First-things-first, we built a double-gate entrance to the Dog Land!
We sure have been busy at Perros Libres. Every time I start writing one of these blogs, 10 different things pop into my head to write about, and I shorten it to about 2 or 3, and keep it concise and as short-and-sweet for the readers as I can. I'd like to start with the fun stuff, construction progress! It always gives me a lot of pleasure to share with you the stuff we are building by hand, using funding to buy the material which is building this entire sanctuary. We are getting a lot better at this D.I.Y. building stuff!
You know those double-gates they have at Dog Parks in the U.S.? This entire gate was made entirely by our collaborative volunteer work, with my designing and direction. Here are all the stages of development in this gallery I will show you, and then a video of it in action!
And here's the video of me using it in action, returning 7 dogs from a walk at once.
So...have donations been coming in?
I've learned in the last year of doing this work, and working with other non-profits here who have done it way longer, that there is always a dry-spell of donations every summer for non-profits 'round the world. I found this quite interesting, because I know even economics and finances move in seasonal, and cyclical ways. Of course it should apply to charity work, and donation-based projects as well. So, yes, in the last couple months we had a much slower intake of donations, making us have to crunch the budget sometimes and cut back on expenses not necessary (like dog treats, quality dog bones and bone broth on Sundays, higher-quality food, like that nice but expensive olive-oil) quite often.
We've been an organization that's lived on month-to-month budgeting, having just enough in the budget to usually cover us through the month, and with the hopes each following month enough would come in to keep our rent, bills, and dog-food paid. It can be quite a stressful state of mind not knowing where your income is coming every month, but this operation is and always has been one of faith. I've had faith, since starting this organization with a budget of only $200 when Perros Libres formed and website just made, that we would have what we needed to take care of these animals...
And we have. Thank you God, and thank you to all of our donators and supporters thus far. You are one's who've made this possible for nearly an entire year of operation! It's amazing!
Develop a guaranteed monthly budget, that's the goal.
I've understood more and more lately, and told to our followers in the past how our wish (and really need) is to devise a way to have guaranteed [passive] monthly income, in order to guarantee we can pay our bills every month and no dog or person ever has to go hungry for even one day on Dog Land. One cannot rely solely on chance donations coming in at the right time, all the time. A larger organization needs a consistent budget to work with.
Our first concept for this was the "Perros Libres Sanctuary Fund", which was the first monthly system which allowed us to have donators know how many dogs their food could feed a month. $10/month matches about what the budget has to spend on dry food, per dog, per month (when we had roughly 22 dogs I made the calculation, it is more now.) Still, it's pretty cheap, and because of this we have been able to have a few solid monthly donators whom we'd like to thank in this post, for being the first consistent monthly donators ever to Perros Libres. Even $10 goes a long way here, and we appreciate you all so much! So here is our first "star monthly donators list!"
A special thank you to these Star Monthly Donators:
Margery Strickland
Darlene Dupre
Carl Wilson
Cat Ricordi
Eran Dolev
You guys are heroes to our organization! You've all fed multitudes of dogs with your continued support. Thank you for supporting Perros Libres and our rescue dogs!
But the work does not end here! Our pack is bigger than ever, with 27 dogs (and 7 coming soon) whom are both bigger and hungrier than they were 6 months ago. They're getting huge! Little Vibiana who used to be a tiny 5 lb. creature now weighs over 50 lbs, and imagine how much more food she, and all other other dogs who've grown in size, need! So it's for this I take us to the next level...
I have a very big announcement to make today, and am proud to say we are now creating the systems in place which can allow us to grow the passive and consistent income we need for Perros Libres, that we can both work harder for your support, and at the same time show even more the detail and experience of every day and every dog that lives here with us.
We want you to have as close of a window into our Sanctuary as you can, and with this introduction I make this announcement:
The Brand-New Sponsorship Program for our Dogs
starts today!
Sponsor-A-Dog!
The idea behind this program is this: if you wish to sponsor a dog, you become their benefactor. That is what it means to "sponsor", to both financially support, but also get a say in how they receive their care, even what they eat, custom accessories they can wear, and even get to adopt them if you wish!
The cherry-on-top is, by becoming a sponsor, YOU get exclusive access to the dogs via monthly emails, that I will personalize for you and the chosen dog, to see everything in their lives. This will be exclusive content that only the sponsor receives, unique and in addition to what is already posted about them publicly on our page and social media outlets.
So how does the sponsorship program work exactly?
It's simple. Basically, select from four tiers of what type of sponsorship you wish to give, all with different levels of integration. The lowest being the least costly, but supporting the bare necessities, while the highest-tiers giving you essentially proxy ownership of the dog, which can lead to their direct adoption to you! Let's show you the examples:
Basic Care: at just $25/month, you can support that your dog has all their food, and basic medicine payed for. Even at the lowest tier, you will receive monthly personalized updates of your dog. All tiers will give you exclusive access and updates that will be personally written for you, showing you more detail and the story of their days and months that no other followers get to see.
Advanced Care: This is for $40/month, but is for customization of your dogs experience. We have a normal dietary plan that we use for almost all the dogs, but with this tier, you can pick their personal diet, that we will then make sure they get at least 3 times a week for dinner, allowing you to constantly treat your dog to a special experience of life and dinnertime you can provide for them :) This can include special tea, herbal medicine, and more advanced medical needs of dogs. With this tier, you can even have special accessories picked out for them, like leashes, collars, and toys just for your dog of choice.
Adoption Plan: This is the most expensive, but with the greatest benefit at $60/month. This plan of course includes all previous benefits, exclusive monthly updates, but the main benefit of this plan, is that it's with the intention to reserve and eventually adopt the dog. Now, as it currently stands, that is to assume we will be able to work together and arrange their either pick-up here at the Sanctuary, or being sent to your country (which would have unique additional costs and arrangement needs).
We understand this "adoption plan" is a very tall-order to accomplish, however now we have gotten 5 dogs adopted out internationally (Canada, Belgium, & Germany), and know it will be possible to continue this practice. However anyone that wishes to do this, will need to be patient and work together with us greatly to accomplish such a tall order.
With all that being said here in the link for our Sponsor-A-Dog page:
>>>>>>>>>>>https://www.perroslibres.info/projecto-3 <<<<<<<<<<<<
You will see this page on the "Sponsor a Dog" tab in the main Perros Libres website's menu. If you want to sponsor a dog today, and help us achieve a greater monthly income for Perros Libres, you will be added to the "Star Monthly Donators" list which includes anyone who contributes monthly to our organization. We wish to give you the best and most personal experience of the dogs possible, on par or even better than any rescue has ever done before! By contributing, you give these dogs the BEST life they can possibly have.
Thank you again, everyone, for reading this far and following us on our journey.
It's getting amazingly close to a full year of operation legally as Perros Libres, and you are the one's responsible for making it happen. Thank YOU to EVERYONE! Our dogs appreciate it in ways you may one day get to know, by helping sponsor and eventually adopt a Perros Libres dog of your own :) That's all for today, and Libertad por Los Perros!
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