There’s nothing that takes a greater toll on pet owners than realizing they can’t afford to feed their pets. Animal food banks are a great way to make sure the pets continue to get the proper nutrition while the pet owners work to get back on their feet.
If you want to help local pets by creating an animal food bank, you’ll be pleased to know the process isn’t terribly difficult.
Create a Business Plan
You might be starting the animal food bank out of the kindness of your heart, you still need to approach it the same way you would any other business which means you’ll need a business plan. Not only will the business plan help you address issues such as how to market the animal food bank and where you’ll store supplies but it also allows you to apply for non-profit certification and approach people and businesses about donations of time, money, and supplies.
Elements of your business plan should include;
• recipient eligibility
• How to attract volunteers
• Startup costs
• Long term costs
• Services provided
Apply for Non-Profit Status
One of the first things you need to do when creating an animal food bank is enlisting the aid of a lawyer and filing the paperwork the food bank needs in order to qualify for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. This allows you to accept financial and food gifts and also helps you qualify for grants.
Keep Things Simple
It’s easy to have grandiose plans when you decide to start an animal food bank, but in the beginning you should keep things small and simple. Set up one day a week or month when in need pet owners can pick up the things they need. You can expand the number of pet owners you work with and the number of distribution days later.
Once you have decided how frequently you’re going to distribute and where the distributions will take place, you will need to create a schedule so at need pet owners know when they can pick up the supplies their pets need.
It’s encouraging to know that the number of animal food banks all over the country have been steadily increasing. Hopefully, this will go a long way towards making sure responsible pet owners who have fallen on hard times never have to make tough decisions regarding their pets.