You might wonder why we are trying to raise money when we don’t even have a physical space yet. I want to make sure that our followers and supporters know what we are doing with the money we raise and what our plans are.
We’d like to open in a relatively high-traffic part of Ventura so we are looking at midtown and possibly downtown. That said, we want as much money to go toward saving cats and kittens, so we also don’t want to spend every last penny on rent. With good visibility, we will be easier to find and have more visitors. We’d like to open near other small businesses and try to establish some synergy where possible.
When we find the right spot to get started we will need to fix it up and furnish it. We’ll do as much of that ourselves for as cheaply as possible without sacrificing quality but there will be expenses associated.
And then there will be day-to-day costs. Rent will likely be at least $1500 and could be closer to $2000+. My (very) rough estimates for food and litter come out to about $400 for 8 cats in a month. Utilities, WiFi, insurance, scheduled and unexpected vet visits, etc. will all factor in as well.
We want to be responsible about all of this. Ideally, we will have a 3-month buffer in the bank. Right now, we have almost $1800 in the bank and the promise of another $3000 or so from the board once we have leased a place. Minimally, our goal is $6000 available when we sign the lease and start prepping to open. We want to be able to weather whatever comes our way so that once we open we can remain solvent and continue fulfilling our mission.
If you would like to help you can share our Facebook and Instagram posts and encourage friends and family to support our fundraisers. Everything helps! If every Facebook follower donated $5 we’d have over $600 right there. If every follower found one friend each to buy one toy off the website that would bring in another $500. It all truly adds up. Thank you for supporting our mission!