trained, good tempered, well-seasoned horses. It can be done.

The challenges to equine non-profits include virtually all of the concerns of commercial training and boarding barns, and then some.  After carefully considering how to best aid the efforts of horse non-profits in our own community and on a regional and national level, we determined that simply donating time and money to specific agencies would spread us too thinly with too little impact.  We also discovered that, due to several highly-charged political issues surrounding the horse industries, obtaining truly relevant and helpful information, in print or online, required vast time commitments that busy horsepeople simply cannot afford.  They are too busy delivering equine-assisted therapy. fund-raising, training volunteers, mucking stalls, trying to buy hay, or advertising an adoptable horse.  Finally, we noticed that all the publicity given to the horse slaughter issue in recent years has prompted many people who do not have small business, horsekeeping, or non-profit experience to start a horse rescue.  Most of these people are competent, successful individuals from other career experiences who have enjoyed owning their own horse, and felt a call to action.  We commend them, but notice there is virtually no professional organization or safety net to guide or support them.  Once they acquire their first rescued horse, juggling all the aspects of a horse non-profit and daily horsekeeping can quickly spiral out of control, leading to emotional and physical burnout, or failure.  This just should not happen in a country where 70% of a 330 million person population has a love affair with the horse, and the brightest, most innovative, most successful business and charitable minds on the planet are available!  We realized that providing a central clearinghouse of helpful information could benefit all.

Our non-profit horse businesses — whether they are residential ranches for at-risk youth, therapeutic riding centers, horse retirement sanctuaries, or natural disaster large animal rescuers — are competing with over 1 million other charities in the United States of America for donors, sponsors, volunteers, publicity, fundraiser buyers, grants and business-to-business discounts and co-branding opportunities.  At Del Camino, we believe our equine-related non-profits need all the help they can get to succeed and thrive.  In this way we hope to help thousands of horses, not just one or two.

More than 16% of nonprofit organizations that filed IRS Form 990 during the 1997 time period failed to file in 2002. This implies that they either dropped below the $25,000 filing threshold or went out of business (National Center for Charitable Statistics, 2002). Lack of funding is the main cause of this high failure rate, just as many for -profits fail in  their first five years due to lack of capital or poor sales.  But also like commercial enterprises, research shows it is not the onlye reason.  Leadership and management failure is a pervasive cause of nonprofit failure (Norris-Tirrell, Dorothy Anne, 1992). Today, government entities depend more and more on the nonprofit sector for social service delivery and animal welfare.  Our equine-related nonprofit organizations must be prepared to efficiently and effectively serve their communities. Capacity building strengthens every facet of an organization so that it can function to the best of its ability.

We saw many economic, social, political, and regulatory factors converging to adversely affect the horse and non-profit communities begin lightly in 2005, ramp up in 2006, and virtually cascade in 2009.  None of those conditions show any signs of abating, but rather, worsening. That doesn't mean equine non-profits cannot start, and be successful — but, like the now famous companies and charities that began during The Great Depression and The New Deal, they need to be smart, and take advantage of modern business best practices and communication and operational technologies.  New horse charities need to build capacity from the beginning.  Existing charities can no longer coast on business models and management styles that enabled "mom and pop" outfits to "get by" in the 90's.  Costs and competition for funding are rising, at the same time the need for the non-profit's services by the horses and people is also increasing.

Del Camino strives to assist each equine-related charity that it encounters with building its capacity to achieve its mission. We are here to help you and your board with developing and sustaining your organization. We realize that your communities and horses depend on you for life-saving and life-enhancing services. Let us help you touch lives and make a difference!

If you think we are on the right or wrong track, please give us your feedback.

We dedicate our work to a few of many beloved Del Camino horses:  Freckles, who left us at age 43, Miss Cricket, who delighted children until age 38, Captain Oliver "Ollie" who fought Cushing's until age 32, reliable confidence-building Jordan, who lived to 28, Brandy's Prince, and Smokey, both of whom had Cushing's which caused laminitis at age 26, and dear JJ Kahnsquest, the little Arabian whose giant heart failed him at 24.

Thank you for having graced our lives, and taught so many people the joy of horsemanship.

How This Non-Profit Resource Section Works          (Top of Page)

We update this section of our website fairly often, so we recommend you return regularly.  Why not add this page to your browser's Favorites list?  Doing so does not cause us to send you junk mail.

Getting Started                       (Top of Page)

An excellent checklist of the steps for starting a non-profit is available from the Society for Non-Profit Organizations (SNPO).

Rescue - Specific Manuals

How to Start and Run A Rescue, A Guide to Starting and Running a Successful Rescue Organization, by Jennifer Williams, Ph.D.  Dr. Williams is Founder and President of Blue Bonnet Equine Humane Society in Texas and writes from experience.  A highly respected leader in the field, Dr. Williams is both inspirational and practical.

Both of these next two resources provide useful perspectives, and address important issues.

Guidelines for Establishing a Horse Rescue Facility is a manual produced by Days End Horse Rescue Farm of Woodbine, Maryland, and their founder, Kathleen Schwartz-Howe.  This acclaimed rescue, started in 1989, knows how to develop a sustainable community resource. The sale of the book is a fund-raiser, available exclusively from the rescue website. http://www.defhr.org/news/rescue.htm

HorseNet "Horse Rescue Getting Started Guide" in .PDF form. rescue_startup.pdf

Legal Non-Profit Entity                                                                 (Top of Page)                    

You've got to "get your ducks in a row."  Some people are daunted by the effort and steps needed to put their passions into action.  Others seek practical step-by-step advice then "just do it."  This book explains how in an organized fashion that works for virtually all types of non-profit entities.  If you are serious about starting an equine non-profit, invest in this book before you go any further.

Not ready to get started, but want to explore and become a little more informed first?  Then read the available free information from these web-based legal do-it-yourself services.

FindLaw has a nice one page checklist of what is involved, regardless of state, in forming a non-profit corporation.

  Non-Profit Corporation Overview http://www.legalzoom.com/non-profits/non-profit-corporation-overview.html

BizFilings is a direct competitor of Legal Zoom for start-up businesses and non-profits.  Besides providing the forms and stepped procedures, and completing filing and posting notices, Use BizFilings Fast Quote to get an idea of your total filing costs including state filing fees.

Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury.  Information, forms, and state links for Non-Profit organizations and charities.

What kind of non-profit will your organization be?  National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) codes are used to classify non-profit organizations recognized as tax exempt under the Internal Revenue Code. The NTEE code provides a standardized classification for describing the vast range of non-profit organizations.

A list of codes is available from the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) or you can view or download the code list in a PDF document here .

Idealist.org has a pithy short blog post on filing your 990's in May with the IRS, and changes to the procedures. 

Former IRS auditor Sandy Deja helps clients file their own Form 1023 Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) via her website  form1023help.com and book, Prepare Your Own 501(c)(3) Application .  Ms. Deja also offers a companion book via her website that is specifically for Animal Welfare non-profit groups.  It helps you prepare the narrative and budget sections of the Form 1023 and provides relevant sample I.R.S. rulings. Supplement for Animal Welfare Organizations by Sandy Deja, copyright 2007 ISBN 0-9724644-4-1 48  pages.

NEW!  On January 3, 2010 the I.R.S. user fees to apply for tax exemption status will increase.  If your organization's gross receipts average less than $10,000 per year the fee will be $400.  Those with average gross receipts over that amount will pay $850 to file.  If and when the I.R.S. Cyber Assistant becomes available for electronic form completion later in 2010, the fee for that method of filing will be $200. Forms completed with the help of the Cyber Assistant must still be printed out and submitted in the usual way; but special bar-coding on the printed form will alert the IRS that the applicant is eligible for the reduced user fee. This modernization step may eventually improve the delays in rulings due to the I.R.S. backlog. 

Filing with Your Secretary of State

Register your non-profit organization with the state. You need to do this after you incorporate and receive your IRS Letter of Determination that you are a non-profit.  The Secretary of State then registers you to lawfully collect donations.  It may also be the Secretary of State who issues your tax-exempt status or license for purchases.  Contact the Secretary of State (Corporate Division) and in most states, the  Attorney General (Charities Division). You may be required to re-file annually, or at periodic intervals, such as every five years, depending on your state's law.

NOTE:  Do not solicit donations until you have completed this step without legal and professional tax advice!  In some states it is not allowed.  Also, in the unlikely event your  request for  non-profit tax exempt status is  declined by the IRS, you will be liable for taxes on the donations as income.  You should also post your IRS Letter of Determination, and your State Non-Profit Filing on your website, and after your first IRS 990 (Non-Profit Tax Return) filing, in future years, your two (or more) most recent 990s as .PDFs (Adobe Acrobat portable document files.)

TIP:  If you got ahead of yourself and already have horses to feed, or do not want to miss a season of activity, or a fundraising opportunity for much needed seed money, you may be able to partner with a similar equine non-profit as a satellite under their umbrella temporarily.  With the average filing taking 6 to 8 months for approval in 2009, founders of new equine charities that need to hurry can explore this option.  It complicates things, of course, to set up an arrangement for another charity to receive donations on your behalf,  but occasionally that is an option that works.    

Business Plan                                                                 (Top of Page)

Every business, even a non-profit, needs a business plan.  No matter how small and part-time your start-up enterprise, no matter how well established, you need a plan that is refreshed every year with new information.  If you look for help from a lender, a large donor, or a government body, your application begins with either the business plan or elements from it.  It helps you stay on track, and helps choose the right course when you must make adjustments.

This program can step you through the process, or you can contact us for guidelines, step-by-step mentoring, research, and brainstorming for an initial or updated plan.

 If you are like most people and need help staying on target and moving from Step 1 to Step 2 until finally you have accomplished something, then the book "Getting Things Done" is for you.  Forming an equine non-profit is a big task, made up of many small parts.  To accomplish it, find a system for organizing those small parts and tackling them that works for you.  Then the next thing you know, you will have moved from dreaming of doing something meaningful to having done it.  Wouldn't that be grand?

Also see Service Statistics Recordkeeping and Reports and State and National Statistics and Reports on this page for resources to obtain factual information you need for your Business Plan, subsequent Marketing Plan, and fundraising efforts.

Taxes                                                                                                            (Top of Page)

One of the time-consuming hassles of any business enterprises is taxes and corporation commission reports, and this is true for an equine non-profit as well as commercial business.  You will have to file federal and state income tax returns, annual corporate reports, federal and state payroll taxes, file social security annual reports and pay and report quarterly and annual unemployment insurance and workers compensation insurance reports if you pay even one person (yourself, for example!) and, if you sell items to raise money, sales taxes in many states.  If you do not keep good records of donations, payroll, cash disbursements, and follow the Internal Revenue Service rules for the receipts you give donors, you can lose your non-profit tax-exempt status, and be subject to fines or penalties.  Welcome to the wonderful world of red tape!

The main report is your annual 990, or federal tax return, which must be open to public inspection for 3 years after the filing due date if you are a public charity.  As of 2008, if your receipts are $25,000 or less per year, and your assets are $250,000 or less, you will file the EZ version online.  Still, you must do it on time, and you must have good records that could be audited to do it.  You may have to file other forms as your non-profit grows.  For example, as of 2008, charities with receipts less than $5,000 do not have to file form 1023, just their 990-EZ.

One of the tests of a non-profit public charity, as opposed to a private foundation, that the IRS expects you to prove you meet each year is the public support test.  This means that one third of your income must come from government sources or private donations.  Clearly, proper bookkeeping is necessary to show sources of revenue properly when you file your returns.

Here's the IRS .PDF for non-profit taxpayers.

Non-Profit Business Insurance                              (Top of Page)

Liability Insurance

Incorporation helps to protect your personal assets and credit from losses incurred by your equine rescue, retirement farm or therapeutic riding program, up to a point.  This protection is called the corporate "veil."  However, it is possible for individuals and companies to take legal action against your non-profit to seek, and possibly be awarded monetary damages for mistakes made or harm done to horses, property, or people.  In America today, civil lawsuits are one of the major factors driving up the costs of just about everything, healthcare being one of the most publicized.  If you open your doors to the public, even as a not-for-profit, you are vulnerable, and if the Executive Director or Board of Directors can be found to have mismanaged or failed to perform their duty, the "corporate veil" can be pierced.  That means they can be held personally liable sometimes.  Consequently, you owe it to your horses to obtain equine liability insurance for the type of operation you have, whether boarding, rescue, or therapeutic riding lessons and hippotherapy.  Being wiped out financially by a lawsuit, no matter how frivolous, even if you finally are vindicated, can leave them stranded. 

Sometimes liability insurance is available at a reduced rate if you belong to a professional association.  For example, therapeutic riding centers that belong to NARHA are eligible for discounted insurance through the major equine underwriter, Markel Insurance, because they receive educational materials and standards as members that improves the likelihood they will operate in a manner that lowers the risk to the insurance company.  For some businesses, including many non-profits, the reduced premiums of general liability insurance is one of the major benefits of their annual dues.

Horsemen's United Association, Inc. general liability insurance for non-profit horse associations that put on horse shows, clinics, rodeos, trail rides, events, etc.

Volunteer Liability Statutes, General Overview by nationally recognized Equine Liability Law expert and author Julie Fertshman, Esq.

Sample Volunteer Liability Release Form from HorseNet Horse Rescue in Maryland in .PDF format.

Director and Officer Liability Insurance

Include Directors' and Officers' (or D & O) insurance in your liability policy if your can afford it. D & O liability insurance is necessary to protect your board members' assets under some circumstances when the "corporate veil" of your non-profit is pierced.  For an excellent explanation of the increasing need for D&O insurance, and why a member of your board's personal umbrella liability policy and the non-profit's own liability policy can leave holes, visit the page of the Charity Lawyer blog.

Property & Casualty Insurance                                                         (Top of Page)

If your home, car, and other valuables are insured against loss or damage, so too must be the assets of your equine non-profit operation.  If you are using your personal property at home on your private farm or ranch to get started, check with your insurance agent or read your policy to see if any of the equipment or supplies of the non-profit are covered.  There's a very good chance they are not, and you will need separate insurance for the non-profit, with an appropriate deductible.  While the recent Farm Bill that passed in Congress provides disaster relief grants and low-interest loans to horse breeders in addition to FEMA assistance available to homeowners and small businesses, horse non-profits do not qualify for any of the extra special taxpayer funded help given to livestock producers and racetracks.  Not only would you stand in line for emergency assistance with other homeowners and small businesses after a disaster, but none of these government disaster relief programs help in the case of a single barn fire, or tack room theft.  Can you afford to be wiped out of the equipment and feed you have stored, or pay to board elsewhere while repairs are made?  

Once you have insurance in case of fire, theft, vandalism or storm (or in some areas, flood) you need to document your non-profit's property and keep these records in a secure off-site location.  Don't forget to update them at least annually.

Care Custody and Control Insurance                                               (Top of Page)

If you lease some of your donated horses at a therapeutic riding center from their owners, you may need care, custody and control insurance similar to that carried by boarding and retirement stables to protect you if something happens to the horse.  Check with your equine insurance agent, if you cannot tell from reading your general liability policy. 

Summer Camp Insurance                                                                     (Top of Page)

If you have equine facility or event insurance for therapeutic horseback riding, equine-facilitated learning, board and care at a retirement farm or sanctuary, or general liability for a horse rescue, you do not necessarily have insurance for operating a summer camp for adults or children, whether a day camp or overnight one.  Check your policy and contact your agent.  Virtually every company requires you to answer a Camp Supplement Questionnaire to deal with such issues as food service, sanitation, risky side activities such as trampolines or swimming, and how you ensure children are not collected by unauthorized people at the end of the session.  Based on the number of days or weeks you offer the camp, the number of participants, the activities, the food or snacks, and the training and experience of the personnel conducting the camp, a "rider" to your regular policy can be issued for an extra premium to cover your camp operations.  It is extremely helpful if the counselors and instructors who conduct the camp also work with your horses at your facility the rest of the year, as opposed to hiring someone just for the season who must get up to speed.

Workers Compensation, Critical Illness, Disability, or Key Man Insurance and Pet Trusts

When you start a business, whether profit or non-profit, that involves horsekeeping, you absolutely must have a funded plan for continuing daily operations for months if something happens to the key personnel.  Some of the worst horse neglect cases we have seen in recent years involving multiple horses were the result of a stable operator becoming sick, injured, or unable to work due to a disaster.  With no income, hay could not be purchased, hooves could not be trimmed, necessary veterinary care could not be given, utilities were cut off.  With no money to hire a stable hand to do chores, or a temporary trainer to work horses and give lessons, income further plummeted, the horse trailer was repossessed, and the mortgage was often foreclosed.  The result, abandoned horses without food and water.  Ninety-six percent (96%) of households in the U.S. would not survive 6 weeks financially if the primary wage earner was sick and unable to work.  Serious illnesses such as heart attack, stroke, and cancer strike people as young as 30, men and women alike.  These illnesses not only require medical bills to be paid, which most people buy health insurance to cover, but they normally require the person to be off the job for three to six months.  In other words, even if their medical bills are paid, their emergency fund or savings will not support their household budget for half their minimum recovery period.  If your business does not have three to six months worth of operating expenses available in liquid assets or a line of credit, you need some kind of catastrophic coverage.

Workers Compensation and Disability Insurance will cover up to 60% of the employee's after-tax earnings.  If the business operator is not paid a salary, or not paid a salary sufficient to cover his household budget (as is often the case with start-up small businesses) you may need Critical Illness or Key Man Insurance.  Further, Workers Compensation and Disability Insurance do nothing to protect the necessary operational expenses for the horses.

Investigate the costs of various types of coverage.  Budget for three to six months worth of expenses in the event all other sources of funding dry up or a natural disaster strikes, causing you to pay board for your horses relocated elsewhere while you apply for assistance and rebuild.  Then include the cost of appropriate necessary coverage in your annual budget. 

Obtaining coverage will also demonstrate your prudence and good business practices and proper responsibility to the horses entrusted to your care, for any entity considering contracting with you for services, or providing grant monies. 

Critical Illness Insurance Services articles.  

Pet Trusts Del Camino Quarterly Tip - Establishing a Pet Trust  can ensure that if something happens to you, the horses will be taken care of properly until a new manager can be obtained, or, if the non-profit will be dissolved, until they can all be placed in new homes.

Banking, Financing                                             (Top of Page)

Money.  No matter where it comes from or goes to, running any kind of equine operation means cash flowing in and out of checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, credit cards and lines of credit.  If you do your homework, you can establish a relationship with a bank that understands your needs.  That relationship can open the doors to many financial resources and advisors if you choose the right bank.

Are you willing to produce an agricultural product part-time on your horse operation?  If you have farm income of at least $500 per year or more, you are eligible for a wide range of home and farm related financing programs including loans for farm and land, operating expenses, loans and leases for farm equipment and vehicles, livestock and farm improvements, family expenses, equity lines of credit and more. Many farm programs apply for part time farmers.

Check out Farm Credit Services of Mid-America.

Will your equine non-profit locate in a rural setting on current or former farm or ranch land?  Are you purchasing land from a retiring farmer or rancher?  Are you willing to produce an agricultural product on some of the land, and consider yourself a beginner farmer with ten or less years of farming or ranching experience?  If so, you may benefit most from establishing your accounts with a bank that specializes in serving the agricultural community.  There are special federally supported lending programs for small farmers ($500 to $250,000 in sales), beginning farmers, and retirement transition programs to keep rural land productive as farmers retire and their heirs choose not to remain on the land. 

Farm Credit System Report: Young and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers 2006.pdf

Are you setting up shop in an urban or mixed urban/rural area that is being re-developed or is targeted for improvement?  Today many community banks have business banking and loan officers who are right on top of programs for Empowerment Zones.

A bank wants to see that you have a sound business plan, a reasonable budget, adequate skilled staff to manage the business and operational components of your non-profit, and risk management plans should problems arise.  It does not matter whether you just want a checking account for receiving donations and paying bills, a mortgage for some land, or a small line of credit guaranteed by your personal assets to get started.  Your management and entrepreneurial skills can impress a bank and inspire it to go out of its way to save you money and succeed, or they can write you off as well-meaning but small fry.  Banks large and small invest in their communities and gain goodwill that translates into business by doing so.  Banks have relationships throughout those communities.  Choose a bank that is as likely to be a good networking and educational resource as it is a place to use the ATM.

Accounting and Business Management Tools   (Top of Page)

Accounting Software for Non-Profit Organizations

Many accounting software developers offer accounting packages and accounting training CD's for free, or a nominal administration and shipping fee to non-profit organizations.  This includes big name manufacturers like QuickBooks.  Also, hardware to run the software on, and many other services and supplies are available deeply discounted or free from technology companies.  You don't have to buy at the "big box" store and use your Tax Exempt ID to just save on the sales tax and maybe get a small discount.  Contact us for more information.

You can start with QuickBooks for NonProfits and it may be all that you need for many years, depending on how simple your payroll, fundraising, and expenses are.  It has the advantage of a quick learning curve for non-profit managers with little or no accounting knowledge or experience.  Many free and inexpensive tutorials are readily available.  Another advantage is the many other programs that can work with it or receive  information from it, so that you do not have to re-type data.  When administrative time is limited for small agencies, "one-step data capture" is extremely valuable.  

Ready to step up from QuickBooks and looking for a web-based solution you and your bookkeeper can access from anywhere?  Intacct offers full-featured accounting software for non-profits, and a conversion path for current QuickBooks and Peachtree users, and full integration for Salesforce users.

Regardless of what software package you choose to keep your books, it helps to have a handle on non-profit bookkeeping in general. There are items to track not encountered in commercial businesses, and not reported the same way on commercial tax returns.  In fact, even if you have commercial bookkeeping experience, it helps to use this guide to get "up to speed" before shopping for software.  It is also a good simple guide for an Executive Director who does not have to keep the books as job duty, but needs to be aware of the basics of non-profit bookkeeping and will do budgeting with the board members and get information from the bookkeeper for budgets and monthly status reports.

Speaking of budgeting, this is another exercise any manager needs to become skilled at, whether for profit or non-profit.  In fact, the tighter the finances, the more important your budget is to keep expenses under control and plan activities.  If an individual without a budget tends to waste at least $10 per day, imagine what could happen to a horse non-profit with 1,000 pound animals to feed!  Plus, if your non-profit will apply for grants, your grant writing process will include a budget for the project.  Project budgets are a special sub-set, and most grant writers benefit from learning how to put those budgets together when the program manager or bookkeeper provide background or historical information, and then will edit drafts given to them to review.

If your non-profit has completed setting up its legal status and basic business plan, marketing plan, job descriptions and operations manuals, you may be ready to start applying for grants. It should come as no surprise that you must have a business-like proposal as to why you need "X" dollars to do something, and the ability to account for what you do with the money once someone "grants" it to you.  This is where most non-profit organizations drop the ball.  But getting set up to do it properly in the first place is not difficult, it just takes a little foresight and organization.  The Grant Seeker's Budget Toolkit enables you to do that without re-inventing the wheel.

Fund Accounting Software                                                                     (Top of Page)

Excellent accounting for your non-profit is a necessity from the very beginning.  In order to apply for many grant and loan opportunities, audited books for one or two of your most recent years of operation are often required.  If you can't pass an audit that confirms your claims of donations, expenses, and community participation, you are going to miss the boat on countless funding opportunities that require the granting company, foundation, or government agency to do "due diligence."  Since you are going to keep good books from the outset, then, you should choose software that enables you to do "grant tracking" from the beginning, rather than have to change systems at a later date.

Accounting software for non-profits that receive grants for specific projects becomes a necessity.  The donor makes a condition of the grant that you provide a final report of how it's money was spent and whether that achieved the expected outcome or not.  Accountants and bookkeepers accustomed to private sector accounting would refer to this as "job tracking", so that income and expenses can be assigned to a particular "job" as well as rolled up into the regular profit centers and general ledger. 

Sage Software has been a leader in small to medium sized business accounting software for decades.  They acquired Peachtree Accounting about five years ago.  Sage's Fund Accounting software is a good choice for non-profits with several grants to administer, or that receives funding from public schools and other government agencies. and it integrates seamlessly with their Fundraising software that tracks special events, donors, and volunteers. 

Spectra Software offers an integrated accounting package that you can use online or purchase to use offline. 

Donor Management Software

With so many donor-management software packages out there, it can be difficult to keep track of the tools offered by each. To help you stay organized, TechSoup has created a comparison chart, which lays out side-by-side the key features of eleven popular donor-management systems, including:

Use TechSoup's downloadable spreadsheet — last updated in October of 2007 — to compare the features of these and other donor-management products you may be considering for your organization. Tech Soup added additional columns to give you space to assess applications not included in this comparison.

Here is the link to Tech Soup's website to download the Excel spreadsheet comparison chart:

Matchmaker Fundraising software is not included in the list above, but is a comprehensive program to track and work with donors, sponsors, special events, volunteers.

Sage Software has been a leader in small to medium sized business accounting software for decades.  They acquired Peachtree Accounting about five years ago.  Sage's Fund Accounting software is a good choice for non-profits with several grants to administer, or that receives funding from public schools and other government agencies. and it integrates seamlessly with their Fundraising software that tracks special events, donors, and volunteers. 

Membership Rosters and Billing                                                    (Top of Page)

Advertise for volunteers with a free basic listing on VolunteerMatch (see Recruiting section) then keep track of their training, availability, schedule them and track their hours for service awards.

GiftWorks Volunteer Management Software  enables you to track Volunteer Rosters, Participation, Training completed, and Assignments and match volunteer availability with job and schedule requirements.  Even if your non-profit rescue, retirement, or therapeutic riding center is starting very small, with just a few horses and volunteers, the sooner you learn to take advantage of a database and scheduling package, the more time you will have to take care of other tasks that cannot be automated.

Service Statistics Recordkeeping and Reports

As you apply for donations, grants, and sponsorships from foundations and corporations and government agencies, you will immediately notice that being able to show a track record of service, and a demand for more service, as well as volunteer involvement in factual, statistical, measurable form is necessary.  If you are overwhelmed with calls from people who want to take therapeutic riding lessons, but cannot give a precise count of how many you turned away, you have missed the boat.  If you believe there is a huge demand for family horses to be rescued during difficult economic times and a rise in the unemployment rate, but have no call records to back that up, you are going to lose credibility as well as have difficulty showing what the per dollar impact of a grant or donation or sponsorship might have.  The person or committee that reviews grant requests needs to get "the most bang for the buck".  If they give you more money to serve more riders with disabilities, or more abused horses, can you show there are more in your geographical area to be served that know about your service and want to take advantage of it?  Once the donor gives you the money, can you show you served more, as expected, and met the goal of the grant?  If the program is new, can you document pent up demand?  If you receive funding from them, can you demonstrate that you are nurturing and managing your other fundraising sources wisely?

Presently, this is the area where horse rescues can learn a great deal from established pet shelters, and in so doing, help move the entire horse rescue problem from manipulated estimates that fire up emotions,  to facts that thoughtful people can tackle to actually help horses. 

National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy  This is an excellent resource for how to keep logs and statistics of calls from surrenderers, understanding how the bond is broken, the top ten reasons people relinquish their animals, the bias that almost always enters the conversation between the volunteer who is receiving the animal and the person who is relinquishing it.

State and National Statistics and Reports                                                      (Top of Page)

At some point your figures from call logs and volunteer hours and website visits and clients served get compared with similar charities in your state, region, or nationally.  If you do not do it to show that a donation dollar given to you is well-spent by comparison, the person or committee reviewing your grant or sponsorship request probably will. 

You should make it your business to track whatever statistics are available in your field, so that you can use them in your marketing and grant writing materials.  Be sure to compare apples to apples - your weekly figures do not compare to an annual report unless you add up 52 weeks!  Don't leave it to your reader to do the math.  If your equine charity does not have good state or national statistics collected by a good state or national professional association or government agency, such as the livestock board, or NARHA or EAGALA, write letters to urge the right people to take action so your tax dollars or association dues are being used to produce this valuable information.  Be a squeaky wheel.  If we need more livestock officers to respond to abuse complaints, there should be a matrix of statistics as to what type of abuse, which counties, during what seasons, at what kinds of properties, for what breed, age, sex, and level of training of horses, donkeys, or mules, and this information should be made public.

Neither the hysterical claims of the American Horse Council that at least 100,000 horses annually will need to be rescued, nor the claims of the Humane Society of the United States that hardly any would be, if equine slaughter were outlawed, could rely on facts concerning the actual sources of the horses so destroyed.  The AHC says they are mostly family pets that people cannot afford to keep and cannot afford to euthanize, and the HSUS claims they are mostly the discards of racetracks, rodeos, breeding programs and PMU factory farms.  Since no reliable records exist, and the USDA and US Customs simply count heads of stallions, mares and geldings, the matter can be argued indefinitely.  So long as it is up for debate where the "unwanted" horses come from, it is also debatable where to focus rescue efforts, where to focus education, or change commercial practices concerning horses, or stop breeding and racing subsidies, to most effectively staunch the tide of "unwanted" horses.  When the problem cannot be defined, neither can the solution be defined.   Of all industries, the horse industry seems to have the most murky and least reliable statistics, with projections made on top of faulty estimates from small samples of previous decades, then circulated as facts.  The other kinds of businesses from whom you are likely to seek donations simply don't function that way, and are not comfortable with it.   For them, lack of "actionable information" can mean ruin, by overproducing a product for too small a market, or overpricing, etc.  For them, sitting with excess inventory, or running out of product, or not training enough call center staff to meet demand, can cost entire departments their jobs.

The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) has many tools to locate charities in your field by state, financial size, and more.  It can be a valuable resource to obtain more detailed information to compare funding, clientele service, operating expenses and community partnerships.  This launching point enables you to speak and write knowledgeably about your non-profit business when you write your business and marketing plans and grant/sponsorship requests.

Pet Rescue Management software that helps create these kinds of statistics for you, and generates reports, is offered by ShelterPro.  As they describe their product, "Shelter Pro Software is designed for Animal Control and Animal Shelter records management. It is used by Animal Shelters, Animal Control and Law Enforcement, Humane Societies, SPCAs, and private Kennels. Great software for a great price. Try the free demo and call with any questions. "

Scheduling Tools, Communication, and Software        (Top of Page)

Microsoft Small Business on MSN has many tools for small businesses for free or nearly free.

TechSoup offers qualified non-profits excellent discounts on computer hardware and software, electronics, and other items your office needs.  The discounts are tied to the financial size of your organization, and documentation of your non-profit status is required.  Valuable products like Norton Internet Security may be available for as little as $8.00 per copy.

Barn Management Tools

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has established guidelines for the selection, care, client interaction with, appropriate activities of and well-being of animals that work in animal assisted activities and therapies.

Horse Record Keeping Tools                                                      (Top of Page)

Most of the equine record software packages or print forms on the market are designed for single horse owners, breeding farms, or show training stables.  While most do a decent job of tracking vaccinations, worming, and shoeing, they usually include pedigree, breeding, showing, or billing features you don't need at a therapeutic riding center or horse rescue.  If you purchase one, you are likely to be disappointed that you cannot track information you need about a therapy horse or a rescue you are rehabilitating and intend to rehome, or need to schedule a follow-up visit for.

However, if you intend to care for even a few horses, or have several volunteers, or plan to be in business more than a year, you need records.  Further, those records need to be accessible and easy to maintain.  For help setting up a simple but useful system that tracks your horses, contact us.

TIP:  Keep everything organized with legible stamps and labels.  Especially if you have volunteers that help for a few hours per week, make it easy for them by stamping or attaching brief labels of instructions that you frequently repeat.

For rescues and sanctuaries the need to track horses being supported by donors, out on trial periods, and a variety of special considerations, as well as statistics means you may need to adapt to Pet Rescue Management Software, such as is offered by Shelter Pro .  Avoid buying a closing shelter's PetWhere software, as the developer has discontinued it.  If you have this software and need support, try this fellow who used to work for the developer: http://www.jassing.com/PetWhere/.

NEW! 01/09/09 The Unwanted Horse Veterinary Relief Campaign  is a partnership of Intervet/Shering-Plough pharmaceuticals and the American Association of Equine Practitioners to provide equine vaccines to 501(c)(3) Non-Profit horse rescues, retirement and rehabilitation facilities and sanctuaries for their Spring or Fall vaccinations.  There is no limit to the number of horses the agency can receive vaccines for.  The agency must be following the AAEP Guidelines for a rescue or sanctuary, and work with an AAEP member veterinarian who jointly applies with the non-profit for the vaccines.  Here is the FAQ Brochure .PDF:

Intervet AAEP Rescue Vaccines 2009 FAQSheet.pdf

Meeting Coordination Tools                                                                  (Top of Page)

Scheduling a meeting of a committee, a board, staff or volunteers can soak up precious time.  Today, travel around town to attend a meeting is expensive.  People who would like to participate and have great skills to offer may live an impractical distance away or, due to a full time job, can only meet in the evening but can't drive to your farm at night.

Gain flexibility and participation by holding meetings online, or a combination of online and at the farm.  Here are some tools to investigate, besides the traditional telephone conference call.  Can you do the part of your volunteer orientation and training that does not have to be hands on as an online seminar?  Can your board meet this way some of the time?  How about standing committees?  Can you offer online courses to raise funds?

Typically, the software offers access to both PC and Mac users, enables you to share your entire desktop, and transfer control to another user, as well as record the meeting.  Some offer video conferencing and/or audio conferencing, and current versions of most plans do not require downloading software to the attendees' computers.  Virtually all offer a free trial period and an unlimited number of sessions per month. Big variables among the industry leaders are:

1. the number of users per session ranging from 10 to 150,

2. the monthly fees ranging from $29 to $100,

3. whether or not they include onscreen live chat or integrated voice-over-internet (VOIP). 

Here are five major vendors for you to check out.

An advantage of most web conferencing services have over in-person meetings is the ability to record entire meetings  as a video or audio file. If some staff or volunteers cannot attend, or meeting attendees forget important points or need to reference presentations at a later date, they can simply view the recording rather than contact other participants with questions. Find out how the service provider you are considering stores the recording. Some allow you to download it to your local machine, while others host the files on their own site.  Some make both options available.  A video or audio file can be large, so this is a point to consider if your nonprofit's computers have limited hard-drive space.

Event Planning                                                                                 (Top of Page)

DoJiggy is easy, affordable online event and fund-raising software to help non-profits and community organizations hold auctions, silent auctions, golf tournaments, walk-a-thons, luncheons, conferences, and other fund-raising or awareness-raising events.  It includes scheduling, marketing, reservations, payment processing, reports, lists - everything you need to plan, market, manage and succeed with a first-class event.

EasyWare also includes an interface to PrintTix for integrating easy online at-home ticket purchase and print technology into your non-profit accounting software and website.

Cvent handles all aspects of a conference including: Online Registration Event Email Marketing Payment Processing
Travel, Housing & Budgeting Strategic Meetings Management.  Major non-profits such as Goodwill, Salvation Army and NARHA use cvent services.

Safety, Emergency, and Disaster Planning                              (Top of Page)

September is National Emergency Preparedness Month each year.  The prestige and credibility of your equine non-profit can be enhanced by providing community service as a partner with the Department of Homeland Security.  Using materials conveniently available through Ready.gov , you can distribute information and tools for large animal emergency planning, or coordinate local large stables, fairgrounds, racetracks, horse show venues, rodeo or roping arenas as temporary shelters in the event of an emergency. 

TIP: If your non-profit works with the special needs population, consider a link on your website to: Disabilities/911, the disaster preparedness website for persons with disabilities.

As you develop your equine charity's own safety, emergency, and disaster plans, don't forget maintaining good regular backups of your computer software and data, from email address books to online accounts to actual accounting data, contact databases, and horse records.  The first thing you may need to access following an evacuation may be your lists of volunteers and donors.  No backups should be more than a week old, and if you need to subscribe to an automatic online service to get this peace of mind, you only need to use it once when a computer's hard disk crashes to realize it is worth every penny.

Please visit the Emergencies Page of our Senior Horse Care section for more tips and resources for emergency and disaster planning for horses and stables.  For affordable assistance developing a practical Disaster Plan for your horse business, please Contact Us.

You may become the subject of media attention in the event of an emergency or disaster.  Now is a good time to review our tips for handling the media in a potentially negative situation.  Visit our section in Public Relations and Publicity called Crisis Management on the Non-Profit Advertising and Marketing resources page.

Security as Safety                                                                                           (Top of Page)

If you intend to recruit women and teenagers as volunteers around your farm, or if you intend to provide equine-assisted activities to vulnerable populations, such as children at a summer camp, persons with mental, emotional or physical conditions, you must attend to their safety and security needs.  You must provide adequate visitor identification and control, proper lighting for those walking to their cars at night, safe restrooms, and clear training and operational procedures.

TIP: Quality signage is an important statement of your professionalism, and can contribute significantly to safety.  Designate parking areas and no-parking areas clearly.  Specify which entrance to use if there is more than one.  Post the proper Equine Warning signs for your state.  If a gate must be closed and latched, put a sign on it.  If an area is off limits because of a hazard, there should be a sign.  If you have rules like "Don't feed fingers to horses" put signs where fingers are tempted.  Visit the Horse Non-Profit Resources - Advertising & Marketing page for tips on how to plan your overall signage needs and design.

Special Olympics offers excellent free online training on best practices for working with vulnerable populations. All equine facilities that serve women and children, whether for profit or non-profit, can learn a great deal by taking this course.  Non-profits should formally subscribe to their protective behaviors guidelines and mention it in their recruiting materials.

If you have volunteers or vulnerable clients, also consider checking your city, county, or state list of Registered Offenders periodically.  Here in Phoenix, it displays a map of the locations of their residences.  I was surprised how many lived in our neighborhood, within a couple of blocks of the schools.  A beautiful little horse farm that attracts kids or women is as attractive to these bad apples as a public park, carnival, gym or playground.  Sorry, but that is the modern world in which we live.  Just because you are on a back country road is no longer a reason to feel a false sense of security.

Budget for small security improvements like gate alarms, lighting, cameras and so on each year.  Few of us have a Sugar Daddy providing the ideal secured perimeter and monitoring from day one.  But you can plan to handle the most urgent needs first, and keep improving.  Plus, you can get your local sheriff or police department to pay a courtesy visit at a time convenient to them to meet you and discuss what you are doing to protect your assets, your animals, and your visitors.

Fire Prevention                                                                                                    (Top of Page)

Barn fires are one of a stable operator's worst nightmares.  Can you believe they still happen every year?  The number of occurrences country wide might surprise you.  Learn how to prevent them.  We all think it will never happen to us.  Don't hope so, make sure.  Visit our Emergencies page for many helpful tips, tools, and links.

Laurie Loveman is an professional horsewoman, veterinary assistant, breeder, firefighter and stable owner.   She is also the author of a series of novels and contributor to Appaloosa World.  Laurie has a website dedicated to preventing barn fires that kill horses, other animals, and people.

Community Needs and Your Impact                                             (Top of Page)

From the very beginning, collect and keep verifiable statistics on the equine community, and larger local community that you serve.  As your equine non-profit grows, and you become eligible to apply for grants and participation on government and civic committees and boards that impact your mission, you need to clearly and briefly articulate the impact of your organization on the equine, special needs, and larger community. 

For example, let us say you have a therapeutic riding center that wants to assist wounded warriors who are amputees from Afghanistan and Iraq.  How many are there in your geographic area?  Nationally, as of mid-2007 there were 803.  What if you open your vision to include Vietnam veterans?  Nationally, there are 75,000 disabled Vietnam veterans.  Perhaps a reasonable client base live within a half hour drive of your center, and have conditions you are well equipped to serve.  This knowledge directs your grant requests toward a slightly different audience.

If you are writing a grant request for a horse rescue, and make the case that horses are at risk of abandonment, what information can you cite from state, county, and local livestock officers, or BLM or USFS range managers, or private land owners concerning horse abandonments in your area?  What have been the historical experience trends?  Are there more or fewer documented cases over the last five years?  Are the cases specific to a time of year, or concentrated in particular counties?  What are the breeds, sexes, ages, level of training and conditions of those horses?  You may find that no such statistics are available, once you make contact with and develop positive working relationships with local agencies.  Perhaps your first grant will actually be to set up a system for collecting and analyzing this data.  Perhaps you simply need to make telephone calls once monthly to complete a questionnaire you design to collect the data.  But make no mistake.  This data is valuable.

For more information about grant writing for start-up non-profits, visit the website of this professional consultant The Write Source - Grant Writing Consultancy and Clinics

Need a lead to get started?  Petsmart Charities offers grants to horse rescues that promote adoption. Watch their webinar and learn.

Charity Validation Sites                                               (Top of Page)

Validation sites post your latest IRS Tax Return (Form 990) so that people and foundations can research your legitimacy before committing funds.  Here are three of them to choose from.  Your non-profit should be listed with at least one of them once you have filed your first return.  It is also possible for individuals to donate via credit card securely at these sites after doing their due diligence.  It is a good idea to make it easy for donors to act without having to jump from site to site.

Animal Charities of America  is a nonprofit organization that pre-screens high quality animal related charities and presents them for giving consideration. Individuals can donate on the site.  They are a member of Independent Charities of America (see below) and the Combined Federal Campaign (see Payroll Deduction section above.)  Both ICA and CFC require your IRS 990 tax return.
 

Independent Charities of America,

  Charity Navigator,

GuideStar,

There are also organizations that keep track of complaints or publish standards for reputable charities.  Here are two:

  Better Business Bureau. and  Standards for Excellence Institute Certified Non-Profit

Public Speaking                                                                          (Top of Page)

Is one of your board members, officers, or volunteers a dynamic speaker with a story to tell?  Has your organization implemented a successful program?  Have you overcome adversity?  Is your mission important?  Perhaps you can package that enthusiasm, knowledge and message into a half hour or fifty minute presentation.  While many opportunities to speak are not paid, others are.  It is appropriate to receive an honorarium for speaking, in addition to travel expenses.  The same presentation that you give as a guest speaker at a corporate event for $1,000 plus expenses might be delivered gratis to a non-profit association.  Why make the non-profit presentation?  In many cases, members in the audience are decision makers at for-profit or government agencies that would be able to pay for the same presentation to be given to their employees or customers.

Visit idealist.org and search their database of 3,668 speakers for some ideas of how presentations are marketed to non-profits, a friendly venue in which to get your feet wet and hone your topics that sell.

Board of Directors                                                       (Top of Page)

Having a Board of Directors is critical to the success of an organization.  For a start-up or a busy horse rescue or adoption agency or retirement sanctuary, it is imperative.  You must differentiate yourself from hoarders and horse brokers.   

For all equine related businesses, profit and non-profit alike, that seek grants or loans from government agencies, or foundations,  having a board of directors speaks volumes about your ability to grow your business and step out of the statistics of overwhelming failure of entrepreneurial one-man-bands that have short lives and poor business practices because one horse trainer or one horse rescuer or one equine mental health therapists is trying to run a complex business single-handedly.

Speaking of being a one-man band, or mom-and-pop team, without a board of directors to provide support and a perspective one step emotionally removed from the day-to-day issues, sooner or later you will burn out.  If you are a riding instructor or retirement boarding stable operator who wants to do this until the day you can comfortably retire and just ride your own horses, or you are a horse rescuer, or run a hippotherapy center you need a group of supporters with whom you can share confidential business planning,  issues, and choices, including personnel management.  It is a big mistake to vent to volunteers or clients or employees.  Many horse business operators are tempted to do so because with the long hours they work at the farm, the temptation is extreme.  Unlike other industries, there are few professional clubs with local chapters where they can talk business without customers present.  You are, however, in contact with employees,  some of your volunteers, and clients every day,  The urge to discuss farm affairs is strong, and in no time, concerned customers or well-meaning volunteers who have differing goals are running your operation by ad hoc committee or developing conflicts among themselves that causes key employees, volunteers, or customers to pack up and take their skills, passions, or business elsewhere.

Board members not only have experience in areas you lack, and can thus help develop resources that would take you forever to "get up to speed on", but board members know people in your community.  Every person knows 250 people - whether it is a customer who can refer business, a volunteer who can refer more volunteers, or a donor who knows other people who might donate.  The same is true for your board of directors.  They know other people in their field, and they know other successful people generally, and key people, like suppliers, in your industry.  While a veterinarian on your horse lay-up and retirement facility board should not be expected to donate unlimited free veterinary care to rescued retirees, he is probably called upon by manufacturers and wholesalers who have a marketing and sales budget.  The sales departments of these companies routinely give away samples, purchases raffle tickets, buy advertising in community events, etc. as normal ordinary sales expenses.  Your veterinary board member can funnel their largess to your outfit.  It is easy for him to ask the salesman during a regular quarterly delivery/sales call if XYZ company would like to buy a full page ad in ABC Sanctuary's upcoming Barn Sale promotional catalog going out to all the local horsepeople, or a sponsorship that underwrites their full page ad in the State Horse Monthly Magazine.   

But how to recruit a board, who to recruit for your board, and what their function should be, is what you need to master.  The two most important jobs of board members to keep in mind when recruiting and focusing this talent are:

1. Governance.  Setting the mission, goals, and values of the organization and ensuring that legal, insurance, and financial housekeeping and management is in order and transparent at all times.  They are the compliance watchdogs of a non-profit and can be held personally liable if the corporate veil is pierced due to sloppy cash handling, improper use of donor contributions, or management of staff or volunteers.  Though recruited by the founder or executive director, they are not there to "rubber stamp" everything you decide to do, passively accepting your decisions and explanations in exchange for something that looks good on their resumes.  The board members have real fiduciary responsibility and besides technical expertise, such as a horse training, special needs education, or veterinary background, genuine management skills.  Consequently, most non-profits have on their boards corporate managers with experience hiring staff, supervising projects or product launches, marketing and purchasing goods and services, as well as an attorney and a CPA.

It is the responsibility of your Board of Directors to ensure you have policies and procedures for employee and volunteer travel expense reimbursement, reimbursement of business expenses purchasing supplies or services for your non-profit's special events, fundraisers, or operations.  Your Board writes and approves human resources policies and procedures concerning recruiting, hiring, performance and salary reviews, disciplinary action and termination.  Failure to do so can jeopardize your ability to be awarded grants or government contracts.  It is also unfair to the Executive Director to have to either do all this alone, or worse, arbitrarily make decisions on the spur of the moment when presented with the need for a management determination. 

The Board, with its roles of governance and fundraising, takes the time to devise a website policy to include, for example, how links to other websites will be handled.  This protects the non-profit from establishing links contrary to its mission, or that could be in violation of its non-profit status, or discriminatory and subject to lawsuit.  Even if the director chooses links wisely and consistently, it is the Board's job to back him up with a written publicly published policy. 

It helps to have a Board of Directors Handbook, just as you have an Employee and Volunteer Handbook.  These 33 Principles from The Non-Profit Panel make an excellent start.

Principles of Non_Profits for Boards Executive Summary.pdf                              (Top of Page)

Full Guide of 33 Principles for Non_Profits.pdf

Who you attracted to your board, and their activities tells companies, foundations, government agencies, and individual donors and volunteers a great deal about your non-profit and helps them decide whether or not to get involved.  These are the people who would have to recruit and evaluate candidates, and help a new Executive Director, should you decide to retire, or become ill and unable to continue as the primary manager of your non-profit, or merge it with another to find new homes and jobs for horses and staff.  Your website, media kit, and newsletters should make their names and brief biographies readily available. 

If you look at the boards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the last decade, both are populated with attorneys who held political appointments throughout their careers with no business management, banking, or economics experience under their belts, such as Jamie Goerlick, Deputy Atttorney General for Bill Clinton [famous for writing the FBI-CIA "Wall of Separation" rule that contributed to the 9-11 intelligence failure], and were "paid off" with prestigious and lucrative seats on these boards by their outgoing administrations, or for political support, such as Knoxville well-meaning Mayor Victor Ashe, appointed by President Bush.  In addition to failing to respond to concerns raised by whistleblower employees, Vice Chairman Goerlick and other members of the board were paid substantial bonuses themselves under the unacceptable accounting practices beginning in 1998.  Ashe, who did not receive the bonuses since he was not appointed until 2001,  described himself as qualified because he understood the need for affordable home ownership in his town. In October of 2004 stakeholders sued the entire board of directors for malfeasance leading to Fannie Mae's first bankruptcy, and in 2006 a process began of completely replacing the board.  {Compare to credentials of the current board. and their connections.) It is the incompetent board from 1997 to 2006 who were oblivious to the multi-billion dollar scandal of cooked books by management to award themselves bonuses, and approved grotesque compensation packages for the officers such as Franklin Raines for developing and re-selling high-risk mortgages.  It is a clear example of why one of the two most important jobs of board members is governance with transparency, and how the ability to identify and oversee good management is just as critical as bringing in money - the two roles must be kept in balance.  

They are the perfect example of why a good corporate giving department or foundation that approves grants, or an experienced philanthropist,  will take a careful took at the transparency and makeup of your board as part of their due diligence before writing you a check.  You may never know that the composition of your board was the reason a different non-profit won the grant you were seeking, but it is an extremely common reason.  You may never know the talented volunteers and small donors who represent 70-80% of your free labor and your income who choose to place their time and money elsewhere if you do not disclose who is on your board, make them accessible, and choose them carefully for their non-profit business acumen and management skills.  High-profile bungling of such corporations as Enron, quasi-government agencies as Fannie Mae, and embezzlement at non-profit icons like the American Red Cross have made many more people aware and careful not to be taken advantage of. 

2. Fundraising.  People who like to raise money for non-profits and are good at it belong on your board.  A person who cannot or will not help you raise money or develop new revenue sources or vendor discounts belongs on a committee of their interest, but not on your board.  Money must come in to a commercial entity through sales, a government entity through taxes, or a non-profit through donations or dues continuously.  It has to come in during booms and recessions, and in enough quantity at the right time to cover the monthly "nut" - the bills you must pay just to exist and care for your horses if you don't give a single billable therapeutic riding lesson or grief counseling session or eco-tour. 

Without the peace of mind that minimal payroll is met and the mortgage is paid and the horses are fed, you as a manager are distracted from the daily operation of the mission, are in deep stress, and the horses are in actual danger. Most non-profit employees, including the Executive Directors, receive little or no compensation and are tempted in tough times to "donate" operating expenses.  If you can afford to personally fund your non-profit, fine, but a board that expects you or your core staff and volunteers to do that also does not care if everyone quits when they are tapped out and just cannot afford to live and support the non-profit simultaneously anymore.  The board is responsible for making sure that does not happen, as individuals and as a group. 

When it comes to a seat on the board, caring deeply about horses, veterans, at-risk youth, adults with disabilities, or children with special needs is not qualification enough.  Those are critical valid reasons to donate or volunteer at the ranch or on a marketing or special event committee, or with virtual office work such as website maintenance, but not to serve on a board of directors.

These two crucial and fundamental roles, governance and fundraising, are why major corporate and foundation donors are entitled to, and frequently demand and get, a seat on a non-profit's board of directors. 

There are over one million non-profit agencies in the U.S.A., competing for the best, brightest, most capable board members to guide and enhance their organizations.  Before you begin recruiting, learn a little bit about how to identify the right people for your start-up or next-stage equine non-profit, and how best to attract them and make the experience a win-win for both of you.                                        

Once you are ready to recruit a board, it is possible to reach out beyond your small circle of friends, acquaintances, volunteers and business contacts to find experienced non-profit board members interested in your field.  As important as it is to involve your local community influencers, it is also important to enlarge your horizons. 

Keep your board energized and effective with the quick newsletter from CompassPoint, called Board Cafe.   Here's an example of one containing a succinct discussion of how to handle contact between staff/volunteers and your board to prevent undermining you as CEO, but enable positive communication to flow for committees, programs, and, if they arise, complaints. http://www.compasspoint.org/boardcafe/details.php?id=85  Here's another on ways to improve board meetings, with links to other sites of value to board members: http://www.compasspoint.org/boardcafe/details.php?id=16

Another excellent resource for board members is Board Source with links to information and helpful articles specifically for those with oversight and mission responsibility.

Officers                                                                                               (Top of Page)

For recruiting paid officer and staff core position employees consider idealist.org.  A job positing normally costs $60, but occasionally there are free trial promotions.

It is the responsibility of your Board of Directors to ensure you have policies and procedures for employee and volunteer travel expense reimbursement, reimbursement of business expenses purchasing supplies or services for your non-profit's special events, fundraisers, or operations.  Your Board writes and approves human resources policies and procedures concerning recruiting, hiring, performance and salary reviews, disciplinary action and termination.  Failure to do so can jeopardize your ability to be awarded grants or government contracts.  It is also unfair to the Executive Director to have to either do all this alone, or worse, arbitrarily make decisions on the spur of the moment when presented with the need for a management determination.

Your Executive Director and other management staff carry out the policies and vision of the Board of Directors and run daily operations.  They should have written policies to enforce fairly that comply with state and federal labor laws, certification association requirements, insurance policy requirements, and accepted accounting practices that pass scrutiny with the I.R.S. and public auditors.

Succession Planning and Founder/Executive Director Retirement   (Top of Page)

If you are the main manager of a small non-profit that expects to continue in the event you decide to retire, your board of directors needs to manage the process to achieve three objectives:

1. A retirement income for you in keeping with your years of service that were probably at low or no pay to create and run the non-profit.

2. The recruitment, selection, training and support of a qualified replacement for you.

3. The assurance of a home for your horses and transition assistance for your staff should the board decide to dissolve the non-profit instead of continuing without you.

This is an important governance duty for the members of the Board of Directors.  According to David Hinsley, Cheng a Managing Partner of DRG, "nonprofit organizations are not planning well for succession.  A national survey in 2006 asked Executive Directors in nonprofit organizations if they are planning to leave and if so, has there been a succession plan developed. The results stated:
- 40% had a succession plan and were planning to leave within two years or less
- 60% have engaged in no communication regarding succession planning

The numbers appear to be about the same for unplanned transitions. 

Here is an excellent brief outline of how to go about succession planning for non-profits:

Succession Planning Report-1.pdf

It is important for a board of directors that is not exclusively recruited by the Executive Director or Founder to address human resources, including employee benefits plans, and to look to your future retirement and that of other key staff.  This helps make your non-profit attractive to future employees, all of whom are probably going to be working for much lower wages than they would earn in the private or government sectors.  This is a governance role that fulfills one of their fiduciary responsibilities to the Executive Director/Founder and employee stakeholders.  You are entitled to a secure future when you are too old or infirm to continue to run your non-profit, and it is the proper place of the Board of Directors, not yourself or your successor, to properly compensate you or provide for your retirement.

The most typical retirement plans offered by non-profits are:

403(b) Plans / Tax-Sheltered Accounts (TSAs)                                (Top of Page)

If you are an employee of a school district or other non-profit organization, a Tax Sheltered Account (TSA), more commonly known as a 403(b) plan, is your primary retirement planning vehicle. A 403(b) plan allows you to save pre-tax earnings for your retirement, which effectively lowers your income tax burden.  By investing those savings on a tax-deferred basis, you effectively enhance the compounding effect to your savings over time.

Additional employer contributions are also permitted, although understandably, this tends to be much less common than 401k matching in the corporate world.

403B contributions are then invested in either annuity contracts or mutual fund investments. While no specific pension benefit is guaranteed, the tax deferred status of these investments translates to dramatically more retirement income than other forms of investing.

For the non-profit, costs are limited to the price of setting up and administering the fund. These costs can be fairly modest with a standard plan; in fact, some non-profits actually can save money after factoring in lower state or local payroll taxes. However, more complex plans can be as costly as a 401k.

Roth 403(b) Plans

Effective January 1, 2006, employees of public school districts, community colleges and other non-profit organizations have an additional way to fund their retirement: the Roth 403(b). The addition of the Roth 403(b) account option provides you with greater flexibility to save for retirement using either pre-tax dollars, after-tax dollars or a combination of the two.

Roth 403(b)s work just like a traditional 403(b) with one important difference: Roth 403(b) contributions are made using after-tax dollars. Although Roth 403(b) contributions won't reduce your current income tax liability, they will provide a tax-free income source at retirement (monies must be withdrawn after age 59½ and the account must have been in existence for at least five years).

You have the option of funding your retirement using either pre-tax [Traditional 403(b)] or after-tax [Roth 403(b)] contributions or a combination of the two, depending on your situation.

Total annual contribution to all 403(b) accounts (Roth and Traditional) cannot exceed the maximum annual contribution limits for the year in which they are made.

Deferred Compensation Plan                                                (Top of Page)
Under the current tax codes, Section 457 allows a tax-exempt employer to establish a deferred compensation plan by which a portion of an employee's compensation can be deferred to some future date.  Rules apply, so your board must work with investment and tax professionals to set up and fund a plan that will pass muster.

Split Dollar Life Insurance
The purchase of whole life insurance under a split-dollar arrangement has also become a popular method for recruiting and retaining key employees. In many cases in which a key employee wants to have the tax advantages of a deferred compensation plan but does not want to rely on the employer's unsecured promise to pay the deferred compensation, split-dollar arrangements can be advantageous.

If you have left it too late, and have not saved for your own future, your board needs to work with financial planners and insurance companies that specialize in non-profit executive compensation, to devise an appropriate honorarium in keeping with tax laws and non-profit governance.

Employee morale and retention is important to non-profit organizations as well as other sectors dependent upon high quality human resources.  Do not overlook them in managing your non-profit.  Do not assume a person who chooses to work for a non-profit should forego employee benefits.
 

Cost-Savings

 Visit our Senior Horse Owner Resources, Quarterly Tips, Forums, Blog, or Products for Horse Businesses for ways to save money.

Environmental Stewardship and Community Relevance    (Top of Page)

Government regulation at the city, county, state and federal level is radically changing who, what, where, when and how people may interact with the environment and animals.  Spurred by urban-based special interest groups and academia, land use, energy use, animal care, property rights, personal safety, health, personal food production and consumption —  all are now becoming regulated in ways that threaten man's relationship with horses, and his ability to house them, take them onto trails, or grow food for them and himself.  These issues are frequently addressed in our Blog.

This means that every single farm in America, be it a family's backyard, a therapeutic riding center in the city, a wedding carriage business, a boarding stable, or a trail ride operation into state lands must develop a plan and implement changes to showcase horses as:

1. Environmentally sound - not merely non-polluting but actually beneficial and energy conservative.

2. Relevant contributors to the economic and social welfare of the broader local community.

Ten ways to make your horse operation more Earth-friendly, courtesy of TheHorse.com:

Encouragement and Motivation

 Sponsorahorse.org is a network of Equine Rescues with members only forums.

Management Skills                                                         (Top of Page)

Horse rescues and sanctuaries need to be well-managed, just like for-profit businesses to survive and benefit the rescued animals.

Other Resources                                  (Top of Page)

The Del Camino Horse Owner Products and Services catalog offers some horse products of interest to owners of senior horses, and horses being retrained or rehabilitated.

The Del Camino Stable Manager's Product and Services catalog offers products and services of interest to those operating a horse facility.

  Mounting ramps and blocks for persons with disabilities, waler and gait belts, breakaway stirrups, bareback pads, therapeutic riding surcingles, reinbow loops, instructional aids for therapeutic riding programs.

The Del Camino forums provide a place to network with other horse non-profits, and the blog covers related timely topics.

Charity Advantage is an online source for deeply discounted computers and software for non-profits.

Horse Welfare Statistics -

EqRescQ101: Equine Rescue Yahoo Forum and Message Board.  Network with other Horse Rescues about rescue specific concerns.

National Equine Rescue Coalition

Equine Rescue News and Resources

Equine Rescue Webring

Save a Forgotten Equine Forum

Horse Rescue and Information Network Forum

Society of Animal Welfare Administrators

National Animal Control Association Excellent links to state, county and municipal animal control groups and law enforcement agencies, and timely information affecting them.

National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy This is an excellent resource for how to keep logs and statistics of calls from surrenderers, understanding how the bond is broken, the top ten reasons people relinquish their animals, the bias that almost always enters the conversation between the volunteer who is receiving the animal and the person who is relinquishing it.

Ehorseeducation - teleseminars assisting therapeutic horseback riding and equine-assisted activities non-profit centers in management and professionalism areas. 

Product or Service Providers                                         (Top of Page)

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