11/12/2024
Help bluebonnet out by becoming a member or donating if you can. It's an amazing rescue and does so many great things for horses in need.
https://www.facebook.com/share/19yvdCVJ9y/
I sent this out to the Bluebonnet members earlier today, but I also know we have many supporters, former supporters, future supporters, and friends on our page who aren't currently members, and I wanted to share the 'state of the rescue' with you along with how you could get involved and make things better.
This will be long, but because we all love this rescue we’ve built and continue to improve and reinvent, I hope you’ll save this to read when you have some time.
Before I get too far, I want to tell you how much I appreciate each of you. Nearly twenty years ago, we built an amazing rescue – and we continue to improve and reinvent Bluebonnet to respond to the changing times. Whether you’ve been with us since February 2005, you joined us just yesterday, or you are somewhere in between, you are an amazing ambassador for horses in Texas and far beyond. You make the world a better place – both for the horses we all love, but also for the humans who love these horses. I would really love for you to take a moment to reflect on that.
While I was feeding the horses this morning (there are currently eleven Bluebonnet horses here), I was thinking about the rescue, as I almost always do. And I was thinking about how fast 2024 has flown by. I know we’re not into 2025 yet, but it is just around the corner.
This has been a bit of a rollercoaster of a year for the rescue. We had a fantastic Expo and Training Challenge, placing a record 59 of our horses with adopters through that event. Financially, the Expo was also a success, raising more funds than ever before.
Unfortunately, this year has been tough, financially, for Bluebonnet. Amplify Austin, earlier in the year, raised less than expected. Donations and grants are both less than expected. Our veterinary expenses, fostering stipends, and training expenses are higher than expected – a lot of that is dealing with the 56 horses awarded to us late last year. They needed a lot of training just to be handleable and many ended up having veterinary issues.
Right now, our budget is in a sizeable deficit – we have spent far more than we’ve brought in this year, even with the Expo. The good news is that we’ve saved money in better years to have the funds to withstand some tough times. But we don’t want to just spend spend spend without money coming in, either. I also really don’t want to have to scale back anything next year.
Since I think you love this community we’ve built as much as I do, and you want to keep on helping horses, there are ways you can help us – and the horses – out. There are many ways:
- Invite horse-loving friends and family to join Bluebonnet. Memberships start at just $25 for 12 months, and membership funds help us run the rescue. We’re also stronger when we work together, so more members = more voices helping horses. And since we don’t have a facility, members can be anywhere in the world!
https://www.bluebonnetequine.org/membership-paypal/
- If you aren't a member or your membership has lapsed, join the rescue https://www.bluebonnetequine.org/membership-paypal/
- and year end giving are coming soon. If you plan on making a sizeable donation and would be willing to make it a matching donation, please email me and let’s talk. A matching donation is where you say you’ll match the next $### raised in donations. It can be time limited (so maybe the next $1,000 raised in the next 24 hours) or not. It encourages folks to donate and makes everyone’s donations go further.
- Remember the horses in your year-end-giving plans. is December 3 this year, and that will be the kick off for our year end giving campaign. Invite friends to join you in donating to help horses. I’ll be sending out info on how and where to make those year end donations in the coming weeks.
- Become a fundraiser for . You can do that on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BluebonnetEquineHumaneSociety/fundraisers. Click Raise Money and then follow the steps/fill in the blanks. Then share your fundraiser with friends, family, and followers on Facebook and/or other social media.
- Talk to your friends, family, horse clubs, etc. about Bluebonnet. Invite them to join the rescue, donate, or become a volunteer, adopter, or foster home.
- Become a volunteer. If you aren’t already volunteering, visit https://www.bluebonnetequine.org/volunteer/ to see some of the ways you can get more involved. If you have skills and experience in fundraising, PR, data management, website design, or other professional skills you can donate, reach out to me and let’s find your niche.
While we’ve hit a tough spot, financially, we also have so many good things going for us – we’re a community of horse lovers, and we are here through the good times and the tougher ones. We’ll keep on working to make the rescue better, to build our community, and to help more horses. Because we’re all here for one thing: the horses we love.
