New Fundraising Journeys

It was just this past June where I felt almost hopeless. I was certain that because our social media fundraising had almost dried up that we might just be looking at our last month or two of existing. I was so effing mad and sad and seething as to why everything seemed so bleak. I mostly hated myself because how could I ever say goodbye to these amazing animals that I promised to keep safe for their lifetime.
Fundraising is the bane of every nonprofits existence. Unless you have a department of fundraisers, as most large organizations do, you have to be scrappy. You first have to get over any kind of fear or shame or insecurity about asking for money. You have to stay focussed on the reason you are asking for money-the animals and the mission.
I could never let the animals down. I could never betray them. All my life I have had people who disappointed me, made promises that they never fulfilled. I never expected to be that person. I just wasn't going to let that happen to them, the kiddos here.
I had to fight. I had to figure out how to allow myself to feel shame and get past that shame when I asked for something I needed for them. I had to find new sources of potential funding. I had to do so many things that made me visible. I had to made myself seen so that Cloven Heart could be seen. I had to figure out how to make people in Central Texas understand the importance of our work on behalf of farmed animals. I had to speak to large crowds and individuals. I had to be willing to put myself in front of trains barreling past me and Cloven Heart's mission.
There's so many things about running a farmed sanctuary and sharing about being a vegan that sets people in a tizzy. Waco is about BBQ, not vegan food. Austin and Dallas is much more inclusive. Waco/China Spring is just wall after wall of disdain for the cause. I'm brave enough to withstand that to help people see these beautiful kiddos and the value of their lives, just as ours have value.
So here we are as a sanctuary, putting ourselves out there via our Vegan Vibes Block Party event. We have radio and media coverage of the event. We are expecting/hopeful a lot of people to come and see that eat BBQ and burgers the vegan way is still just as delicious. Food can be plant based and yummy.
Our new foray into fundraising was to secure corporate sponsors. We are talking weeks of going out and knocking on doors to get people to see the value in what you do. We are luck to have had a wonderful local board member who secured our vendors for the event. We have definitely leveled up in our fundraising game.
So, do we get to rest now? Nope. We have final details to get through today. Still gotta figure out and set up the event space for the vendors, for our own table at the event. Still doing the promoting and so much more. Did we manage to raise a few bucks to keep everyone fed? Yes. But we can't live in a revolving door of funding. We have to keep working at it to make sure that we can be fully funded with a surplus to fix up and improve the animals lives, grow to include more educational programs, and figure out how we can get three animal care staff so we aren't so freaking tired all the time doing every task at the sanctuary.
If you live in Texas, I hope you'll come out. If you don't, I hope you'll enjoy the social media posts. Thank you all for being on this journey with us to make Cloven Heart even more amazing.

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