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| ERRI Budget 2004-2005 |
You are here: Newsletters > December 2005 > ERRI Budget 2004-2005
Fiscal year ’04-’05 pretty successful, accounts now too low going into winter
By Laura W. Baier
For the first time in many years, ERRI came very close to a balanced budget during the 2004-2005 fiscal year. But board members and volunteers say ERRI still has a long way to go.
ERRI’s Advisory Board conducted a fundraising symposium in November to brainstorm ways the rescue could bring in more funds. Among ideas discussed were basket bingo, a dressage clinic, writing more grants, and looking to area businesses for more corporate dollars.
Guest speaker and ERRI volunteer Michelle Whittig told board members the rescue also needs to focus much more on publicity for established fundraising events like the AJC Benefit Joust for ERRI and Shawan Downs.
“Publicity for the joust was horrible,” Whittig said. “Most of the newspapers didn’t announce it and no one covered it.” She emphasized that ERRI also needs to beef up its calendar of events to increase fundraising opportunities.
But despite all the shortcomings and difficulties with running an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, ERRI fared pretty well for 2004-2005.
Total expenditures for the fiscal year were just over $79,800 and revenues totaled about $74,200.
ERRI founder and Board of Director’s President Debbie Rollins-Frank said she was pleased with the progress made but always wonders what the next year will bring.
“This group has worked so hard, and we had some really wonderful donors come through for us last year,” she said. “But we always worry.”
Frank has help float the rescue when it couldn’t cover its costs. At one point, ERRI owed $25,000 which was finally repaid last year.
Treasurer Susan Eckert told board members in December that ERRI’s account is dangerously low, once again.
“We have a little over $300 in the bank right now,” she said. “We need our grant to come through, and we need to bring in more money so we can cover our monthly $5000 in expenses.”
ERRI’s budget supports about 10 horses at a time, but ERRI currently has 14 horses due to the return of some horses by adoptive owners because of personal illness and extreme financial constraints.
Eckert said, “This has put a huge burden on us, but it is our mission – we just have to hope we can place some horses or make more money soon to cover our escalating costs.
Eckert said the best case scenario would be to make more money so ERRI could comfortably support more than 10 horses at a time.