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161 sats \ 2 replies \ @faradayfedora 13 Sep 2023 \ on: Is NOT easy to help! bitcoin
So I can actually give you a bit of insite here. I've been working in the non profit sector for over 20 years, just shy of 10 of that has been with an animal welfare organization and for the last 2 I've run a shelter. My experience is from the other side of the world in western Canada but I think it's a safe bet the shelters over there are dealing with similar issues.
So first off is a current state of the industry and just a macro state of the world. With the pandemic we a few things happen and we are now paying the price. With people being at home we saw the demand for pets go up, alot of people took in dogs because they had time, now we see alot of untrained large breed dogs in shelter with no training, people. Give them up because they can't find a pet friendly rental, they are back at work full time or just straight up they can't afford to feed them. And cats on the other hand, we saw a huge drop off of kittens coming in during 2020, normally people if they cat had kittens they would bring them to us to get them fixed and find them home, instead they gave those kittens to friends and family maybe a few of them got fix. Even if only of those kittens have offspring it compounds quickly, year one it's 12, year 2 it's in the 60s, year 3 it's coming up close to 400 and year 4 it will be over 2000.
Second part is accepting Bitcoin isn't costless with the current state of adoption.
If DarthCoin kicks down the door of my shelter today and says he wants to send me 1BTC to help the animals. If I setup a wallet to accept it, the value of it is mostly likely going to be eaten up by accounting to make sure it's all handled properly and its not going to screw us when we get audited at tax season. And you would need a whoooole lot of BTC to make up for that.
But don't loose hope, we are still very very early days of Bitcoin adopt. If you help one shelter/rescue/TNR group with accepting Bitcoin donations that will be a huge success.
You are going to be looking the sweet spot of a org big enough that they have someone dedicated to fundraising/accounting but small enough that they are willing to navigate the legal/financial waters with accepting BTC.
The TLDR is shelters are getting slammed right now, fundraising is important but we have to prioritize our animals.
Spay/neuter your pets!
Thanks for your reply and all the info provided. There are problems with dogs & street cats everywhere.
I don't think the accounting issue will be a big problem for the small shelters, most of them accept cash in hand...so I don't think they will declare 100% of that income.
So far, they way that I have helped the most, is adopting a second dog and going as a volunteer to a shelter. But I really would like to see a local shelter accepting BTC.
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Yeah that's where I'm saying you need to find that sweet spot sized org. If they are small enough that their financial situation is cash donated instantly get used to pay stuff then Bitcoin is just money with extra steps and not worth the hassle in their view.
Once adoption is at the point that their vendors are taking Bitcoin it will look a whole lot more attractive to take as donations. Where Bitcoin will have the biggest impact today is organizations looking to save for the future. That actually might be a way to lead it and get a bit more traction. Rather then saying "hey I want to help you accept Bitcoin" say instead "I want to make a small Bitcoin donation that you guys could save for future use."
That way they are getting something rather then the possibility of future donations.
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