RUFF START RESCUE INC
Connecting People & Pets
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Programs and results
What we aim to solve
It is estimated that over 1 million animals were euthanized in the United States in 2020 simply due to lack of space in shelters and rescues. The reasons animals enter shelters can vary and may include behavioral or medical issues associated with the animal; the owner can no longer afford or does not have time to care for the animal; or the animal is lost/stray/feral. Ruff Start Rescue seeks to be a solution to the pet overpopulation problem and not only provide refuge and care for homeless companion animals but find ways to help keep pets in their homes. Additionally, many communities lack the tools, resources, and educational opportunities available to improve the state of animal welfare.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Animal Care Program
This program focuses on the rescue, refuge, rehabilitation, and rehoming of homeless companion animals. These animals may have originated from a variety of situations. These situations include high-risk shelters, owner surrenders, stray/abandoned animals, and hoarding cases/puppy mills. All animals are provided with routine and advanced veterinary care prior to being adopted into loving homes. Routine veterinary care includes providing required vaccines (rabies & DHPP/PRC), microchipping, spaying or neutering, internal and external parasite preventatives, and deworming. Some animals may require more advanced veterinary services that include but are not limited to dentals with or without extractions, orthopedic repairs or amputations, administration of antibiotics for infections and much more.
Children's Education Program
The mission of the education program is to help children and families become responsible, compassionate and empathetic pet owners by providing them with education on pet care, adoption and safety.
We hope to encourage pet adoption versus seeking out animals through pet shops. Additionally, by educating the next generation on the importance of spaying & neutering we may be able to see the impact 10-20 years from now with less homeless pets. We present to scout troops, schools, youth groups and more.
In 2016, we also launched our Junior Volunteer Days initiative which is designed to encourage children and their families to volunteer to make various arts and crafts for the animals in our care. These events also serve as an opportunity to educate and discuss various animal welfare topics.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of animals rehomed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Animal Care Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of animals rescued
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Animal Care Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Ruff Start Rescue did a clean up of its volunteer database and found that 200 of our volunteers were no longer actively involved in the organization, which accounts for the decline from 2020.
Total pounds of pet food and litter distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Animal Care Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
RSR received a semi-load of donated dog and cat food in 2021 that we were able to pass along to community food shelves and animal rescues and shelters. 2022- metric changed to items (no longer lbs)
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of children reached through Education Program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Children's Education Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The bulk of our education program takes place in traditional elementary classrooms. Due to COVID-19 and the move to online classroom formats, Ruff Start's education reach during 2020 decreased.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We strive to end pet overpopulation by providing refuge and care to homeless and at-risk companion animals. We also seek to offer educational opportunities and resources to the public as a means to prevent animal relinquishment, pet overpopulation, and unnecessary euthanasia. Finally, we form and sustain relationships with other non-profits, businesses, and community members as a means to share resources, better our communities, and further our mission.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
To diminish pet overpopulation and care for homeless pets, Ruff Start Rescue provides refuge to animals through a volunteer foster-based model. Since inception in 2010, Ruff Start Rescue has cared for thousands of animals and sustained a 100% spay/neuter policy. All rescued animals are spayed or neutered prior to adoption. All animals are provided with routine and advanced veterinary care and microchipped before going to their forever families. We also believe in serving as a resource for those who utilize our services. We work closely with adopters to assist in the pet's transition from the rescue to their new home, and maintain contact in some cases long after the animal is adopted. We also established a policy that Ruff Start Rescue adopters must return the animal into our care if at any time they can no longer care for the animal.
We also offer a children's animal welfare education program that teaches youth about the importance of animal rescue and responsibility. This program helps children and young adults become responsible, compassionate and empathetic pet owners by educating them on pet care, adoption, and safety. We hope to influence and educate the younger generation so the future holds fewer homeless pets and more responsible pet owners. Our message includes education on adopting animals from rescues rather than shopping for them in pet stores. We also promote the message of the importance of spaying and neutering animals. We hope to offer classes, seminars, and workshops in the near future for community members of all ages.
Ruff Start Rescue also provides no-cost spay/neuter services for community and feral/barn cats when funding is available. This is another tool to help diminish pet overpopulation and offer resources to those who may seek out this assistance but may not have the financial means to do so on their own. We currently collaborate with local mobile spay/neuter clinics to conduct these surgeries.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Ruff Start Rescue has its own on-site veterinary suite that allows us to perform our own spay/neuter surgeries along with other simple surgeries like limb and eye removals, and dental procedures. To do this work, Ruff Start has two veterinarians on staff along with 5 vet techs. While Ruff Start is a foster-based rescue, we do have a facility that can provide temporary shelter for few dogs and cats in emergency/urgent situations when foster homes are unavailable. This sheltering option can also be used for small-scale Trap-Neuter-Return of feral/barn cats.
Over the years we have acquired a large number of volunteers and fosters that assist in a wide variety of areas. Without these amazing individuals, we could not continue our programming. We rely heavily on our volunteers to help in the day-to-day operations of the organization and care of the several hundred animals we have in rescue at any given time. These volunteers also help in the recruitment of new volunteers and fosters so we can continue to expand our service capacity and rescue more animals each year.
We are in the process of expanding our marketing/promotional efforts to highlight our current services as well as to promote some components of the Adopters Welcome" approach. Adopters Welcome is a program that seeks to remove barriers to pet adoption. These barriers may include high adoption fees, a lengthy adoption process (extending over several days/weeks), and home and reference checks. With the removal of some of these barriers, we can increase adoptions and simultaneously free up foster homes to care for more animals in need of rescue.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
On average, we have 500 animals in rescue at any time. We rescue animals from overflowing shelters, owner surrenders, hoarding situations, and care for unclaimed strays. We also continue to develop relationships with area businesses and non-profits that have helped spread our message and encourage further involvement from community members.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
RUFF START RESCUE INC
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2024
Valerie McCullough
RUFF START RESCUE
Term: 2021 -
Azure Davis
No Affiliation
Susan Bloom
Retired
Peter Williams
Veit & Company
Kristen Bergstrom
Tennant Company
Valerie McCullough
Read & Math, Inc.
Samuel Lee
U.S. Bancorp
Jason Michels
Sarah Benbow
Kristine Mitteness
Brooks Becker
Amanda Rothstein
MPR
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/04/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.