Questions to ask re: equine-assisted therapy pgm organization, structure, etc.

[2horseygirls]

When approached to potentially donate significantly to an equine-assisted therapy program (full EAGALA model, ES and MHP have already completed and passed EAGALA training) with the primary target demographic of veterans, a secondary target demographic of corporate team-building programs, and a third target demographic of first responders (police, fire, EMT, etc.), what are some reasonable questions to ask?

A few more details:

Program is not active yet.

Program will be a suboffering under an already established veterans assistance program that is an existing 501(c)3.

Founder of overall org has purchased a property that contains their personal residence. They have already personally "donated" $10K+ in improvements to the existing 4 stall barn.

This program is proposing, on the same property out of view of personal residence, to excavate/grade/expand an existing 4-stall barn into a 15+ stall barn with indoor arena, as well as excavate/grade/build an outdoor arena + additional pastures.

Equine specialist is "donating my personal horses to the program", as well as inviting select others to do so.

Instead of board, owners would "fundraise" for the program.

On the list of goals is to pay full salaries to the equine specialist and mental health professional

What is a standard/best practice operating format for this type of program?

What is the criteria for horses to be eligible for this type of program?

What would be reasonable estimated costs for facilities, pastures, annual care for a single therapy horse (subject to regional differentials)?

I do realize that this is very real, very personal, and very private therapy; however, is there somewhere on the EAGALA or your program’s website where one might get a better handle on what actually occurs during a therapy session?

There seems to be some very fuzzy lines here re: separation of personal and organizational assets, and I would like to ask intelligent, rational questions when the opportunity arises.

Any and all thoughts, questions, comments welcome!

ETA: EAGALA is listed for clarification - this is not a PATH or therapeutic riding program. Also updated title.

[betsyk]

So, take the distinction that it’s EAGALA out of the picture and ask about any therapy program or nonprofit. There need to be clear distinctions between what’s owned by the nonprofit and what’s used (rented?) by the nonprofit. There needs to be a board of directors and staff. Staff earn wages/salaries and pay taxes. The nonprofit carries insurance. The credentialed staff have appropriate and up to date credentials. Etc. There needs to be a budget, an audit, an annual report, nonprofit status (if appropriate), etc.

It sounds like you’re concerned that some of these things haven’t been thought through or communicated effectively. I agree. I had to reread your post a couple times and I’m still not clear about whether the nonprofit has purchased the farm, or the individual who runs the nonprofit (president of the BOD? executive director? what role do they have?). That would be a really important distinction.

The best advice I can give is that this organization needs to create a structure for itself independent of the property it hopes to rent/use. Someone needs to think long and hard about the capital improvements they are planning to this property - in the end, who owns the property? if the owner is a private individual, then raising money through the nonprofit to improve the property seems sort of unethical - they can walk away, end the lease, and sell the property and the nonprofit gets nothing. If the nonprofit owns the property, that’s one heckofa capital campaign for a program that doesn’t exist yet.

The whole issue of the horses also needs to be addressed independently of the indivudals currently involved. The program needs to lease or own its horses and that can take lots of different forms, but there needs to be a contract and if board is paid to some entity, the cash really ought to change hands with a contract and a paper trail rather than trades for work or “fundraising” in exchange. I learned that lesson years ago from a nonprofit I worked for, and with the perspective of time I agree even more that it’s the way to go - individuals pay the nonprofit for whatever (rent, board, whatever) and draw a salary if appropriate, or volunteer their time, as appropriate. Job descriptions make clear what tasks are paid and what are volunteer. Employment contracts state job duties, hours of operation, overtime policy, etc.

It sounds like someone is approaching you for financial support for this venture and I think you’re wise in wondering if they’re on the right track. Suggest that they make use of United Way or another local group that works to support nonprofits. They can be a wealth of information and connections and can save the agency a lot of time, effort and grief by helping them work through a lot of these issues up front.

[Scribbler]

OP, you say the “founder” of the original charity is starting this program on her own land.

What does founder mean? is she a member of the Board of Directors, or an employee of the charity: maybe President of the Board, or Executive Director? Or is she just a founding member of the charity, with no actual link to the charity at this time?

The organization should have a constitution and by-laws, it should have a board of directors, and it should have a board and staff policies manual.

Is the organization also running other programs? If so, how are they run and funded? You should be able to get annual reports and financial statements about the organization and its other programs.

As far as this program, ask for its business plan first. This should outline its proposed budget, sources of income, staffing model, etc. Also where they will find the clients. Paying full time salaries is fine if there are enough clients to be working a full day. Possibly at the start, there will not be.

It sounds like none of the property is owned by the society. It is owned by the “founder” of the society, and it’s unclear if she is also an officer or an employee of the society. The society will presumably be renting the space from her, even if just at a nominal rate of $1 a year? This should be in the business plan.

Where things get a bit hazy to me, is whether money raised for the veterans program is then going to be used to increase the value of the land owned by this person and rented by the program, by extending the infrastructure. Now wherever you were renting land for a program, this would happen: the renter would be putting improvements into the facilities. So I’m not sure whether this is a problem or not.

The idea that people would donate their personal horses to the project and then “fundraise” is a bit odd. How do they propose this happen? Usually, all serious fundraising efforts go through the executive director or fundraising co-ordinator. You do not want random members going off to agencies or local businesses, and making uncordinated appeals that could jeopardize funding for the overall society.

Or are the owners just meant to shake down their friends and family every month? How much are they expected to bring in? The cost of their board? Tens of thousands?

I agree that this project is not yet thought through enough, and I would want to see its agency funding in place before I started handing over my own cash.

Also, you might want to talk to the board of directors or the executive director of the parent agency, as to how this fits into their overall plans, and also what kind of oversight there is.

If it turns out that founder, ED, and president are all one person, and the board and staff of the larger organization are basically nonparticipatory in any decision making, I would steer clear of this.

[2horseygirls]

Thank you Scribbler and betsyk for the feedback.

Founder is the founder, originator of the idea and executed it, and is the acting president.

Equine specialist is a completely separate person, acting in capacity in regards to this program alone, serving no other capacity within the larger organization (that I can tell).

Another person who was approached for support actually ran a therapeutic riding program and an equine humane organization in the past, and has many of the same questions, as well as firsthand knowledge of governing this type of entity. I’ve learned a lot about private benefit, private inurement, and excessive benefit in the last two days, and am continuing to research.

Keep the feedback coming, please!

[Scribbler]

[QUOTE=2horseygirls;8790054]
Thank you Scribbler and betsyk for the feedback.

Founder is the founder, originator of the idea and executed it, and is the acting president.

Equine specialist is a completely separate person, acting in capacity in regards to this program alone, serving no other capacity within the larger organization (that I can tell).

Another person who was approached for support actually ran a therapeutic riding program and an equine humane organization in the past, and has many of the same questions, as well as firsthand knowledge of governing this type of entity. I’ve learned a lot about private benefit, private inurement, and excessive benefit in the last two days, and am continuing to research.

Keep the feedback coming, please![/QUOTE]

Does the larger organization, the veterans aid part, have any substantial operations? If it’s going concern with full time staff, an office, lots of clients, been getting funding for a couple of years, producing results, an actual professional established entity, then they ought to be supervising this new program being offered under their umbrella.

If they aren’t, if the President is going rogue on this, then that’s a warning sign.

If the larger organization doesn’t really do much, and has no one associated with it other than the President/founder, then I would be worried about the viability of the whole thing.

Basically, non profits and charities are meant to be run by boards consisting of multiple people, to have a membership base of some sort, and to have staff (if they do) who have clearly defined roles. The idea is that the organization is part of and serves a community, and has enough checks and balances that no one person can run with it in a personal, self-serving, direction.

Now of course in practice you can have a board on paper that never meets, that has little interest in really running a society, and a president who is just running it as her own little venture. It might not be for purely personal gain, the person might be very altruistic. But it is a big problem and a red flag.

A nonprofit or a charity is not a small business run by a single owner, and if it is in effect being run like that, don’t go near it. It shows, for one, that the single person can’t work with others, doesn’t understand the process and structure of charities or non profits, and is working without sufficient guidance and checks and balances.

As it happens, I’ve been helping a friend write up by-laws for an equine non-profit society idea. I’m in another jurisdiction than you, so the regulations would be somewhat different. But a really key step in getting a proper society going, one that is transparent and eligible for serious foundation and government grants, is that you have members and a board of directors, that the person who had the original inspiration is able to gather a strong group in support of the project and to communicate and collaborate with them. And have a business plan. And think a lot about conflict of interest. Etc.

Otherwise you get what you have here, which is a muddy mix of altruism and potential personal gain, and a disaster in the making.

It seems to me that a well run equine therapy program would be very well qualified to get government and foundation grants to function. I don’t think it would need to be shaking down individuals for little $50 donations, for instance, like some of the shadier “horse rescue” places :).

[findthedistance]

Others are in a better position than me to go into the structural/legal complications – I have no experience with dealing with a division of a larger nonprofit. I would be asking serious questions about the property situation – that’s a red flag to me. It needs to be very clear and in writing. EITHER the founder owns the land and leases a defined portion to the nonprofit, OR the nonprofit owns the land and leases the residence to the founder (or provides housing as part of the compensation package).

As far as horses, a wide variety of horses can be appropriate for EAGALA-model therapy. Variety (size, color, gender, personality, breed) is useful. Safety is a consideration. Soundness is less of a consideration than for mounted equine-assisted activities, but not irrelevant.

I’m in the mid-Atlantic and the (PATH) program I work for spends about $4000/year per horse. We treat them very well, but it’s basics. Good nutrition, good preventative care. That doesn’t get anyone routine chiro, massage, random supplements, etc. Something targeted to solve a particular issue, sure, but not on a blanket basis.

[HiddenAcres]

Hmm

I have a PATH/NAHRA background. Often the equine assisted programs and Wounded Warrior programs use the horses, existing structure, etc. of the program and it works well. Same volunteers, etc.

Kind of sounds like someone is doing a personal wealth/tax structuring thing. Corporate team building is not typically something a charity offers, unless it’s company volunteers for a service project for riding center.