Stray Aid & The Chartered Institute of Fundraising

As we start to emerge from Covid restrictions, we should not forget that many community fundraising events are still unable to go ahead. Supermarkets are still mindful of Covid safety procedures and the importance of reducing the opportunity for infection to spread.  The charity is consolidating its position and looking to re-build reserves, and pay off debts accumulated during Covid restrictions. We had been carefully putting money aside to build a new kennel block, which we got planning permission through for earlier this year after a 7-year battle, only to find that the build cost has doubled! So we seem to be back to square one, with an unachievable target.

With this in mind, we made the decision to join the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. This organisation takes into account that small charities like Stray Aid, in common with the whole of the UK charity sector, have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, and face an uphill struggle to balance the increasing demands on our services with a decrease in funding and staff capacity. While the smaller charities face many of the same challenges as larger organisations, they often have a limited budget available for training and development.

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising brings together helpful fundraising guides, resources and training opportunities for small charities and community groups.

We hope that Stray Aid, with help and guidance from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, will be able to re-build our team of fundraising volunteers to first match and then exceed our pre-Covid income levels, which will allow us to develop the charity as we look to a future where we can continue to rehome unwanted cats, and to rescue, reunite or rehome the lost, abused, abandoned or unwanted dogs found on the streets in the North East of England.