Panel Discussion:
Lee Arnold, President, Chinese Sharpei Club of America Charitable Trust
and Secretary; Carmen Battaglia, PhD, AKC Board Member, President AKC Companion Animal Recovery, Delegate, German Shepherd
Dog Club of America; Mike Wahlig, Executive Director, Poodle Club of America Foundation; Erika Wene, Grants Director AKC Canine
Health Foundation; Floor Discussion
Various
ideas and suggestions were presented by a panel of successful fundraisers. The
list is as follows:
1. Raising funds through chat-rooms, e-mails,
and auctions.
2. People like recognition: list donors on website;
list level of donors in monetary increments; post names with cumulative amounts.
3. Provide gift items for contributions of different
amounts; send a personal thank you for donations.
4. Limited edition items work well.
5. Honorary and Memorial Funds: CHF sends card
to person or dog honored notifying of donation in their name.
6. Endowment Fund.
It
is highly recommended to utilize the Donor Advised Funds (DAF) available through the Canine Health Foundation (CHF) for a
variety of reasons.
1. Any market loss is absorbed by the AKC, yet
any market gains go to the DAF.
2. Donations are guaranteed to be protected for its intended use (if money is donated specifically for a disease, it cannot
be allocated any differently than the donor intended).
3. Money that is applied to Grants is monitored to be productive dollars.
4. If research is not going as well as expected
and producing satisfactory results (non-productivity), there is the possibility that the CHF will cancel the grant and conserve
the balance of the funds for the DAF. This eliminates the fear of continually
filling a black hole.
To
expound on the last point listed, it can be summarized that the CHF acts as a “Watch Dog Fund Conservation Program”. Some breeds have utilized sources other than CHF to pursue research and have not had
the protection that the CHF provides. The Grant proposals are peer reviewed and
approved if they meet specific CHF guidelines. With the CHF, a contract must
be signed by the research facility, committing to provide progress reports that will be peer reviewed. The entire amount for the grant is not paid up front, but incrementally throughout the life of the grant. The CHF also provides matching funds at the time of grant approval. If the grant recipient’s progress reports are not satisfactory to the peer review board, there is
the possibility of CHF canceling the grant in order to preserve the balance of the DAF’s funds.
AWS Partners’
recommended resources:
http://akcchf.org
