General Meeting Minutes- May 2025
Time: 6:30PM - 7:30PM
Location: The Gathering Place, Rangely, CO
MEETING MINUTES
Current Business
Kelly reported on the following Items:
Marketing Ideas & Animal Assistance Foundation (AAF): Kelly will be applying for the Organizational Capacity Grant funds in September. If successful, these funds will help support training for shelter staff, software, and fundraising efforts to name a few. Kelly asked Kaitlyn and Laycie to please consider appropriate needs for this grant and submit them to Kelly along with estimated costs. Marketing Ideas: There have been multiple social media posts from other rescues and shelters where the dogs are dressed up in sunglasses and hats, cute bandanas, etc. and are spotlighted interacting with shelter staff and volunteers. Kelly would like to propose that 4R Animals and the shelter staff collaborate on videos and photos to further spotlight the shelter dogs. This would mean setting a time after hours where the photos and videos could be the sole purpose of the meeting outside of volunteer and business hours. Laycie and Haley will set up a time to do this, with suggestions of June 16, 17 and 18th being potential dates. T-Shirts: 4R Animals t-shirts are available for $15 each while the initial supply lasts. Once the initial shirts have sold, any additional shirts must be ordered through Dream Designs at a cost of $30 with $10 of that amount going directly to 4R Animals.
Christen reported on the following items:
Saturday in the Park: Christen asked the committee their thoughts on having a Saturday in the Park for the shelter dogs. She would like to have this event at the baseball field near the rec center. The fence would need to be fortified with the idea that the shelter dogs could be walked to the field and let loose to run in the area. Kaitlyn expressed concern about allowing the dogs to run loose, despite fortification of the fence and stated that she is uncomfortable with this idea because many of the dogs in the shelter are “escape artists” and she is concerned that by allowing them to run loose, they could escape from the area. Kaitlyn officially vetoed this idea for the time being.
Revised Adoption Fees: Christen suggested lowering the adoption fees to encourage more adoptions. Currently, those fees are $125. Laycie said that comparatively speaking, the Rangely adoption fees are much cheaper than many of the neighboring shelters in Colorado. Neither Laycie or Kaitlyn are in favor of reducing these fees. A suggestion was made to pick 2 dogs and then advertise that adoptions fees are sponsored by a specific business in town. Discussion ensued regarding lack of interest by local businesses to sponsor adoption fees. Potentially, our less adoptable dogs could be sponsored in an effort to find them homes. Vicki suggested reaching out to WC Striegel as they are always willing to support local causes. Blue Mountain Energy is another organization that often donates to local causes.
Haley reported on the following items:
Donation Jars: A mini fridge was purchased for the shelter using the donation jar funds. The fridge will store medications needed for the shelter dogs along with any dog/cat food items that need refrigerated. Laycie suggested that a portion of the donation funds be put aside for bigger ticket items. One thought was an AC unit for the cat house in the event of any cats that may be brought to the shelter, but currently there are no cats at the shelter, so this item is not a priority. Kaitlyn said she would like to see some heavy plastic sheeting purchased before winter to insulate one of the kennels that is open on 3 sides. Kelly suggested that AAF grant funds could also be used for something like this.
June Marketing Plan: Dog Days of Summer with cute photos of dogs in hats and sunglasses.
Permanent Marketing Plan: Due to the cost of printing charges incurred when changing advertising materials monthly, Haley would like to change to a permanent marketing promotional that could be used for several months at a time.
Annual Events: Septemberfest, Oktoberfest, Butch Cassidy Days and the Holiday Bazaar are events where adoptions could be promoted. 4R Animals will plan to be present at most events with photos of the adoptable dogs. The Chamber has been generous in letting 4R Animals have a booth at a reduced fee because of the non-profit status. Ideally, having one or two dogs at the appropriate events would be beneficial. Kaitlyn said that Septemberfest is where they have the most adoptions and the shelter plans to have as many dogs in attendance as possible.
Open Discussion
Discussion Laycie reported there are currently eight dogs at the shelter. There are no cats available for adoption.
No further business. Meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.