TulsaPets Magazine September 2020

8 TulsaPets • September/October 2020 T he COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses, charities and organizations into a strenuous position. The Tulsa SPCA felt these challenges particularly hard as many longtime donors were laid-off, furloughed or given less hours at work. Some donors faced restricted income that resulted in little to no money left to give to charitable organizations, such as the SPCA, while other donors began shifting their contributions from animals to their human counterparts to help fight the worldwide crisis. Specifically, the Tulsa SPCA saw substantially less newsletter subscribers, fewer individuals donating financially, smaller financial donations, and large-scale corporate donors either halting their financial gifts or shifting their donations to directly human causes. In addition to slowed donations, the SPCA also took a hit as quarantine measures forced all of the foundation’s fundraising events online, where they brought in approximately 50% less income than in-person events. The Tulsa SPCA also had a severe drop in revenue due to the closing of their public clinic during the eight weeks of mandated quarantine, beginning the middle of March and lasting through the middle of May. Although the clinic has since reopened, extensive safety measures, such as curbside service instead of walk-in reception, have lowered the number of patients the organization is able to serve each day; therefore, profits remain down. In order to continue serving the community, the organization has made a number of creative adjustments to recover as much revenue as possible and cut costs. One strategy is to carefully monitor the usage of supplies and ensure every last bit is used to its maximum benefit. Additionally, most animals previously housed at the shelter have been placed in foster care homes, relieving the number of supplies, utilities and staff needed to maintain the animals and facilities on a daily basis. With less personnel needed, some staffing cuts were made. However, a number of employees were moved from their previous departments, where the workload has depleted, to the clinic, where the workload has increased since its reopening. Adapting to the new climate, the Tulsa SPCA has opened up a new stream of revenue through the online sale of products, such as flea, tick and heartworm preventatives, to current Tulsa SPCA clinic clients. Zoom classes are also being offered as a way to educate the community, following social distance guidelines while providing another revenue stream. Finances have become tighter, but the need for the SPCA has only grown. In 2019 alone, the Tulsa SPCA accomplished these impressive numbers: • adopted out 689 dogs • adopted out 438 cats • microchipped 2,425 animals • performed 4,390 spay/neuters • gave 14,890 vaccinations • completed 878 cruelty investigations WRITTEN BY: Amy Greene Pressing on in Trying Times