House Rabbit Network

January 27, 2002, Meeting Minutes

Attendees:     Christine Bennett                Luanne Gagliano                       Suzanne Trayhan
Tania Castenada                 Laura O’Connell                       Jen Walsh
Erica Deighton                    Cherryl Reinhardt                     Melissa Wilson
Kathie Duffy                       Teresa Tomari                          Carol Youngclaus

Discussion:

1. Current Statistics

• 67 adoptions and one guinea pig. in 2001

• Goal for 2002 is 100

• 58 foster buns in 13 foster homes

• Nine sanctuary buns in two sanctuary homes

2. Advertising/PR

We need to work on advertising. Our biggest problem is letting people know we exist. Suggested steps:

• Put flyers up where possible
(all volunteers will print and post)

• Make business cards for volunteers
(Carol will design/print)

• Contact local newspapers and cable access channels to try to generate coverage (Suzanne will provide a generic press release within two weeks)

• Wild Oats “Wooden Nickel” program: HRN is currently the featured charity in the Andover location
(Carol will contact Medford store; all volunteers will talk to stores with similar programs)

• Everybody will pay attention to what’s going on around them and try to think of ways to promote HRN

3. Newsletter

• Should be out within the next 2–3 weeks

• Looking for authors of articles for future newsletters—anybody interested should contact Suzanne

• Luanne asked if adopters should automatically get the newsletter—we are not currently doing so, but it was agreed that we should

• Luanne also suggested giving previous issues to people visiting foster homes

• Luanne suggested that including articles on cruelty/reality stories might be a good education strategy (stories of some bunnies we rescued and how they came to us)

• Carol suggested including an “Adopted” section

• Cherryl suggested a web page on adoption follow-ups called “This New House”

• Teresa suggested a list of donors for recognition

• Kathie suggested sending thank-you letters to adopters, with general information and an invitation to become a member (she will take point on this, along with the donation thank-you letters she is already writing)

4. Long-Term Care Bunnies

• Suzanne will give a post-meeting sub-Q fluid demo.

• For buns in long-term care, Suzanne suggested doing mail-order medication to save money. It isn’t necessary to obtain medicine directly from vets—they are required by law to give a written prescription, which can be filled elsewhere (e.g., by mail order).

• Suzanne keeps many medical supplies on-hand, including sub-Q materials, if people need them for their buns.

5. VHD/RHD

Carol passed around information on VHD/RHD and updated members about current concerns about this disease in the U.S.

6. Shelters

• Erica reported on shelter visits, saying more people need to be doing them. She is concerned that the shelter staff needs education on bunnies and how to work with them.

• There was discussion about the potential long-term goal of having our own shelter, but due to the expense it isn’t considered feasible in the foreseeable future.

• Cherryl mentioned a source of grants and will get more information

7. Treasury Report

Teresa reported that we took in over $11,000 last year. She handed out a treasury report and noted that most of our expenses were for veterinary fees.

8. Fundraising

• Carol suggested marketing bunny poop as fertilizer. We could advertise on the website (perhaps a trivia question about using poop and composting) and in the newsletter.

• Suzanne handed around an example of the 2002 calendar

• Carol suggested creating a bumper sticker or window decal

• Other suggestions: tote bags, pillows—$5

9. Elections

Carol, Cherryl and Suzanne were elected to the Board

10. Miscellaneous

• Suzanne talked about building NIC cube condos

• Jen Walsh, bun-sitting coordinator, wants to recruit additional bun sitters

• Web-based credit card system should be up and running soon

• Members section of website needs to be regularly updated with foster rabbit information—contact Suzanne if you want your foster bun to be “Bun of the Month” (Teresa volunteered “Mr. Buns”). Teresa suggested getting better photos of buns on the site.

• Suzanne is looking into setting up TTouch seminars for buns

• Suzanne reported that we get a lot of adoptions via PetFinder.com, and we need volunteers to keep those sites updated (Christine Bennett and Laura O’Connell volunteered)

• Teresa reminded volunteers that receipts for tax purposes are allowed for donations of >$500.

• We need to get membership up. Not much overlap between members and adopters. Suggestions: write to people who have adopted from us; send “free sample” newsletter (get “free sample” sticker so people know what it is). Christine suggested making bolstering our membership as well as foster homes and education a priority.

• Toys were donated to foster homes.