Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs Podcast, the show for dog lovers who
see dogs not as toys or tools, but wise souls worth our respect and care.
I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.
I talk to poor some humans, people who do great work for dogs and their people.
So come and join us for today's conversation.
Anke: Hello and welcome, Adam.
I'm delighted to have you here.
Adam: Oh, thank you so much Anke.
Appreciate you having me today.
Anke: Well, I think we are in for a treat today.
I really, really look forward to this conversation and I, you know,
I mean, I guess on Zoom you can't tell, but I've kind of so distracted
by these cute faces behind you, so,
so let's just.
Fill people in.
Where in this lovely world are you based and what's your business with dogs?
Adam: Awesome.
Well, thank you again so much for having me.
It's truly, truly a privilege.
Um, furlanthropy.
We are a brand new charity.
Uh, we began about two years ago, actually two years ago this month.
It took two years to get the charity formed, and then two years ago we
started our, what we call a soft opening.
And, uh, and so for the past two years, we've been helping
pets across the country.
Uh, we're based here in, in Virginia, uh, where I live, but we are a
hundred percent virtual and we have our, our team is across the country,
our boards across the country.
Um, but it's quite, quite a journey, quite a, a story how we got here.
Very unlikely, uh, journey that I'd love to share with your,
with your listeners today.
Anke: I can't wait.
I can't wait.
I mean, furlanthropy, that's like so cute.
Adam: Aw, thank you.
Thank you.
Anke: It's like, who can take credit for that name?
Like, that is super cute.
Adam: Aw, well, well, so it, it all begins with, um, my wife and I, we,
we met and married about five years ago and blended our families together.
And, uh, I had a cat named Kobe, who sadly, uh, passed away, went onto the
Rainbow Bridge and, and my wife, she had a, a dog Poochie who passed away as well.
And so we have five teenagers, so plenty of activity in the Spencer
home, but my wife said those fateful words, honey, I think we need a dog.
So I said, you know, the most reasonable, logical thing that came
to my mind, which was absolutely not.
I, I, I don't want a dog.
And the truth is, and I know your listeners right now are probably
not happy with me, but there's a happy, there's a happy ending.
The truth is, I had a dog named Sterling as a child.
But for whatever reason, over the last 35 years, I, I just became afraid of dogs and
I had no idea what I was missing out on.
So this incredible story, incredible journey, uh, with a lot of arm twisting
and, you know, being newly wet.
I wanted to say, yes, of course, honey, whatever you want.
She said, well, let's just go just to looks so sure how, what, what
harm could be happen there, right?
So, so we go down the local Humane Society, and as you can imagine, uh,
we walk down the hallway of these rows of cages and there's a lot of.
Dogs that are excited.
Um, I wasn't sure, you know, if they just wanted to hug me or, or, or what,
or they're just happy to be, to see someone and wanting to be, be, uh, um,
adopted, but just kept saying, no, no, no.
And we get to the final blast.
Last cage in our tour and back in the corner, we almost missed her.
It was this little, little lump of fur.
And, uh, my wife and daughters had walked out out of the, out of
the, the facility hallway there, and I said, Hey, wait a minute.
What, what about this one?
And so just to appease them, of course I had no interest in adopting a dog.
So just to appease them.
So sure enough, we, we arranged a meet and greet, but there
was already a waiting list.
Whew.
That's all right.
We'll just look through the glass and watch as this dog is
supposedly supposed to be bonding with the potential pet parent.
Um, but she kept coming over to us and my wife says, honey,
that that's a sign right there.
I said, ah, no.
I think she just knows we have treats, you know, still, again, it's not gonna happen.
Thankfully, I thought there's a waiting list, so there's no way I'm gonna
end up having, having to get a dog.
So as we head home and, and my wife says, you know, honey, we
always pray about everything.
So you, you need to pray about this.
Okay, sure.
I'll say a prayer, you know, if it's meant to be, and I did.
I.
If I'm truthfully honest with you, over the long weekend, there were
moments that this precious little fur baby came to top of mind and
I would just sort of dismiss it.
Alright?
I'll say a little prayer, but again, it's not gonna happen.
Well, I get that call on Monday morning, Mr.
Spencer, she's all yours.
There must be some kinda mistake here that surely, surely you have me confused
with somebody that, nope, the other pet parents felt like it wasn't a good fit.
And so come on down.
So reluctantly I go down with my wife to the Humane Society.
We agreed not to tell the kids because we didn't want them to get their
hopes built up just in case, you know, something happened and we get in
there and I'm trying to think of Anki.
I'm trying to think of every excuse I can think of to not get a dog.
And the lady says those other magic words.
She's half price.
And my wife knowing that I'm OCD about coupons said, now honey, how
do you say no to a half price dog?
Right?
So moments later, there's this really awkward picture as they're carrying,
as I say, this little lump of fur out and they hand her to me, kinda like you
hand a baby to, to someone, a newborn baby who's never held a baby before.
There's this really awkward picture where the dog's looking at me and I'm looking
at it and we're not really sure what's going on, and she can hear my thoughts.
I don't want a dog.
And so I'm kind of awkwardly carrying her 'cause she's too frail
and too scared to walk on her own.
And here's a true story.
We're walking out the door, across the parking lot, out of the Humane Society
heading towards the, the, the vehicle.
And I'm saying out loud to the dismay of all the people
around me, I don't want a dog.
I don't want a dog.
And I'm saying it louder and louder and then it happened.
I look down, I see her precious little eyes.
I get emotional here and I said, I love you and I'm gonna take care of you.
And I kissed her head.
Oh.
My wife had said, did, did you just tell the dog you loved it?
Did you just kiss her?
Like, like what?
What just happened?
Like what in the world?
It literally felt like an out of body experience.
It literally was hazelnut, as we've affectionately named
her, literally touched my soul.
And I, and I, I mean that so genuinely and anybody who knows me.
You know, four or five years ago, this is the furthest that I would be starting
a charity that helps pets, especially dogs, is the furthest thing from my mind.
And yet, in that moment, this precious, furry blessing literally
change the heart of this crusty guy.
And today, not only do I love her, but I can't walk past a, a pet
without wanting to talk to it.
And, and we've since adopted a second, second dog.
And then hazelnut inspired this incredible charity, which
I'll talk to you more about.
But that's the true story of how we got here.
I
Anke: love that.
I love that too.
That's so funny though.
And I do actually, especially, I had a similar experience with, with
this one, the second dog that came to me in this like, well, I hadn't
planned to, to get a second dog.
I have a dog.
Like I, I, you know, and I was literally, I had a moment like
that, so I kind of totally get it because he was like tiny and.
He just looked at me and it was like, literally, that's, that's why kind of the
name also, you know, there's, you kind of like, this isn't a rational kind of thing.
They just, they touched the soul just right in there.
I, you know, and it's, it's beautiful.
It's just, yeah.
So, so Hazel not still around like so
Adam: she is, she is Hazel.
Anke: Not, so she was like, how old is she?
Because when you say like she was frail, was she just because she was
like neglected and kind of scared?
Or was she, is she older?
Adam: Sure.
Well, she, we think she was, of course, you know, with the Humane
Society, you don't always know the history of all the dogs and their ages.
They estimate that she was about a year old.
Um, also maybe
Anke: young dogs still
Adam: so very young, very frail.
Uh, she's gained about 40 pounds, uh, actually about 50 pounds.
10 of those are a little bit too much, uh, lots of treats.
Uh, but she's gone from this very frail and scared dog to the most happy.
Loving, I'll say the perfect dog.
She's just amazing.
And, and so when I learned about her, her background, uh, that her
first family had to forfeit her because they couldn't afford her
lifesaving care, thankfully, uh, the veterinarian proceeded to save her life.
We know, as you know, two thirds of pets that are euthanized or euthanized
just because of a lack of finances.
So hazelnut truly was a miracle.
Well, she was one of the lucky few that actually got the care that she needed, and
then they donated her to the main society in hopes that she would get adopted.
And so, uh, my background is I've been a, a fundraising executive for 20 some
years for all kinds of, of worthy causes.
And so I was just stunned.
I I didn't know the, the, um, pet industry very well.
And truthfully, my cat was pretty self-sufficient.
There wasn't a lot of needs there.
One surgery early on and annual visits, but that was about it.
And so I just had no idea the hardship, uh, and the crisis that's
out there around access to care and those financial barriers.
And so I thought for sure, there's gotta be a program out there.
And, uh, we've heard of GoFundMe and there's 2000, 2000 literally
crowdfunding platforms out there, but they're all for profit.
And so in my mind I'm thinking, well, if the greatest fundraising
vehicle in the world is crowdfunding, shouldn't that be run by?
By nonprofit, by fundraising executives, and not just, you know, people
motivated by check transactions, but motivat motivated by mission.
And so it took two years, but we created the first ever charity owned and operated
crowdfunding platform where anybody can come to our website for free.
They can fundraise for any pet need as well as any pet related or animal
related cause that they care about.
And so I'll just say this, that literally, truly hazelnut not only saved my heart and
rescued me, and she truly did rescue me.
Uh, she's also inspired help for, for pets all across the country, which is amazing.
Anke: That's that's fascinating.
I had no, I mean, I didn't realize how many.
Pets were euthanized because of that.
I literally saw something the other day where somebody talked like was a
video on Instagram or something where somebody was talking about this whole.
Situation where vet clinics get more and more bought out, you know, and then all of
a sudden like prices go through the roof.
And I think, you know, over there, like prices are ridiculous to start with.
And so apparently it's kind of as like the smaller clinics get bought
out and taken over by these big companies, it gets worse and worse.
And so I think that's.
It's, it's a problem that seems to be on the rise that
people can't afford the care.
And I've had clients where they've said, oh, well, you know,
my dog needed something minor.
It's like, okay, what's, you know, like some ridiculous
amount and yeah, the insurance.
But no, you have to for it out first and then you can start fighting to see whether
we'll pay you something, so, mm-hmm.
You know, so I think there's so much of a need for that.
Adam: There is, there is, you know, in the past, since 2014, so in the past
10, 11 years, uh, the cost of pet care has risen 60%, which is incredible.
It's really, really unsustainable.
If, if you look at that, uh, that those numbers, and we know that
50 million pets in America today, uh, lack adequate care, uh, lack.
Uh, access to how to kick where care.
So just literally the basic care for your pet, your annual
pet visits, food, and so on.
Uh, annual vaccines, 15 million pets, which is a lot.
So it's, it's a crisis that we have to get ahead of and, and I really think
our, our program being so innovative.
You mentioned something really important there.
You said a lot of folks, when a, when a crisis happens for
their pet, they triage it.
Triage it by, by sending whatever methods they can, uh, to pay that bill upfront.
Uh, whether it's a credit card or scratch pay, and then oftentimes,
regardless of, of how the pet fares after that, um, the pet parent is,
is now curing this heavy burden.
This heavy debt.
And even if that pet does well, what if that pet needs future care?
If you're a pet parent that's already maxed out your resources, what do you do?
And so one of the things that's unique about furlanthropy is that you
can fundraise for future expenses, present expenses, or past expenses.
And so we, you can raise those funds and get reimbursed for the
money that you've already spent.
Anke: Oh, okay.
So.
Like, what's the, what's the model?
So I mean, who, who goes there?
Is it people who go, well, I can't afford, you know, I want to
give that pet a home, but I can't afford those ridiculous vet bills.
And who, who are typically the people who donate are that like, is, is that
companies or is that private people or, or who's doing the donating?
Adam: Short answer is yes, all the above.
Um, what we've seen in the past 18, 20, uh, 24 months, um, about two years now,
I guess it's been two years, uh, since we first opened our website, uh, we've
helped 175 pets and we've distributed.
Just over today, literally today, as did the numbers we just reached.
I wanna see if we could reach that a hundred thousand dollars mark.
And we did, which is really exciting to think that our donors have contributed
not only for our operating costs, which is very slim, um, but also
they've contributed in all these fundraisers and then direct gifts to
furlanthropy, um, over a, just, just over a hundred thousand dollars, uh,
in preventing the suffering of pets.
And so it's everybody involved.
It's the, it's the veterinarian.
Who's maybe having that conversation with a pet parent?
What do we do?
And, uh, they're, they're recommending furlanthropy.
Uh, they can create the fundraising campaign on their behalf.
Or it's the pet parent coming to the veterinarian and saying, Hey, just so you
know, this is how I plan to pay this bill.
You're gonna hear from furlanthropy, they're gonna be calling.
'cause that's one of the unique things.
That's why donors love this model.
There's so much fraud.
There's so much scams out there.
Anke: Yeah.
Adam: And so that was one of the things that really drove this, this whole
idea, uh, 'cause as a fundraising, uh, professional, it, it really bothers
me when I see, uh, people who give from the kindness of their heart.
We know giving is never not personal, whether it's a
dollar or a million dollars.
And so to see that gift not go where it's supposed to go is, is gut wrenching.
So we change that, we solved that.
Uh, so every single fundraiser that's created, we call a veterinarian
and we verify this is a real pet.
This is a real expense and when the money's raised, we send it directly
to wherever that need is located.
Oh.
So that then encouraged the veterinarians to say, you know what?
I think we'll contribute to this.
'cause they know ultimately those funds are gonna come to them.
'cause there's a lot of situations where, you know, the, the veterinarian
will, will take an IOU or discount services, maybe tragically the pet.
Passes away.
Um, or for whatever reason, the pet parent just says, you know what?
I'm not gonna pay you.
And then the veterinarian is stuck holding that burden.
And sadly, I did not know this when I, when I began furlanthropy.
Sadly, veterinary professionals have one of the highest suicide rates of
any profession, which is just daunting.
In fact, we someone who used our, our platform to raise
$5,000, uh, for a charity that helps veterinary professionals
with mental health issues, so.
It's, it's such a special, important, um, niche in here, in this whole, um,
process of helping not just prevent the suffering of animals, but to
reduce that financial burden so that, that the veterinary professional
isn't carrying it, but then also the pet parent doesn't have to carry it.
Uh, so if they can have that, that, that veterinary expense paid for,
they're more likely to proceed with, with future expenses as well.
But again, every fundraiser is verified.
Funds are sent directly to the need.
What also makes us really unique is that we are a 5 0 1 C3 registered charity.
So unlike GoFundMe and the other 2000 for-profit companies, because we're a
nonprofit, every single donation that you make is tax deductible eligible.
And so we know with the new tax laws next year, every person, every individual.
Who has to pay taxes can file up to a thousand dollars in charitable
giving or 2000 as a house household.
Um, and so it, it's gonna benefit everybody, you know,
financially who, who donates.
But it's, it's, you ask who gives, it's the folks who, who just have
a heart for what we're doing and, and believe in what we're doing.
And they value the, those, um, those unique distinctives, um, that making sure
that it's secure and it's verifiable.
Anke: That's, that's fascinating because I see it a lot and like here in Spain
where I'm, you know, like, like rescues, that's usually, you know, was so, you
know, usually run by a couple of girls with no jobs and scraping by and they're
constantly, here's my PayPal link.
Right?
And then, and then next thing you know, it's like other people write
on the, on the, on the back of that.
And then they will just kind of post photos of dogs in misery and
put their, you know, and then they fa they finance their holidays
with it or whatever they do.
Right.
But it's like, I think that making sure that really goes to the right place,
I think that gives a lot of, that.
Builds a lot of trust.
Adam: It does.
It does.
Anke: That makes so much sense.
Adam: And, and I, I was gonna say, in addition to that, you know, financially,
what, what makes that really special and unique for the donor as well?
If you look at crowdfunding globally in general, uh, because again, it's housed by
for-profit companies, you're limited into the kinds of gifts that you can give to
a GoFundMe or another platform like that.
You can only give from your bank account.
Or I guess you could give from your credit card, but most people
don't go into debt for charity, so it's literally your bank account.
Well, what makes it unique?
What furlanthropy affords individuals is the opportunity
to give any non-cash asset.
Towards that campaign.
So literally our brand new website that I'm excited to
announce is coming this month.
And uh, on there you'll be able to click on any pets, a fundraiser,
any individual's fundraiser, and you can click a button.
You can give Cash App or Venmo or Apple Pay, but you can also click
a button and donate stock gifts.
Directly to that fundraiser, you can click a button and donate from
your donor-advised fund directly to, to that, uh, fundraiser.
It's never been done before.
And so what we're gonna see over the course of the next couple months and
years is the average crowdfunding gift is gonna go from 10 $20.
It's gonna skyrocket because now people can give from other buckets of funding
than just what they have in the bank.
Anke: Wow.
That's, that's fascinating.
I mean, see, I'm like, now that we've got a professional in the
room here, I'm really curious.
Um, 'cause I've seen, you know, like people on Facebook as, oh, you know, like
GoFundMe and all of these for various kind of causes and what I've noticed that
there's some that do really well, right?
You come in there and they tell the story and people seem
to be donating a lot, right?
And others don't.
Right.
So.
If you were to give a tip for somebody creating a campaign like that, you
know, what should they be taken into account or what, what should they
think about when they, how will you present your case so that people
feel it's worth, um, donating to?
Adam: Yeah, that's a great, great question.
And I mean this genuinely, not just because I, I started furlanthropy.
Um, but truly if you have a need come to furlanthropy for all the reasons
I just mentioned, you're gonna have a greater chance of, of raising greater
amounts of money because there's more buckets that we can pull from.
So that in and of itself, I mean, you can try those other, and they and those
other, uh, platforms do do good work.
Um, but donors will, if you give donors an option of more ways for
them to give and more types of gifts to give, then naturally.
You are gonna get greater gifts and for folks who need
that charitable tax deduction.
Going through furlanthropy, you, you provide that for them.
So you're gonna get larger size of the gifts.
And one of the unique things about our platform is with the AI technology
and, and the robust features behind this, the second you click start
on your fundraiser, not only is it is it, uh, shared on our website,
it's immediately shared on Facebook.
So you have two fundraisers, uh, simultaneously, they're
both related to each other.
But you have really two things pushing that need and, and with that it's a
really e uh, user-friendly platform.
So it only takes a few minutes.
Uh, but there's an opportunity there to show videos.
I can tell you just in the past two years, um, the individuals who
have done the most successful in their fundraising, it's the images.
Um, 'cause when you grab someone's heart, you touch someone's soul.
It, it changes everything.
And so, um, describing, uh, where the need is.
Um, but why is that?
Why is your pet so special to you?
Why is that furry family member so important to you?
And sharing those many videos?
And as many pictures as you can.
And again, the advantage of furlanthropy is the donor knowing, you know what?
This is real, I don't even have to question it.
It's been verified.
This person's real.
This pet is real.
This expense is real.
And if I give all these wonderful ways that actually benefit me as a
donor, but if I give, it's actually gonna go directly to the need.
And so those are all powerful things that have not traditionally existed.
So we're really upending that traditional model of crowdfunding.
Anke: I mean, I love that you kind of sent this straight over to
Facebook because that's also the other, the next question, right?
I mean, I see it more mostly like in the online business kind of space when people.
Wanna promote something and then, well, if you don't have an audience,
like you are kind of stuck, right?
Because if you don't normally, or if you're not normally access
active on social media, right?
You could post whatever you want.
Nobody's gonna see it.
Nobody's gonna care, right?
So, and most people.
And say, if you are in, in the, in the business space, and like,
well, that's part of your job to build that audience, right?
Mm-hmm.
But if I am having my pet and I'm just doing my life with my pet,
and now I have a need, I don't necessarily have an audience.
Right.
So how, how do you suggest, or how can you help people actually reach,
um, you know, potential donors?
Adam: Sure.
Well, lemme start by saying on that platform, there's a place where
you can email your, uh, I was just talking to someone yesterday who I
was shocked and she said I only have three Facebook friends and she's very
personable and knows a lot of people.
Um, but she has other connections in other ways and so she's
able to take a copy that link.
And put that in the email.
She's also able to download, you're able to download your, your, uh, fundraiser
and just having those conversations.
You know, we get this, these questions all the time, you
know, can you please help me?
I'll do anything to help my pet.
Oh, I can't fundraise though.
Wait a minute.
You just said you'd do anything to help your pet.
So I think there's that stigma.
A little bit of fear.
I don't wanna ask anybody for help, but here's the secret, what I've
learned in 20 years of fundraising.
It's not about the ask, it's about the donor in their heart.
And so when people give, the reason why donors give is to ultimately fulfill
something that's already in their heart.
Charities think it's their mission, uh, or their cause, but it really starts there.
They're not gonna give if they don't believe that your pet is
real and if it's a real need.
But it starts with fulfilling the why in their heart.
And so that individual who says, I'm gonna give, I don't know you, but I saw your,
you're a fundraiser on the furlanthropy website, and, uh, I just lost my dog,
and I want to give a memory of my dog.
Or, I'm not allowed to have dogs anymore.
I can't take care of them, but I love them enough that I wanna support.
And so those, what you are providing is an opportunity for people to be a blessing,
um, in supporting your fundraiser.
If I had a dollar for every time someone said, thank you
for letting me make this gift.
Recently someone gave, gave a hundred thousand dollars to another cause
that I help and, and they cry.
They said, thank you for letting me give this gift.
And so sure you can do it tomorrow again if you want.
No, but, but literally.
Right.
But that's the, but that's the heartbeat behind the donor.
And so it's not as hard and complicated and scary as we make it to be.
You're just connecting your story.
With donors hearts.
And so you have a lot of people and, uh, you can call and, and by the way, they
can give, they don't have to give online.
So if you have a conversation with your neighbor.
And they say, you know, we'd like to help, but, but maybe your
neighbor wants to be anonymous.
Um, they can still send a check in the mail, uh, to, to furlanthropy.
They can send a donor-advised fund gift or a stock gift to us offline, and then we
can apply that amount to your fundraiser.
And so you do know a lot of people, even if you're someone who's not on Facebook, I
promise you there are people in your orbit who would help if you just invited them.
And then in addition to that, we as philanthropies, we're still
young, we're still growing, um, but we have a following.
We have folks who just give us money and say, you know what?
We don't care what cat you help or what dog, we just want you to help.
And so we do contribute to, uh, to our, our clients, uh, to fundraisers.
Campaigns.
We can't contribute to all of them, obviously.
Um, but, but we do encourage And, and the other thing I
would just say real quickly is.
Tell your veterinarian what you're doing, invite them to give and because if you're
a veterinarian, I mentioned this earlier, if your veterinarian knows that, number
one, they're gonna see those funds back, and number two, they get a charitable
tax deduction, that's a win-win.
Right.
I mean, if your veterinarian gave to the local Humane Society or
local charity, they're gonna get a recognition and a tax receipt.
But if they give to furlanthropy, they're gonna go get recognition,
a tax receipt, and Right.
That.
Right.
So it's a win-win for everybody.
And so, um, so I think there's a lot of distinctives that will really help.
And, and here's one more thing.
We, we.
We distribute funds every single Friday, um, and if it's an
emergency situation within 48 hours.
So we don't wait until your, uh, 30 days, or wait until your campaign
reaches a hundred percent of its goal.
We wanna get those funds out of our hands that have been raised directly
to the need as quick as possible.
And so pet parents appreciate that, veterinarians appreciate that.
Uh, so it's getting those funds as quick as possible.
Majority of our fundraisers to date haven't reached a
hundred percent of their goal.
That's gonna change with this new platform.
It's gonna double.
But what I have found is even the fundraisers that
raised 75, 80% of their goal.
Is life changing and it's not always the $10,000 expense.
We just had a conversation with a, with a precious, uh, senior saint
recently who is battling cancer, and she said, uh, I, I, I need to
raise $300 for medicine for my dog.
My dog is, is battling cancer.
She says, I just can't imagine spending the, my remaining days without
my precious, precious for a baby.
So in that situation, I said, don't worry about the fundraiser.
We're gonna, we're gonna just gonna pay for it.
But it's, it's sometimes that barrier.
It's only a few hundred dollars.
Now, that might not be a lot to, to some people, but for a lot
of people that's a huge barrier.
And so it doesn't take a lot of dollars to make a little transformational difference.
Anke: Wow.
I mean, that's, I, I think, sounds like quite emotional.
Like, you know, you gotta, but we have your little, you know, like
hot on your sleeve all day long.
Right?
Adam: It really is.
It really is.
Anke: Yeah.
I mean, and so now I'm also curious, so, so you are basically, okay,
it's a nonprofit, but you guys, you guys have expenses as well, so they
will always be also, I always wonder like how do nonprofits make money?
Like they kind of need to keep the lights on, right?
So how does that work?
Adam: We raise money specifically for our operating costs.
Um, I can tell you I don't get paid.
Uh, we have no employees.
We have a lot of volunteers, a couple contractual people, uh, just to make
sure that we're, we're doing things as professionally as possible, but
we run a very slim operating budget.
You know, sometimes you, uh, look up a charity and you find out their CEO
is making tons of money, or I got a phone call the other day someone
wanted me to donate to a cause that I thought was wonderful until they said.
Only 10% of my gift was gonna go to help that cause always do your homework and,
and see if it's more than 10, maybe 20.
My wife and I, we don't give to any organization that gleans more than
20%, uh, for operating costs for us.
Uh, we glean 10% of every donation to reserve that to not only help
fund our operations to have a.
A robust online program and, and all the legal things that
come with running a charity and fundraising across the country.
Um, but also to be able to be in a position to help other, other, uh,
fundraisers that are less, less popular.
And so, um, we rely on a lot of unrestricted gifts.
Uh, I can share with you that Petmart Charities gave us a $204,000
grant, uh, which was incredible.
Um, and that was a huge shot in the arm, uh, for this young charity a
year ago that nobody knew about.
And they said, you know what?
You guys are doing so such innovative things, we think you're gonna make
such a huge impact, uh, that we want to get behind this from the start.
And so that was a great, uh, not just their support, but having their,
their endorsement, uh, was awesome.
So, yes, uh, if there are individuals watching that wanna make a
donation to help us, it literally goes towards our mission of, of
preventing the suffering of, of pets.
Anke: I love that.
I love that.
So you were mentioning vets, so if somebody goes, well, you know, my dog.
Has kind of had an accident and needs to be, needs like, I don't
know, like massage or chemotherapy or like, you know, chiropractor section.
Would that also be included or is it strictly beds?
Adam: Any, any animal related cause and it doesn't have to
be urgent or emergency related.
It could be.
Uh, we had, uh, in, in right here in, in our, our hometown, we had
an individual who just needed arthritis medicine for her pet.
And it was just a couple hundred dollars.
So it doesn't have to necessarily be emergency or life threatening.
And it's, it's, doesn't have to be just for, um, for pets.
Uh, for cats and dogs.
It can be for any pet.
It could be for equine needs.
You see a picture of a horse behind me.
It could be for boarding fees, it could be for food, uh, it
could be for disaster relief.
We had an individual who lost everything in a home fire.
And, uh, a lot, several national and local charities showed up and
provide financial assistance for the family, but nothing for the pets.
Mm-hmm.
And which is often the case in those darkest hours, the pets are often the,
the least to be the last to be helped.
And so we raise $500.
It started a furlanthropy fundraiser.
We raised $500 and she just cried.
She said The thought of after losing everything, the thought of being separated
from my pets just because I couldn't afford to feed them, was heartbreaking
for me and my kids, and having them with us, our furry family members, keeping
our families together meant so much in helping us on our road to recovery.
So, uh, it was just $500, but, so it can be used for that.
It can be used if you wanna raise to a fundraiser for your favorite charity.
Uh, it could be a local or national, any animal related cause.
Anke: I love that.
I love that.
So where can people go and, uh, you know, check it out and
go to the brand new website.
You know, find, find out more about you
Adam: furlanthropy.org.
Just like it sounds furlanthropy, uh, furlanthropy.org.
Anke: I love that.
Well, thank you so much.
This is, was really eye opening and fascinating and it's such beautiful work
because I've seen, you know, I have, I heard cases where it's like, okay, yeah,
don't have the money to pay for this and the heart break is, I don't even
wanna think about, you know, having to.
Let my dogs like suffer or having to lose them because I can't,
you know, because of the money.
So it's just beautiful.
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing that and I really hope,
and I have no doubts really that you'll be doing spectacularly well.
So thank you.
Adam: Thank you an appreciate you so much.
Thank you for your kindness and thank you for what you do.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thanks so much for listening.
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