In an industry largely unregulated where any well-meaning individual can start a business literally without any knowledge or training, it's important that those in leadership positions seek out knowledge themselves. The Internet is an excellent place to begin an informal education.

Potential donors, members, supporters, adopters and others are beginning to ask, "How can I know what group I should dontate to? What group should I adopt from?"

The Equine Rescue Ethics Mediation Committee does not seek to make those decisions for you. Our role is to assist you in finding the knowledge and understanding that can help you make these important decisions.

Whether you seek training or clarity, we hope that the following links will help you achieve your goals.

Yes! There is a widely accepted structure for conducting meetings. It's called Robert's Rules of Order. It defines the accepted structure, called "parlamentary order" for all sizes of meetings. There is much information about Robert's Rules of Order on the Internet. We suggest doing a web search if you find this information interesting. Read thoroughly, though, because the rules are vastly different for small organizations than for large ones.
Roberts Rules of Order, Official Web Site

Ever notice how one person usually runs the show in many small and average sized equine rescues? This happens in large rescues and many other charities not connected with animal welfare. It is a human condition, not limited to our industry. Delegating duties isn't always as easy as it sounds. A strong Board of Directors helps, too. Think it's always the founder's fault? Read on! There are also several good web sites which deal with this issue. If this subject interests you, the Committee suggests you perform a web search on "founder's syndrome". To get you started, here is a page to get you started:
Founder's Syndrome

A lot of confusion exists over the terms, "nonprofit" and "not-for-profit". The term, "nonprofit" or "non-profit" (either spelling is correct), usually refers to a certain kind of business- specifically, a charitable one. "Not-for-profit" normally refers to a hobby. Because of the lack of required training, some people claim to be "nonprofit" before their organizations are recognized by the IRS. Normally, this is not a case of deliberate false advertising, but rather an honest mistake.

If you are a donor expecting to receive tax credit for your donation, ask for the charity's tax identification number, (also known an an EIN- Employee Identification Number). Do not confuse "not-for-profit" with "nonprofit", as the two terms are interchangable and neither guarantee that the organization is recognized as such by the IRS.

You can search for the EIN on the IRS website. All of the information may not be up to date, so if the name of the charitable organization is not listed, call the IRS to make sure the information you seek somehow failed to make it to the web site yet.
Internal Revenue Service

What constitutes a charitable organization? This page, on the IRS web site, will tell you. You can also download Publication 557 here, if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Charitable Organization Exemption Requirements

Recently, donors, people who plan to open their own horse rescue one day, and those new to operating a horse rescue, have made statemets about it being wrong for a "nonprofit" to make a profit. This is simply a misunderstanding caused by a lack of understanding of what the term, "nonprofit organization" means.

Before a charitable organization can be recognized as such by the IRS, it must first be registered (chartered) in its home state. The organizations by-laws and Articles of Incorporation are among the corporate materials the states all require. The charity is issued a number by the state and is incorporated as a business entity, which performs charitable acts.

If someone wanted to go into the business of rescuing horses, but wanted to do so for profit, they could do that. They would set up their business as a Sole Proprietorship, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), or other. The main difference would be that the business is owned by an individual or group (shareholders). Both the nonprofit and the for profit businesses (except Sole Proprietorships) are run by a Board of Directors. The only other difference is that in a for profit business, an owner puts money from the business into his or her own pocket as he or she desires, or as the corporation allows, and/or the profits are distributed to shareholders.

In the nonprofit corporation, as recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, all of the proceedes of the organization go right back into it. That is not to say that the nonprofit corporation cannot pay employees. On the contrary. Many major hospitals are nonprofit corporations. Obviously, they all have paid employees, with benefit plans.

When you get right down to it, nothing is really free in life. That trail ride you enjoyed last week required that you spend money-travel, tack, camping supplies, water bottles,...whatever. Just powering on the computer costs someone money. No one openly goes into the rescue business to make a personal profit, because rehabilitating herds of staved, neglected, crippled horses is just not profitable as a regular business. Rescues have web sites to pay for. They make long distance calls to check on potential adopters or placed horses. They transport horses, sometimes on a weekly basis, sometimes from very far away. They have mailing lists, and need postage, ink, paper, staples, other office supplies.

Only about 1% of all grant money available in the United States goes to animals. That figure includes money that goes to spay and neuter programs, wildlife foundations/sanctuaries, turtle rescues, rabbit rescues, etc. If rescues want money for operating expenses and to care for needy equine in their program, they have to get it from you. With so many needs in the world today and so many horses needing to be rescued, there never seems to be enough of that to go around. If a rescue makes a profit off of one horse and uses that profit to pay to rehab another horse or puts the profit into an account set aside for emergencies or implementing a new program, how is that unethical? It isn't. It is smart business. The rescue must protect its equine at all times. What makes a better safety net than money in the bank, where feed, hoof care, dental care, supplemts, surgeries, emergency transports, and other needs can be sure to be taken care of?

Unfortunately, many equine rescues operate on very small budgets. Again, the lack of professional training comes in. A small budget is nothing to be ashamed of. How an organization manages that money may be, though.

Everyone is invited to explore Carter McNamara's (MBA, PhD) Basic Guide to Nonprofit Financial Management.
There's even a link on this page that tells nonprofit corporations how to start their own "for profit" business. This is an increasingly common trend in the nonprofit sector these days. Goodwill Industries owns its own temp service. So, a nonprift cannot be owned by any one person or group of people, a nonprofit corporation can own another corporation.

Running a nonprofit business is almost exactly like running a for profit business. Both have need to make a profit. Where that profit goes is the determining factor, though.

To help those seeking to learn how to run a nonprofit business and for those of you who never realized how much there is to learn, here is a sample of a few of the different subjects nonprofit leaders should know about:
Note that not knowing about the following subjects does not reflect negatively on whether or not a rescue is ethical, which is this committee's only concern. Information on this page is intended for educational purposes only and not meant to indorse or disapprove of any person or organization.

One final clarification for this page. You may have noticed the term "recognized by the IRS" several times in the text above. Many people who are in the early stages of forming an organized rescue believe that the IRS "makes" the rescue nonprofit. That is not the case. Whoever forms the corporation sets up the company in any way they see fit. The way the corporation is set up determines whether it fits into the IRS' guidelines and requirements to be recognized as charitable organization nonprofit corporation. Once the IRS has determined this, donations made to the corporation can be considered exempt from being taxed by the federal government. It should be noted that once recognition for exemption is granted by the IRS, donations made to the organization previously, can be claimed on the donor's taxes, under certain circumstances. One stipulation on this is a time limit, having to do with the date the exemption application (Form 1023). Donors make note: there can be a big difference between a rescue's statement that they "have their papers" and "have filed our papers". For donors expecting a tax deduction, the lack of an Employee Identification Number (automatically issued by the IRS upon recognition of exempt status) does not necessarily mean the deduction won't be allowed. Having to go back and ammend a previous return may be a hassle if the calendar year changes while the charitable organization waits for it's determination letter. It normally takes several months to receive. If your donation is large enough, you won't mind ammending your taxes.

In the event the organization has its tax exempt status revoked by the IRS, donors are required to go back and amend past federal tax returns, if the organization is found to have been in violation of IRS regs in previous calendar years. Potential supporters of any rescue may benefit by examining the way the business side of the organization is run. Adoption contracts are not something the IRS sees as a main qualifier for charitable practices. Money in the bank, or lack of it, is not something the IRS cares about, as long as the proper tax returns are filed each year.

Is the organization performing charitable, in addition to heroic, deeds? What is the purpose of the organization and how does the organization go about carrying out that purpose? Is there a Mission Statement? Is there an ethics policy? At what point do you consider a horse "saved", and from what? Not all equine rescues are against horse slaughter. Are adopters allowed to re-sell the horse? Is there educational information on the rescue's web site? You may not see a need for education or keeping track of a horse for the remainder of its life. If so, there are rescues which conduct business in a style that matches your beliefs and you should support it. As a donor, though, you must recognize any potential that the organization could lose its exempt recognition if the IRS takes a closer look at its business practices.