Soul Touched by Dogs

Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs
Podcast, the show for dog lovers who

see dogs not as toys or tools, but
wise souls worth our respect and care.

I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.

I talk to poor some humans, people who
do great work for dogs and their people.

So come and join us for
today's conversation.

Anke: Hello and welcome, Adam.

I'm delighted to have you here.

Adam: Oh, thank you so much Anke.

Appreciate you having me today.

Anke: Well, I think we
are in for a treat today.

I really, really look forward to
this conversation and I, you know,

I mean, I guess on Zoom you can't
tell, but I've kind of so distracted

by these cute faces behind you, so,

so let's just.

Fill people in.

Where in this lovely world are you based
and what's your business with dogs?

Adam: Awesome.

Well, thank you again
so much for having me.

It's truly, truly a privilege.

Um, furlanthropy.

We are a brand new charity.

Uh, we began about two years ago,
actually two years ago this month.

It took two years to get the charity
formed, and then two years ago we

started our, what we call a soft opening.

And, uh, and so for the past
two years, we've been helping

pets across the country.

Uh, we're based here in, in Virginia,
uh, where I live, but we are a

hundred percent virtual and we have
our, our team is across the country,

our boards across the country.

Um, but it's quite, quite a journey,
quite a, a story how we got here.

Very unlikely, uh, journey that
I'd love to share with your,

with your listeners today.

Anke: I can't wait.

I can't wait.

I mean, furlanthropy, that's like so cute.

Adam: Aw, thank you.

Thank you.

Anke: It's like, who can
take credit for that name?

Like, that is super cute.

Adam: Aw, well, well, so it, it all
begins with, um, my wife and I, we,

we met and married about five years
ago and blended our families together.

And, uh, I had a cat named Kobe, who
sadly, uh, passed away, went onto the

Rainbow Bridge and, and my wife, she had
a, a dog Poochie who passed away as well.

And so we have five teenagers, so
plenty of activity in the Spencer

home, but my wife said those fateful
words, honey, I think we need a dog.

So I said, you know, the most
reasonable, logical thing that came

to my mind, which was absolutely not.

I, I, I don't want a dog.

And the truth is, and I know your
listeners right now are probably

not happy with me, but there's
a happy, there's a happy ending.

The truth is, I had a dog
named Sterling as a child.

But for whatever reason, over the last 35
years, I, I just became afraid of dogs and

I had no idea what I was missing out on.

So this incredible story, incredible
journey, uh, with a lot of arm twisting

and, you know, being newly wet.

I wanted to say, yes, of course,
honey, whatever you want.

She said, well, let's just go just
to looks so sure how, what, what

harm could be happen there, right?

So, so we go down the local Humane
Society, and as you can imagine, uh,

we walk down the hallway of these
rows of cages and there's a lot of.

Dogs that are excited.

Um, I wasn't sure, you know, if they
just wanted to hug me or, or, or what,

or they're just happy to be, to see
someone and wanting to be, be, uh, um,

adopted, but just kept saying, no, no, no.

And we get to the final blast.

Last cage in our tour and back in
the corner, we almost missed her.

It was this little, little lump of fur.

And, uh, my wife and daughters
had walked out out of the, out of

the, the facility hallway there,
and I said, Hey, wait a minute.

What, what about this one?

And so just to appease them, of course
I had no interest in adopting a dog.

So just to appease them.

So sure enough, we, we arranged
a meet and greet, but there

was already a waiting list.

Whew.

That's all right.

We'll just look through the
glass and watch as this dog is

supposedly supposed to be bonding
with the potential pet parent.

Um, but she kept coming over
to us and my wife says, honey,

that that's a sign right there.

I said, ah, no.

I think she just knows we have treats, you
know, still, again, it's not gonna happen.

Thankfully, I thought there's a waiting
list, so there's no way I'm gonna

end up having, having to get a dog.

So as we head home and, and my
wife says, you know, honey, we

always pray about everything.

So you, you need to pray about this.

Okay, sure.

I'll say a prayer, you know,
if it's meant to be, and I did.

I.

If I'm truthfully honest with you,
over the long weekend, there were

moments that this precious little
fur baby came to top of mind and

I would just sort of dismiss it.

Alright?

I'll say a little prayer, but
again, it's not gonna happen.

Well, I get that call
on Monday morning, Mr.

Spencer, she's all yours.

There must be some kinda mistake here
that surely, surely you have me confused

with somebody that, nope, the other pet
parents felt like it wasn't a good fit.

And so come on down.

So reluctantly I go down with
my wife to the Humane Society.

We agreed not to tell the kids because
we didn't want them to get their

hopes built up just in case, you
know, something happened and we get in

there and I'm trying to think of Anki.

I'm trying to think of every excuse
I can think of to not get a dog.

And the lady says those other magic words.

She's half price.

And my wife knowing that I'm OCD
about coupons said, now honey, how

do you say no to a half price dog?

Right?

So moments later, there's this really
awkward picture as they're carrying,

as I say, this little lump of fur out
and they hand her to me, kinda like you

hand a baby to, to someone, a newborn
baby who's never held a baby before.

There's this really awkward picture where
the dog's looking at me and I'm looking

at it and we're not really sure what's
going on, and she can hear my thoughts.

I don't want a dog.

And so I'm kind of awkwardly
carrying her 'cause she's too frail

and too scared to walk on her own.

And here's a true story.

We're walking out the door, across the
parking lot, out of the Humane Society

heading towards the, the, the vehicle.

And I'm saying out loud to
the dismay of all the people

around me, I don't want a dog.

I don't want a dog.

And I'm saying it louder and
louder and then it happened.

I look down, I see her
precious little eyes.

I get emotional here and I said, I love
you and I'm gonna take care of you.

And I kissed her head.

Oh.

My wife had said, did, did you
just tell the dog you loved it?

Did you just kiss her?

Like, like what?

What just happened?

Like what in the world?

It literally felt like an
out of body experience.

It literally was hazelnut,
as we've affectionately named

her, literally touched my soul.

And I, and I, I mean that so
genuinely and anybody who knows me.

You know, four or five years ago, this
is the furthest that I would be starting

a charity that helps pets, especially
dogs, is the furthest thing from my mind.

And yet, in that moment, this
precious, furry blessing literally

change the heart of this crusty guy.

And today, not only do I love her,
but I can't walk past a, a pet

without wanting to talk to it.

And, and we've since adopted
a second, second dog.

And then hazelnut inspired
this incredible charity, which

I'll talk to you more about.

But that's the true
story of how we got here.

I

Anke: love that.

I love that too.

That's so funny though.

And I do actually, especially, I
had a similar experience with, with

this one, the second dog that came
to me in this like, well, I hadn't

planned to, to get a second dog.

I have a dog.

Like I, I, you know, and I was
literally, I had a moment like

that, so I kind of totally get
it because he was like tiny and.

He just looked at me and it was like,
literally, that's, that's why kind of the

name also, you know, there's, you kind of
like, this isn't a rational kind of thing.

They just, they touched the
soul just right in there.

I, you know, and it's, it's beautiful.

It's just, yeah.

So, so Hazel not still around like so

Adam: she is, she is Hazel.

Anke: Not, so she was
like, how old is she?

Because when you say like she was
frail, was she just because she was

like neglected and kind of scared?

Or was she, is she older?

Adam: Sure.

Well, she, we think she was, of
course, you know, with the Humane

Society, you don't always know the
history of all the dogs and their ages.

They estimate that she
was about a year old.

Um, also maybe

Anke: young dogs still

Adam: so very young, very frail.

Uh, she's gained about 40 pounds,
uh, actually about 50 pounds.

10 of those are a little bit
too much, uh, lots of treats.

Uh, but she's gone from this very
frail and scared dog to the most happy.

Loving, I'll say the perfect dog.

She's just amazing.

And, and so when I learned about
her, her background, uh, that her

first family had to forfeit her
because they couldn't afford her

lifesaving care, thankfully, uh, the
veterinarian proceeded to save her life.

We know, as you know, two thirds of
pets that are euthanized or euthanized

just because of a lack of finances.

So hazelnut truly was a miracle.

Well, she was one of the lucky few that
actually got the care that she needed, and

then they donated her to the main society
in hopes that she would get adopted.

And so, uh, my background is I've been
a, a fundraising executive for 20 some

years for all kinds of, of worthy causes.

And so I was just stunned.

I I didn't know the, the,
um, pet industry very well.

And truthfully, my cat was
pretty self-sufficient.

There wasn't a lot of needs there.

One surgery early on and annual
visits, but that was about it.

And so I just had no idea the
hardship, uh, and the crisis that's

out there around access to care
and those financial barriers.

And so I thought for sure, there's
gotta be a program out there.

And, uh, we've heard of GoFundMe
and there's 2000, 2000 literally

crowdfunding platforms out there,
but they're all for profit.

And so in my mind I'm thinking,
well, if the greatest fundraising

vehicle in the world is crowdfunding,
shouldn't that be run by?

By nonprofit, by fundraising executives,
and not just, you know, people

motivated by check transactions,
but motivat motivated by mission.

And so it took two years, but we created
the first ever charity owned and operated

crowdfunding platform where anybody
can come to our website for free.

They can fundraise for any pet need
as well as any pet related or animal

related cause that they care about.

And so I'll just say this, that literally,
truly hazelnut not only saved my heart and

rescued me, and she truly did rescue me.

Uh, she's also inspired help for, for pets
all across the country, which is amazing.

Anke: That's that's fascinating.

I had no, I mean, I
didn't realize how many.

Pets were euthanized because of that.

I literally saw something the other
day where somebody talked like was a

video on Instagram or something where
somebody was talking about this whole.

Situation where vet clinics get more and
more bought out, you know, and then all of

a sudden like prices go through the roof.

And I think, you know, over there, like
prices are ridiculous to start with.

And so apparently it's kind of as
like the smaller clinics get bought

out and taken over by these big
companies, it gets worse and worse.

And so I think that's.

It's, it's a problem that
seems to be on the rise that

people can't afford the care.

And I've had clients where
they've said, oh, well, you know,

my dog needed something minor.

It's like, okay, what's, you
know, like some ridiculous

amount and yeah, the insurance.

But no, you have to for it out first and
then you can start fighting to see whether

we'll pay you something, so, mm-hmm.

You know, so I think there's
so much of a need for that.

Adam: There is, there is, you know, in
the past, since 2014, so in the past

10, 11 years, uh, the cost of pet care
has risen 60%, which is incredible.

It's really, really unsustainable.

If, if you look at that, uh, that
those numbers, and we know that

50 million pets in America today,
uh, lack adequate care, uh, lack.

Uh, access to how to kick where care.

So just literally the basic
care for your pet, your annual

pet visits, food, and so on.

Uh, annual vaccines, 15
million pets, which is a lot.

So it's, it's a crisis that we have to
get ahead of and, and I really think

our, our program being so innovative.

You mentioned something
really important there.

You said a lot of folks, when
a, when a crisis happens for

their pet, they triage it.

Triage it by, by sending whatever methods
they can, uh, to pay that bill upfront.

Uh, whether it's a credit card or
scratch pay, and then oftentimes,

regardless of, of how the pet fares
after that, um, the pet parent is,

is now curing this heavy burden.

This heavy debt.

And even if that pet does well,
what if that pet needs future care?

If you're a pet parent that's already
maxed out your resources, what do you do?

And so one of the things that's
unique about furlanthropy is that you

can fundraise for future expenses,
present expenses, or past expenses.

And so we, you can raise those
funds and get reimbursed for the

money that you've already spent.

Anke: Oh, okay.

So.

Like, what's the, what's the model?

So I mean, who, who goes there?

Is it people who go, well, I
can't afford, you know, I want to

give that pet a home, but I can't
afford those ridiculous vet bills.

And who, who are typically the people
who donate are that like, is, is that

companies or is that private people
or, or who's doing the donating?

Adam: Short answer is yes, all the above.

Um, what we've seen in the past 18, 20,
uh, 24 months, um, about two years now,

I guess it's been two years, uh, since
we first opened our website, uh, we've

helped 175 pets and we've distributed.

Just over today, literally today,
as did the numbers we just reached.

I wanna see if we could reach that
a hundred thousand dollars mark.

And we did, which is really exciting to
think that our donors have contributed

not only for our operating costs,
which is very slim, um, but also

they've contributed in all these
fundraisers and then direct gifts to

furlanthropy, um, over a, just, just
over a hundred thousand dollars, uh,

in preventing the suffering of pets.

And so it's everybody involved.

It's the, it's the veterinarian.

Who's maybe having that
conversation with a pet parent?

What do we do?

And, uh, they're, they're
recommending furlanthropy.

Uh, they can create the fundraising
campaign on their behalf.

Or it's the pet parent coming to the
veterinarian and saying, Hey, just so you

know, this is how I plan to pay this bill.

You're gonna hear from furlanthropy,
they're gonna be calling.

'cause that's one of the unique things.

That's why donors love this model.

There's so much fraud.

There's so much scams out there.

Anke: Yeah.

Adam: And so that was one of the things
that really drove this, this whole

idea, uh, 'cause as a fundraising, uh,
professional, it, it really bothers

me when I see, uh, people who give
from the kindness of their heart.

We know giving is never not
personal, whether it's a

dollar or a million dollars.

And so to see that gift not go where
it's supposed to go is, is gut wrenching.

So we change that, we solved that.

Uh, so every single fundraiser that's
created, we call a veterinarian

and we verify this is a real pet.

This is a real expense and when the
money's raised, we send it directly

to wherever that need is located.

Oh.

So that then encouraged the
veterinarians to say, you know what?

I think we'll contribute to this.

'cause they know ultimately those
funds are gonna come to them.

'cause there's a lot of situations
where, you know, the, the veterinarian

will, will take an IOU or discount
services, maybe tragically the pet.

Passes away.

Um, or for whatever reason, the pet
parent just says, you know what?

I'm not gonna pay you.

And then the veterinarian is
stuck holding that burden.

And sadly, I did not know this
when I, when I began furlanthropy.

Sadly, veterinary professionals have
one of the highest suicide rates of

any profession, which is just daunting.

In fact, we someone who used
our, our platform to raise

$5,000, uh, for a charity that
helps veterinary professionals

with mental health issues, so.

It's, it's such a special, important,
um, niche in here, in this whole, um,

process of helping not just prevent
the suffering of animals, but to

reduce that financial burden so that,
that the veterinary professional

isn't carrying it, but then also the
pet parent doesn't have to carry it.

Uh, so if they can have that, that,
that veterinary expense paid for,

they're more likely to proceed
with, with future expenses as well.

But again, every fundraiser is verified.

Funds are sent directly to the need.

What also makes us really unique is that
we are a 5 0 1 C3 registered charity.

So unlike GoFundMe and the other 2000
for-profit companies, because we're a

nonprofit, every single donation that
you make is tax deductible eligible.

And so we know with the new tax laws next
year, every person, every individual.

Who has to pay taxes can file up
to a thousand dollars in charitable

giving or 2000 as a house household.

Um, and so it, it's gonna
benefit everybody, you know,

financially who, who donates.

But it's, it's, you ask who gives,
it's the folks who, who just have

a heart for what we're doing and,
and believe in what we're doing.

And they value the, those, um, those
unique distinctives, um, that making sure

that it's secure and it's verifiable.

Anke: That's, that's fascinating because
I see it a lot and like here in Spain

where I'm, you know, like, like rescues,
that's usually, you know, was so, you

know, usually run by a couple of girls
with no jobs and scraping by and they're

constantly, here's my PayPal link.

Right?

And then, and then next thing you
know, it's like other people write

on the, on the, on the back of that.

And then they will just kind of
post photos of dogs in misery and

put their, you know, and then they
fa they finance their holidays

with it or whatever they do.

Right.

But it's like, I think that making sure
that really goes to the right place,

I think that gives a lot of, that.

Builds a lot of trust.

Adam: It does.

It does.

Anke: That makes so much sense.

Adam: And, and I, I was gonna say, in
addition to that, you know, financially,

what, what makes that really special
and unique for the donor as well?

If you look at crowdfunding globally in
general, uh, because again, it's housed by

for-profit companies, you're limited into
the kinds of gifts that you can give to

a GoFundMe or another platform like that.

You can only give from your bank account.

Or I guess you could give from
your credit card, but most people

don't go into debt for charity, so
it's literally your bank account.

Well, what makes it unique?

What furlanthropy affords
individuals is the opportunity

to give any non-cash asset.

Towards that campaign.

So literally our brand new
website that I'm excited to

announce is coming this month.

And uh, on there you'll be able to
click on any pets, a fundraiser,

any individual's fundraiser,
and you can click a button.

You can give Cash App or Venmo or
Apple Pay, but you can also click

a button and donate stock gifts.

Directly to that fundraiser, you
can click a button and donate from

your donor-advised fund directly
to, to that, uh, fundraiser.

It's never been done before.

And so what we're gonna see over the
course of the next couple months and

years is the average crowdfunding
gift is gonna go from 10 $20.

It's gonna skyrocket because now people
can give from other buckets of funding

than just what they have in the bank.

Anke: Wow.

That's, that's fascinating.

I mean, see, I'm like, now that
we've got a professional in the

room here, I'm really curious.

Um, 'cause I've seen, you know, like
people on Facebook as, oh, you know, like

GoFundMe and all of these for various
kind of causes and what I've noticed that

there's some that do really well, right?

You come in there and they
tell the story and people seem

to be donating a lot, right?

And others don't.

Right.

So.

If you were to give a tip for somebody
creating a campaign like that, you

know, what should they be taken into
account or what, what should they

think about when they, how will you
present your case so that people

feel it's worth, um, donating to?

Adam: Yeah, that's a
great, great question.

And I mean this genuinely, not just
because I, I started furlanthropy.

Um, but truly if you have a need come
to furlanthropy for all the reasons

I just mentioned, you're gonna have a
greater chance of, of raising greater

amounts of money because there's
more buckets that we can pull from.

So that in and of itself, I mean, you
can try those other, and they and those

other, uh, platforms do do good work.

Um, but donors will, if you give
donors an option of more ways for

them to give and more types of
gifts to give, then naturally.

You are gonna get greater
gifts and for folks who need

that charitable tax deduction.

Going through furlanthropy,
you, you provide that for them.

So you're gonna get
larger size of the gifts.

And one of the unique things about
our platform is with the AI technology

and, and the robust features behind
this, the second you click start

on your fundraiser, not only is it
is it, uh, shared on our website,

it's immediately shared on Facebook.

So you have two fundraisers,
uh, simultaneously, they're

both related to each other.

But you have really two things pushing
that need and, and with that it's a

really e uh, user-friendly platform.

So it only takes a few minutes.

Uh, but there's an opportunity
there to show videos.

I can tell you just in the past
two years, um, the individuals who

have done the most successful in
their fundraising, it's the images.

Um, 'cause when you grab someone's
heart, you touch someone's soul.

It, it changes everything.

And so, um, describing,
uh, where the need is.

Um, but why is that?

Why is your pet so special to you?

Why is that furry family
member so important to you?

And sharing those many videos?

And as many pictures as you can.

And again, the advantage of furlanthropy
is the donor knowing, you know what?

This is real, I don't
even have to question it.

It's been verified.

This person's real.

This pet is real.

This expense is real.

And if I give all these wonderful
ways that actually benefit me as a

donor, but if I give, it's actually
gonna go directly to the need.

And so those are all powerful things
that have not traditionally existed.

So we're really upending that
traditional model of crowdfunding.

Anke: I mean, I love that you
kind of sent this straight over to

Facebook because that's also the
other, the next question, right?

I mean, I see it more mostly like in the
online business kind of space when people.

Wanna promote something and then,
well, if you don't have an audience,

like you are kind of stuck, right?

Because if you don't normally,
or if you're not normally access

active on social media, right?

You could post whatever you want.

Nobody's gonna see it.

Nobody's gonna care, right?

So, and most people.

And say, if you are in, in the,
in the business space, and like,

well, that's part of your job
to build that audience, right?

Mm-hmm.

But if I am having my pet and I'm
just doing my life with my pet,

and now I have a need, I don't
necessarily have an audience.

Right.

So how, how do you suggest, or how
can you help people actually reach,

um, you know, potential donors?

Adam: Sure.

Well, lemme start by saying on that
platform, there's a place where

you can email your, uh, I was just
talking to someone yesterday who I

was shocked and she said I only have
three Facebook friends and she's very

personable and knows a lot of people.

Um, but she has other connections
in other ways and so she's

able to take a copy that link.

And put that in the email.

She's also able to download, you're able
to download your, your, uh, fundraiser

and just having those conversations.

You know, we get this, these
questions all the time, you

know, can you please help me?

I'll do anything to help my pet.

Oh, I can't fundraise though.

Wait a minute.

You just said you'd do
anything to help your pet.

So I think there's that stigma.

A little bit of fear.

I don't wanna ask anybody for help,
but here's the secret, what I've

learned in 20 years of fundraising.

It's not about the ask, it's
about the donor in their heart.

And so when people give, the reason why
donors give is to ultimately fulfill

something that's already in their heart.

Charities think it's their mission, uh, or
their cause, but it really starts there.

They're not gonna give if they
don't believe that your pet is

real and if it's a real need.

But it starts with fulfilling
the why in their heart.

And so that individual who says, I'm gonna
give, I don't know you, but I saw your,

you're a fundraiser on the furlanthropy
website, and, uh, I just lost my dog,

and I want to give a memory of my dog.

Or, I'm not allowed to have dogs anymore.

I can't take care of them, but I love
them enough that I wanna support.

And so those, what you are providing is an
opportunity for people to be a blessing,

um, in supporting your fundraiser.

If I had a dollar for every
time someone said, thank you

for letting me make this gift.

Recently someone gave, gave a hundred
thousand dollars to another cause

that I help and, and they cry.

They said, thank you for
letting me give this gift.

And so sure you can do it
tomorrow again if you want.

No, but, but literally.

Right.

But that's the, but that's the
heartbeat behind the donor.

And so it's not as hard and complicated
and scary as we make it to be.

You're just connecting your story.

With donors hearts.

And so you have a lot of people and, uh,
you can call and, and by the way, they

can give, they don't have to give online.

So if you have a conversation
with your neighbor.

And they say, you know, we'd
like to help, but, but maybe your

neighbor wants to be anonymous.

Um, they can still send a check in
the mail, uh, to, to furlanthropy.

They can send a donor-advised fund gift
or a stock gift to us offline, and then we

can apply that amount to your fundraiser.

And so you do know a lot of people, even
if you're someone who's not on Facebook, I

promise you there are people in your orbit
who would help if you just invited them.

And then in addition to that, we
as philanthropies, we're still

young, we're still growing,
um, but we have a following.

We have folks who just give us
money and say, you know what?

We don't care what cat you help or
what dog, we just want you to help.

And so we do contribute to, uh, to
our, our clients, uh, to fundraisers.

Campaigns.

We can't contribute to
all of them, obviously.

Um, but, but we do encourage
And, and the other thing I

would just say real quickly is.

Tell your veterinarian what you're doing,
invite them to give and because if you're

a veterinarian, I mentioned this earlier,
if your veterinarian knows that, number

one, they're gonna see those funds back,
and number two, they get a charitable

tax deduction, that's a win-win.

Right.

I mean, if your veterinarian gave
to the local Humane Society or

local charity, they're gonna get
a recognition and a tax receipt.

But if they give to furlanthropy,
they're gonna go get recognition,

a tax receipt, and Right.

That.

Right.

So it's a win-win for everybody.

And so, um, so I think there's a lot
of distinctives that will really help.

And, and here's one more thing.

We, we.

We distribute funds every single
Friday, um, and if it's an

emergency situation within 48 hours.

So we don't wait until your, uh, 30
days, or wait until your campaign

reaches a hundred percent of its goal.

We wanna get those funds out of our
hands that have been raised directly

to the need as quick as possible.

And so pet parents appreciate that,
veterinarians appreciate that.

Uh, so it's getting those
funds as quick as possible.

Majority of our fundraisers
to date haven't reached a

hundred percent of their goal.

That's gonna change
with this new platform.

It's gonna double.

But what I have found is
even the fundraisers that

raised 75, 80% of their goal.

Is life changing and it's not
always the $10,000 expense.

We just had a conversation with a,
with a precious, uh, senior saint

recently who is battling cancer,
and she said, uh, I, I, I need to

raise $300 for medicine for my dog.

My dog is, is battling cancer.

She says, I just can't imagine
spending the, my remaining days without

my precious, precious for a baby.

So in that situation, I said,
don't worry about the fundraiser.

We're gonna, we're gonna
just gonna pay for it.

But it's, it's sometimes that barrier.

It's only a few hundred dollars.

Now, that might not be a lot to,
to some people, but for a lot

of people that's a huge barrier.

And so it doesn't take a lot of dollars to
make a little transformational difference.

Anke: Wow.

I mean, that's, I, I think,
sounds like quite emotional.

Like, you know, you gotta, but we
have your little, you know, like

hot on your sleeve all day long.

Right?

Adam: It really is.

It really is.

Anke: Yeah.

I mean, and so now I'm also curious,
so, so you are basically, okay,

it's a nonprofit, but you guys, you
guys have expenses as well, so they

will always be also, I always wonder
like how do nonprofits make money?

Like they kind of need to
keep the lights on, right?

So how does that work?

Adam: We raise money specifically
for our operating costs.

Um, I can tell you I don't get paid.

Uh, we have no employees.

We have a lot of volunteers, a couple
contractual people, uh, just to make

sure that we're, we're doing things
as professionally as possible, but

we run a very slim operating budget.

You know, sometimes you, uh, look up
a charity and you find out their CEO

is making tons of money, or I got
a phone call the other day someone

wanted me to donate to a cause that I
thought was wonderful until they said.

Only 10% of my gift was gonna go to help
that cause always do your homework and,

and see if it's more than 10, maybe 20.

My wife and I, we don't give to any
organization that gleans more than

20%, uh, for operating costs for us.

Uh, we glean 10% of every donation
to reserve that to not only help

fund our operations to have a.

A robust online program and,
and all the legal things that

come with running a charity and
fundraising across the country.

Um, but also to be able to be in a
position to help other, other, uh,

fundraisers that are less, less popular.

And so, um, we rely on a
lot of unrestricted gifts.

Uh, I can share with you that
Petmart Charities gave us a $204,000

grant, uh, which was incredible.

Um, and that was a huge shot in the
arm, uh, for this young charity a

year ago that nobody knew about.

And they said, you know what?

You guys are doing so such innovative
things, we think you're gonna make

such a huge impact, uh, that we want
to get behind this from the start.

And so that was a great, uh, not
just their support, but having their,

their endorsement, uh, was awesome.

So, yes, uh, if there are individuals
watching that wanna make a

donation to help us, it literally
goes towards our mission of, of

preventing the suffering of, of pets.

Anke: I love that.

I love that.

So you were mentioning vets, so if
somebody goes, well, you know, my dog.

Has kind of had an accident and
needs to be, needs like, I don't

know, like massage or chemotherapy or
like, you know, chiropractor section.

Would that also be included
or is it strictly beds?

Adam: Any, any animal related
cause and it doesn't have to

be urgent or emergency related.

It could be.

Uh, we had, uh, in, in right here
in, in our, our hometown, we had

an individual who just needed
arthritis medicine for her pet.

And it was just a couple hundred dollars.

So it doesn't have to necessarily
be emergency or life threatening.

And it's, it's, doesn't have
to be just for, um, for pets.

Uh, for cats and dogs.

It can be for any pet.

It could be for equine needs.

You see a picture of a horse behind me.

It could be for boarding fees,
it could be for food, uh, it

could be for disaster relief.

We had an individual who lost
everything in a home fire.

And, uh, a lot, several national
and local charities showed up and

provide financial assistance for the
family, but nothing for the pets.

Mm-hmm.

And which is often the case in those
darkest hours, the pets are often the,

the least to be the last to be helped.

And so we raise $500.

It started a furlanthropy fundraiser.

We raised $500 and she just cried.

She said The thought of after losing
everything, the thought of being separated

from my pets just because I couldn't
afford to feed them, was heartbreaking

for me and my kids, and having them with
us, our furry family members, keeping

our families together meant so much
in helping us on our road to recovery.

So, uh, it was just $500, but,
so it can be used for that.

It can be used if you wanna raise to a
fundraiser for your favorite charity.

Uh, it could be a local or
national, any animal related cause.

Anke: I love that.

I love that.

So where can people go and,
uh, you know, check it out and

go to the brand new website.

You know, find, find out more about you

Adam: furlanthropy.org.

Just like it sounds furlanthropy,
uh, furlanthropy.org.

Anke: I love that.

Well, thank you so much.

This is, was really eye opening and
fascinating and it's such beautiful work

because I've seen, you know, I have, I
heard cases where it's like, okay, yeah,

don't have the money to pay for this
and the heart break is, I don't even

wanna think about, you know, having to.

Let my dogs like suffer or having
to lose them because I can't,

you know, because of the money.

So it's just beautiful.

Thank you so much for coming on
and sharing that and I really hope,

and I have no doubts really that
you'll be doing spectacularly well.

So thank you.

Adam: Thank you an appreciate you so much.

Thank you for your kindness
and thank you for what you do.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for listening.

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