Those of you who live in the UK will know that the reputation of charitable organisations is at an all time low. Barely a couple of months go by without some major charity featuring in the Media for abuse of funds or disreputable behaviour by officials who are often on huge salaries. Prospective donors have become cynical in the knowledge that only a tiny part of their contribution will go to the animal or child they chose to support. Newspaper reader comments are littered with people vowing never to contribute to charity again because 'they're all rotten and use your money to line their administrators' pockets'.
Cooper who is blind and deaf
and looking for a home
and a sponsor
At Cairo Cat Rescue & Rehoming Champions we are proud that not a single penny, dollar or Euro is spent on anything but our cats' shelter, rehabilitation and rehoming. Our Rescuers, Sherouk and Amira, don't take, they donate like we do. And our individual donations are proudly published monthly so that we are completely transparent about our funding. We rely solely on donations from our supporters. We have no major backers, banks or investors.
Whilst we are proud of this, those of you who have been supporters for a long time will be aware that the enormous rise in the cost of food because of the War in Ukraine has made us extremely vulnerable. This is because we have no reserves on which to fall back and no backers or bank to step in and bail us out. We literally live from month to month, hand to mouth.
It's not all bad news however. Despite the economic downturn in the UK, Europe and North America the contributions we have received from all of you this year have equalled those of last year. We thank you profoundly for this; you are marvellous. However, it's not enough and we have strategies in place to help overcome this situation.
The first of these is to greatly increase our Sponsorship programme. At the moment, until the end of the month we have little idea how much money we are likely to receive to pay our bills. That's because most people pay either at the very beginning or at the very end of the month. That's logical because it's when people get paid. Sponsorship enables us (and indeed all similar organisations) to know we have a guaranteed amount due each month and plan accordingly. It also gives those who are sponsoring a greater sense of satisfaction in knowing that they are supporting a particular cat which may, or may not, find a new home. During the past couple of years we have lost quite a few sponsors because happily their cats have found new homes. Some have chosen to sponsor other cats when their feline friend found its forever home and again we thank them profoundly.
We have some 280 gorgeous cats (and three dogs) who would all love their own sponsor who is also their special friend. The first few have been posted on Facebook and on our website. Even if they are on our current adoption list they still need a sponsor. By becoming a sponsor you will be helping to ensure that both our cats and our Rescue survive in this difficult climate. Our strapline is 'we never abandon a needy cat' and we never want to have to.
Becoming a sponsor is a monthly commitment and that's hard. So we understand if you can't pay some months because the oven door's blown off (mine did) or the electricity bill is astronomical. Unlike a lot of organisations we're not asking you to sign up to a commitment. But if you decide you just can't carry on please let us know so that we can find another sponsor. Alternatively, you may wish to share a sponsorship with someone else.
Similarly, if you would rather carry on making monthly donations, or indeed any donation, please do so and again we thank you profoundly for your support.
We are working our way through this and, with your help, the light at the end of the tunnel is not that far away.
Become a sponsor, become a hero!
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