Annual report for 2014

2014 ANNUAL REPORT

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone that supported AHWF in the 2014 calendar year. Because of your contributions of time, treasure and talents,                                                                                                   we can continue our mission for our 13^th year!  

2014 AHWF budget

EXPENSES:                   

  proposed  &  actual

     300              365      Fund Raising (including merchandise)

     543              544      Marketing

     960              980      Utilities

  4,000           9,920      Animal Care & Educational Mission (including Large Flight Barn)

  4,500   (wct funded)   Large Flight Barn  

20,000                0        Nature Trail*

60,000                0        Classroom & Educational Items* 

 

REVENUE:  

 1,750               3,472   Memberships & Merchandise       

 1,800                1,496   Events and Aluminum recycling & other programs                        

 3,500              10,325   One Foot Donations and Grants

80,000                      0   Phase III Funding* (if funded)

                          3,693   In-Kind contributions (excluding labor)        

WILDLIFE

By December 31, we estimate the total number of phone calls received will be not quite 250. The total number of individual wild animals for 2014 is seventy three. This year had by far surpassed our previous years in quantity and diversity. We also surpassed our reach into other parts of the state. Because of the ability to maintain our presence locally and online through website, social media, etc. we are making connections to keep all of Idaho wild. Our dedicated volunteers donated hundreds of hours each year to provide care for our native neighbors.

Specifically memorable animals were the orphaned Coyote pup brought to us from Idaho Fish and Game, the Eastern Kingbird fledgling, the Northern Painted Turtle with shell trauma, the Raven injured from gunshot wounds, 2 orphaned Chipmunk siblings, and the group of ‘just hatched’ Wild Turkeys. We also cared for other wild animals including Raccoons, several Pine Squirrels as well as Fox Squirrels, Mallard Ducks, Canada Geese, many types of songbirds such as Cedar Waxwings.       

As is the case every year, some of the animals were successfully released back into their wild habitat; some simply had injuries to traumatic to recover from. Each animal however, was provided the best environment we could offer with our very limited resources.     

The saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is no less applicable to wild animals. Our total hours of volunteered time will again be near 2,000 by the end of 2014. Bear in mind, from April through September our volunteers donated 1,300 hours! (65 hours each week for 5 months) One project completed was to add sand to our existing aviary. Another project that has been in need of completion is placing metal onto the existing wood roof of our Raccoon enclosure. We were finally able to throw away that old tarp! We also began our new aviary. The majority of this time however, came from direct wildlife care and our lead wildlife volunteer (also the founder and board president) all while juggling four part-time (paying) jobs. She cannot complete successful rehabilitation alone – she must have help! Heart felt gratitude and thanks goes out to Amy, Ann, Beth, Bev, Bob, Carol, Carolyn, Danny, Darcy, Doreen, Eileen, Frances, Gail, Jenny, Jessica, Jutta, Kelsey, Leann, Lynn, Marguerite, Mary, Mike, all the Members, Paul, the Razoo crowd, Ronda, Sharon, Sherry, Sue, Tim, of course the ‘orange vest crew’ as well as our board of directors. Each person made the effort to help the mission of AHWF. In their own way, be it bird babysitter, animal taxi, fundraising event sponsor, infirmary or highway clean up, wildlife caretaker, public relations, social media promoter, Yokes escrip card and IGive program user, accountant, wildlife photographer, or financial supporter, each person made a difference in the life of a wild animal. This special group has chosen to keep North Idaho WILD! This is my question for each of you reading this document – will you take the pledge to present the present as a present for future generations? Go to our website to see what fundraising platforms are of interest to you (or keep reading); call today to discuss your area of interest and discuss when you are available to volunteer; Email us to provide your expertise or skill sets. THEY need you.             

 A recent survey compiled by a national wildlife agency reported 80 percent of all animals taken to wildlife rehab facilities are due to some type of human cause. Some are obvious such as cat or dog attack others are related to 'hidden' means - lead poisoning, loss of quality habitat (leading to increased territorial  battles and /or starvation) and simply mistaken identity by kidnapping a youngster. 

Some of the important environmental issues are being supported by a number of nonprofits. To review the results of cats versus songbirds go to www.abc.org (american bird conservancy). To find out the facts about bats and rabies visit bat conservation international.  To find out more about the destruction caused by mining visit our local NPO www.rockcreekalliance.org. For issues relating to the coal trains go to www.powerpastcoal.org and www.coalisnottheanswer.org. Also visit lake pend oreille waterkeepers website to learn of the major threat of biomagnification. Wildlife biologists report findings to the USFWS. Through one of our NPO affiliations we receive these studies. AHWF volunteers try to keep our local public informed by posting onto our social media sites when findings are of interest and related to species in North Idaho.                 

We continue to receive calls regarding Large Game animals such as Bear, Cougar, Moose and Deer. We refer the calls involving the Ungulates (namely deer) to a nearby wildlife rehabilitator with that specific permit. Without her the panhandle, the northern white-tailed deer have no place to go for care. She is however in need of ‘downsizing’ and needs someone to take over her overflow. We want to be that facility. The calls regarding large game mammals are still being forwarded to the Idaho Fish and Game as we do not have the permits to provide care at this time. We are one step closer however. Due to the closure of longtime rehabbers in the Lewiston area we were able to acquire one large chainmesh enclosure. We anticipate we will need to gain additional training from the nationally recognized Idaho Black Bear Rehab facility, located in Boise. At this time there are only two active NPO (nonprofit organizations) with facilities caring for large game – one in Boise and one in McCall. We need your help to acquire funding to construct sufficient enclosures before we approach our very receptive wildlife game warden. He is eager to recommend AHWF as a third facility to accommodate these species in the panhandle of Idaho.      

Education & Public Outreach         

Modern Technology allows us to both educate and reach out to our public. We are utilizing social media to the best of our ability (we remain in a deadzone of only dial-up internet access) to keep our community informed and educated. We provide updates on our facebook   , twitter   , blogger   , vimeo   , youtube   , linkedin   ,      pinterest   , formerly  squidoo now hubpages, and newly created diviantart sites. Additionally, our website provides a wealth of information about all our native neighbors, the various AHWF fundraising programs, wild animal photographs, volunteer and board member forms, links to our illustrated children’s books and is updated frequently with information about upcoming events. If you enjoy posting and tweeting and pinning and blogging PLEASE give us a call and we will be ever appreciative if you could take over as our s ocial media coordinator!

Our ability to provide educational demonstrations was somewhat limited this year due to scheduling difficulties and lack of time from volunteers. We were able to attend only two directly educational demonstrations, three awareness events & four outreach activities. In years past we have completed up to 20 public events.     

We were invited to present flora and fauna – a perfect match at the Kinnickinnick Native Plant Society meeting this spring. Our reception was an overwhelming crowd of 65 people. And again this summer we were invited to speak with the youth at the PAS Critter Camp about the importance of all animals, including our native neighbors. 

 

Jan = Newsletter & promote the ‘one foot’ campaign.    

Feb = no event

Mar = Native Plant Society lecture & Spring Spruce Up (aviary & nature trail postponed). 

Apr = Highway 200 spring cleanup & Membership Meeting.   

May = 2^nd annual IDAHOGIVES online program (with Sandpoint donation stations)                 

Jun = Presentation @ PAS camp.

Jul = Newsletter & Clark Fork 4^th Celebration at CFHS.   

Aug = KRFY 88.5 radio morning show interview & Firewood Raffle & Infirmary cleanup day.  

Sep = Membership Meeting & Squeeze Inn benefit dinner & begin work on Nature Walk.    

Oct = Monarch Market Chili Dogs and Bake Sale benefit & Highway 200 autumn cleanup.          

Nov = continued work on the Aviary & conversion of 4 AHWF books to E-book format  

                                                                 (available on amazon, ibook, kobu, lulu & nook)*.

Dec = Annual Report & Christmas Art and Craft Fair & Christmas Party at the Winery.   

 

*There are five paper copy & bound books available: Logger’s Story – the orphan fawn, Logger Returns – the grown up adventures of our deer friend, Logger Makes New Friends, and Adventures of a Wildlife Special Agent- a choose your own adventure book. The activity book titled Fun Time with Logger is not compatible for e-book as it contains 54 different activities from crosswords to word scrambles, color by number songbirds to word searches and dot to dots to wild animal trivia. These books were written specifically for AHWF. All proceeds go directly to AHWF; they provide a small amount of revenue for the cause of wildlife rehab and community education and can be found on lulu.com or through google search.      

We set up a booth at the independence day celebration in Clark Fork and a table at the Christmas Craft show in the bonner mall. We were interviewed by KRFY 88.5 radio station for the morning show. Additional exposure came from the Idahopress.com and nickelsworth articles. We hosted  spring spruce up and fall cleanup days at our facility as well as two adopt a highway clean up scenic highway 200 sessions.   

Funds  

We began the year with less than $1,000 in the bank and no grant proposals being reviewed. We did not know how we were going to continue our vital work.

Our 2014 total expenses for the year are $11,809. Despite being frugal, we still operate on a budget requiring a minimum $10,000 annually. The categories are Wildlife, Education & Outreach, and Administrative & General Operating.

Wildlife expenses were for food, medical supplies & attention, professional membership fees, fuel cost to deliver or retrieve wildlife, and enclosure building materials, Northern Lights electricity & Frontier phone. The mission of Education & Outreach costs included venue reservations, educational materials, & fuel reimbursement.  The total for this category is $10,409.

While we still have no paid staff, our general operating expenses remain low. The monthly Frontier phone bill, NLI electricity, POVN internet and website hosting as well as the Local Pages phone book advertising are part of our overhead expenses. This category is the most difficult to acquire grant funding. This category is the one we rely on our community to assist us with the most. The total was $1,400.

We survived the year because of our generous community and their support of  various fund raising events: Collection Can placed at Monarch Market, Idaho Gives day of giving, Firewood Raffle, Squeeze Inn benefit dinner, Chilidogs + Bake Sale Monarch Market, Bonner Mall craft fair,& the Christmas Party at the Winery. Direct donations and memberships helped support our mission as well as the in-kind donations such as food, building materials, appliances, and advertising space.

Financial contributions were from received from various funding programs like Yokes escrip community card (group number 500042524), Fred Meyers community rewards, magazine subscriptions (through magfundraising.com/ahwf) and subscriptions to Bird Watchers Digest, GoodSearch (online search bar), recycling of aluminum cans or ink cartridges and other technology gadgets, home page site (Welzoo.com), crowd funding site Razoo, donation pages on Network for Good & justgive, shopping network toolbars (iGive), the donation of percentages of your online shopping purchases on eBay charity works& Amazon Smile.          

The year ended with the Affinity program from CapitalOne credit card (where AHWF received a percentage of all your purchases) being cancelled; it just like the program from Red Swan offering the donations of old and broken jewelry, will no longer provide supplemental revenue.  

Merchandise we earn a small percentage on is available from our storefront on cafepress.com/ahwf. You can find baby clothes, aprons, teddybears, coffee mugs, tote bags and more.  The book publishing site lulu.com site has all five of our books. They can be downloaded and printed or purchased through your Amazon kindle or fire, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBook, Kobu and Lulu e-book as well as traditional bound paperbacks.    

Additionally were so very blessed to receive $10,000 in grant awards. WCT provided the funding to begin and eventually complete our large aviary flight barn. This barn will have five individual areas that can be opened up in any variation to allow as much as the full 24 foot by 32 foot space. Without their support we could not have completed this major project as the promised support timbers were never delivered. 

The total revenue (including in-kind & labor) received to date an estimated $38,986.                   

 

Future

Future plans for American Heritage Wildlife Foundation will be to continue work on the Aviary Flight Barn through the winter and have it functioning by the spring season.  

We were again not able to send our lead volunteer of wildlife care to learn from the raptor expert in St. Maries. The time was simply not available. The mission of Bird of Prey Northwest is to provide education with and rehabilitation for injured raptors. The founder has generously offered to teach topics involving restraint, diagnosis of trauma & medical care for wing breaks so that we may improve our care of these valuable species. We hope this can take place in 2015 but time will tell. 

We began the process this autumn, of making a meandering Nature Walk through the diverse habitat on the leased AHWF property. We hope to continue this when the warmer 2015 weather allows. We will need help – many hands make light work! Perfect community service project for those able bodies willing to use rakes and shovels to level out the land, carry buckets of bark and mulch, pack wood beams to line the trail, paint signage, etc. We anticipate this type of nature trail will provide a stable means of revenue for AHWF.         

We are planning a presentation regarding what do if you find a wild animal baby. This will be at North Idaho Animal Hospital mid-April. We are discussing the possibility of a migratory bird day (or GBBC) event and an educational puppet show with Bonnie of IPT. We anticipate a few benefit dinners and bake sales. There will be two Scenic Highway 200 clean-up projects and two in-house clean-up projects. The annual celebration in Clark Fork on July 4^th will find us there as well as the December Craft Fair in the Mall. We will close the year with our annual Christmas Party.  

We will again join other Idaho Nonprofits for the IDAHOGIVES one day online day of giving. Each May all these charities come together in one place through Idaho Nonprofit Development Corporation to ask their communities to support their mission. Each year we have received generous support from those both near and far. Our goal for 2015 is $5,000. We have two categories: general operating support (for current expenses) and wildlife care center (for the expansion of AHWF).     

Due to potential conflict of 2015 employment the lead wildlife caregiver may not be readily available. This will require at least one intern to be trained and accommodations provided for. Onsite housing is the major concern. We are looking for a travel trailer that is self-contained. If you have one that you can lend, rent or will sell at a reasonable rate please contact us ASAP.   

American Heritage Wildlife Foundation is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization and all donations may be tax deductible. We are also an Idaho Nonprofit Incorporation; this does not however provide financial relief in any form. We are a member of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association. AHWF holds permits from the USFWS migratory bird department and Idaho State Fish and Game. The one acre we lease is a certified wildlife habitat. We are 100 % volunteer.        

                                                               Compiled and completed 1 December 2014 by K. St. Clair – McGee