Inspiration is everywhere!

Hello all!  :)

D.O.G.S first event was a great success!  Thanks to our lovely supporters, our family and friends, www.simplyyvonne.com for our logo, our website designer, Milen (it's in the works!), to YUM! Bakery for making D.O.G.S first benefit event amazing and look so effortlessly and of course providing the sweet treats!  D.O.G.S Board members have worked tirelessly getting things together for this event and could have not been possible without everyone's wonderful encouragement, support, friendship and most of all belief in us!  Thank you so much everyone!  Thank you to those who donated their time, items for the silent auction, big shout out to Cigna, the people there are amazingly kind to us with all their great silent auction donations.  All in all it was a successful event; we accomplished what we aimed for, which was to celebrate with our wonderful loved ones and benefit D.O.G.S.  It was a fantastic evening, thank you, thank you THANK YOU to all who collaborated with us, you are AWESOME! :)  We feel so lucky to have such supportive friends and family!  

Some highlights of the night......

The board members, these people make it happen and I am so honored to be working with them towards D.O.G.S mission.  We are still recruiting if you would like to join us please contact me at dogsofagoodsociety@gmail.com

our inspiration table-all of our babies are on there...

wonderful sweets from YUM! Bakery......

My sweet friend, Jenny who took some great photos for us at the event!

The doggie bags we had for our guest and our temporary business cards....

A silent auction item donated by our Board secretary-thanks KoKo!

This is me giving a thank you speech and talking more about D.O,G.S :)

Thanks for reading and hope you can share and follow!  

Please help support D.O.G.S every single cent counts, DONATE! :)

Until next time!  

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Hi everyone!

It's been a crazy few weeks, but here we are!  D.O.G.S is having our first benefit event this Wednesday and we are all excited for it!  We have our to do list complete *fingers crossed* and are ecstatic to get things going.  The benefit celebration will be in honor of D.O.G.S being incorporated and to share with some family and friends about D.O.G.S as well as a benefit to support our mission.  A lot goes into planning an event and we couldn't have done it without the Board and great community support!  Some things to consider when you are having your event:

• venue
• guest list
• decor
• food/beverages
• invites (evites are FREE and reach out to many people at once)
• prizes
• sign in
• thank you's
• benefit/donation items or ideas
• timing of invites, etc
• extra meetings
• budget
• outreach material
• visuals
• and much more!  Good luck and have fun!

Besides the event we have been working on our IRS paper work.  You can get your 1023 IRS form here: http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Application-for-Recognition-of-Exemption
It's a longer application then the Attorney General registration and incorporation forms.  It also requests for narratives so be prepared for it.  Also it will ask for a 4 year financial plan and narrative as well as narratives on program planning.   We recommend working with a non profit attorney to help you out.  You may find one at your local community non profits.  Over the past week we received our AG (attorney general) registration letter as well!  More information to come!  

Other great highlights of the past week, we celebrated our babies birthdays!  Leche and Jasmine turned 4 years old on January 9th.  Happy birthday my sweet babies! :)

This is them with their dad at PetCo getting a special birthday present- a new toy of course, but only Kongs!  They chew up everything else pretty good! :)

Waiting for their special birthday dinner...berries, fish and some lamb from the pet store!

Leche after his bday meal....that's my silly boy! :)

Until next time, thanks for all your support!

Woof!

MyLy

Check, Check & Check!

Hello everyone! :)
D.O.G.S is continuing to work hard on checking off its 'to do list'!  Another exciting announcement: we have a new Board member who we know will be a great addition to our team-welcome!  We are still actively recruiting new members.  If you are interested in helping with an organization from the ground up, love animals, have passion and want to help, we would love to hear from you.  It will only takes as little or as much time as you are willing to give!  Thanks!

D.O.G.S finally has a website www.dogsofagoodsociety.org  It is currently under construction, but check back with us.

Some tasks we've worked on and completed these past couple of weeks: (Note: FYIs hope it can be helpful to you!)

• Opened a business account-(able to open after incorporation)  There are many options out there as far as banks go.  We suggest you look for no fees, no minimum balances, and no transfers.  This makes it easier for a start up non profit regarding budgeting.  After/during budgeting process, it may be a good idea to look into investment accounts and ways to invest your funding.  Money is important to do the work we want to do, but it's not everything.  The right combination of heart/brains/money they say and you got it!
• Private Benefit Celebration all planned out, organized and ready to go next month! 
• Obtained a domain-www.dogsofagoodsociety.org (we have a site active on google sites.  You can transfer all your work from google sites (free) to the domain (not free)-There are many domain companies out there, doing some research will help.
• Logo-we have a logo!  Thanks again to http://simplyvonne.blogspot.com/  for all of her efforts on making our ideas come to life and better!(It's important to distinguish yourselves with a logo)
• By-laws (final draft stage), Strategic plan (draft 2), and IRS 1023 forms reviewed. (This will take a lot of your time/efforts, may be a good idea to have legal help)  Local agencies in your area may offer this service for a low fee or free.
• Forms created for various organizational needs: volunteer, board, vendor, media release,  etc 

There is much to work on, but we are getting there!  Just stay focused, prioritize and remember the mission and purpose of what you are working towards when things seem overwhelming.  It shouldn't feel like 'work'  I think it's safe to say most of you who are in the animal non profit world do it because you love animals, care deeply for them and want to do something more.  Thanks to you all, we look forward to working with you!  And to those not in the world and just plain love animals we appreciate you too!  Until next time!

Woof!

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Bye Bye Green Grass-Hello Snow!

Hi Everyone!
Ah summer and fall are long gone and snow and winter are ahead of us!  I am going to miss playing ball with these cuties in the green grass!  That's OK though looking forward to the winter, it's my favorite season!  With the dead of winter coming, a lot of Boards, groups, organizations that I know of and am a part of tend to take a 'winter/holiday break''.  However, not D.O.G.S we are still moving forward-for we have countless things to accomplish, among our personal life responsibilities and just life itself!  So I thank D.O.G.S's dedicated Board members who have worked extremely hard over the past few weeks and are continuing their efforts well into the holiday season.  We salute you!  Woof Woof says Jasmine and Leche! :)  We have had a Special Board meeting in between our monthly meetings to discuss our next big project besides the non profit paper work-our first benefit party!  This one is a private benefit celebration to celebrate our incorporation with our close friends and family!  Thanks for all your support!

Until next time animal lovers, supporters, fans and alike; keep on doing what you do-Hope. Inspire. Learn. Advocate.

Woof!

MF

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person"
-Andrew A. Rooney

It's Official!!!

D.O.G.S is official from the Secretary of State!  We are incorporated!  This is very exciting news for D.O.G.S and we couldn't have done it without the help of Marcy, (non profit lawyer/mentor) and the D.O.G.S team and supporters!  Thanks to everyone; we are truly grateful! I was checking the mail every day faithfully for 3 weeks!  Turns out that the incorporation paper work was sent to the wrong address!  I was so happy when I found out we are good to go.
 Now on to the Attorney General's office, one step that was "missed".  Once we are recognized and registered here, we can start soliciting for funds (donations).  We are eager to get started on pending projects in order to provide resources for rescues.  Please help us spread the word, because when we are "ready", we want to be able to connect with the rescues that would need D.O.G.S help the most!

FYI...."Official" Steps so far in recommended order:

• Forming a mission and vision
• Forming a Board
• Drafting by laws, strategic plan, articles of incorporations, program planning
• Forming a to do list w/ a timeline, a very brief shorter version of plan
• forming databases (volunteers, contacts, resources)
• Applying to the Secretary of State for incorporation (1-2 week wait)
• Registration with the Attorney General (SOS application first) (1-2 week wait)
• Working on IRS non profit status (packet form and perhaps most costly of all forms) NOTE: You may receive a lower fee depending on what the non profit is and what it qualifies under.

Stay tuned....

Woof!

The Waiting Game

Greetings Everyone! :)

Just a quick update!  D.O.G.S is playing the waiting game.  We are still waiting on the Secretary of State for the approval of the incorporation.  *fingers crossed* I have been checking the mail every day like I was back in grade school waiting on a special package from someone! It's nerve wracking. I just try to remember what someone once told me "Good things come to those who wait"  Like my doggies!

 

check out http://www.sos.state.mn.us/

for good resources on how to start your own non profit business.   Click on Business/non profit tab and there will be info on 'how to', forms, resources and contacts.  You will also need to go to this web page eventually if you want to apply for a non profit status, so it is good to familiarize yourself with it.  Just be patient it will always take longer then you anticipated, so don't get discouraged.  In the meantime you can work on other things on your long list!  Currently D.O.G.S is busy working on:

• Board member recruitment
• logo
• website
• business cards
• volunteer database
• holding our first official meeting: Wed. Nov 7th (if you are interested please contact me and we would be happy to have you sit in.  We are always welcoming any feed back, suggestions, or just another friendly face!

One friendly word of advice-it is easy to want to work on everything and anything, however remember to prioritize in order to be efficient.  Our logic behind tackling social media and PR is that we need to spread the word about us, to gain support, and to let others know that we are here to HELP!  Simple as that right?  Then a volunteer database is helpful to assist with all these social media, PR, recruiting ideas, etc.  Till next time, hope I have good news to share with you all in the next post! :)

All the best,

Woof!

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” 

-Josh Billings

So treat him with what they deserve, unconditional love.

More to Come!

Greetings everyone!

It's been awhile, my apologies!  It's been busy working on paper work, networking, organizing thoughts/ideas, and trying to form a Board.  Well-we have it!  A full Board of Directors! :) Exciting news,however D.O.G.S is still recruiting for Board Members at Large, so if you are interested in making a difference, up for a challenge and working together, contact me!  As D.O.G.S waits to hear back from the Secretary of State for approval we are recruiting, networking and working on a long list of things!  Keep in mind when starting out, so much is happening at once:

• filing forms/fees
• program planning
• resource development
• networking
• forming a Board
• social media
• brainstorming ideas for fundraising, agency forms, volunteer database, logos, website, business cards, stock letters, donations, etc
• self care

list goes on and on...but just remember it's doable!  YOU CAN DO IT, if you want to, strive to, you CAN make it happen.  Don't give up! Set realistic goals and you WILL achieve it, believe me :)

You may feel like this...

so remember this. :)

Until next time!

Woof!