18/09/2025
Is it all worth it?
Running RAA is unrelenting.
There's an endless to-do list.
There's constant financial pressure.
There's a serious impact on my personal income and work productivity, because RAA keeps pulling me away.
There's no down time - there’s always an urgent job that needs to be done late at night or on weekends.
There's constant criticism and questioning.
There's the need to justify every decision.
There's rumours and gossip.
There's people who don’t believe in our mission.
Running RAA is a constant GRIND. The hustle is real, the stress is real, the sacrifice is real, and the emotional impact is certainly real.
I feel panicked knowing there are thousands of dogs truly suffering out there, that the problem is getting WORSE, and that RAA is the ONLY group actively working to create lasting change for animals using an evidence-based, community-led approach.
That's a heavy burden to bear.
But our team has been showing up, day in and day out, to keep working towards a solution.
And yet, it seems like everything is against us right now.
Finances - we're constantly SCREAMING for money. It never seems to flow easily. We can never catch a brea. Every day, we're hustling to try and generate revenue without relying on donations - but it's simply not working. Invoices keep hitting our inbox and the money's not rolling in fast enough.
Rumours and Gossip - We have people actively trying to spread the word that we’re awful, immoral people who don’t even care about the dogs. That we spend too much on wages. That the money we receive isn't spent properly.
Competition - The competition between rescue groups is ridiculous. In fact, there's even an organisation who's actively trying to poach our volunteers, carers, sponsors and supporters (people we’ve spent years building trust with) by spreading lies. Lies we don’t get a chance to rebut, because professionalism and taking the higher ground will get us further in the long run. But it still hurts. Aren’t we all trying to achieve the same thing? Why are we competing?
Emotional turmoil - We're struggling through all the drama and personal attacks on top of dealing with the gruesome animal suffering that comes through our doors. It's not easy witnessing such awful welfare concerns as often as we do.
And I think, do I really need this?
Shouldn’t I be curling up in bed with a book after a fun evening spent with my toddler, instead of launching yet another fundraiser just to keep afloat?
Shouldn’t I spend my weekends as I please, doing something to fill my cup instead of living out of laundry baskets for months because folding clothes is never the priority?
And then there’s the guilt. The guilt of asking my husband to shoulder more than his fair share of housework. The guilt of not being fully present with my son because I’m worrying about the charity. The guilt of pressing ‘publish’ on a plea for help, knowing it’s going to be the same handful of incredible people handing over their hard-earned cash each time, but having no other option.
And for what?
I don't want sympathy or praise, but lately I've been asking myself - is this truly worth it?
I even asked ChatGPT why it all felt so hard. It told me that this period in a Founder’s journey is the hardest, when resources are tight, major funding hasn’t come through, labour requirements are huge, and the supporter base is still small. It’s a constant grind. Every single day. And it doesn’t feel fair. It feels relentless and unforgiving.
HOW can it be so hard when we are doing so much good?
We are DROWNING in bills.
Why is it that when we post an urgent rescue, the call is answered… but when we ask for help to keep our staff engaged in the necessary startup jobs, there’s silence....?
Do people not see the value in the long-term solution we’re proposing?
Are we not reaching enough people?
Is the magnitude of what we're dealing with too crazy to comprehend?
Is it easier to keep scrolling and assume we will find a solution on our own?
Sometimes it truly feels like people would rather rush in at the last minute to save a dog in crisis instead of investing in a REAL, lasting solution. This reactive assistance model costs thousands of dollars per dog and keeps animals in a never-ending cycle of suffering.
And we need to change that. But we can't do it without money.
We haven’t shared our strategic plan publicly for fear of other organisations taking advantage of our hard work and presenting the same solution to funding bodies.
But you know what, let them try. If they can get the money to roll out the programs we’ve designed in conjunction with councils, then that’s a win in my books. Anything that gets us closer to a lasting solution is a great step forward.
So here it is, for all to see: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mcEsFbhjUDztaWzNbMXlSwdVV7Q2RiI4/view?usp=sharing
This is our strategic proposal that we present to potential funding partners. We’ve spent a long time figuring out what’s causing this animal welfare crisis and working with stakeholders to propose a solution. We think this plan is a great start, however you’ll see that step one is ‘community co-design’ phase to ensure that we tailor our programs to each community’s unique needs.
What am I hoping to achieve out of this post?
Well, we've tried everything else. We've tried to be innovative and proactive in keeping our bank balance stable. But it's beyond that now. We are STRUGGLING, and we need help.
I hope that by sharing the burden of what we're dealing with behind the scenes at RAA, our audience might realise what we're up against and step forward to help.
I hope that by sharing our Strategic Proposal publicly, we can generate genuine understanding and support for our long-term goals. That we can find people who BELIEVE in what we're trying to do, even though it's hard to see the immediate outcomes.
I don't want to discredit our amazing existing supporters. There are people and organisations who donate often - whether little or lots - and they are the ones who have kept us afloat until now. There are people who give up their time OFTEN to run events or market stalls for us - rain, hail or shine.
There are so many incredible people who are already doing SO MUCH for RAA.
But it's not enough.
We need more money, and we need help getting it.
We are absolutely stretched to our limits in terms of how many fundraising avenues we can manage. We can't do more ourselves. We need your help.
What can you do?
DONATE - Whether it's by card, Apple Pay or straight into our bank account, you'll find a simple way to donate here: www.remoteanimalassistance.com/donate
SHOP - Check out our high-quality apparel for dog lovers: www.remoteanimalassistanceshop.com
BUY A TICKET - Support our weekly draw, with half the pot and awesome bonus prizes being given away each week: https://remoteanimalassistance.com/draw/
And there's a bunch of ways you can support our work without spending money:
🧡Donate your 10c containers: https://app.re-collect.com.au/register?tab=customer
🧡 List an item in our Virtual Op Shop: https://www.facebook.com/groups/raavirtualopshop
🧡 Share, interact with and comment on our posts
🧡 Talk to your friends and family about us
🧡 Host a birthday fundraiser on Facebook
🧡 Get involved - reach out to help with events, fundraising or other jobs.
We can't do this alone. We need your help now, more than ever.This
