AKI News-January 2021
While our expectations for 2021 are pretty great, they’re also realistic. After taking stock of 2020 and writing AKI’s Annual Report, I believe there’s good reason to have hope for 2021. The Annual Report, describing how our Partner Organizations used your donations; the 2020 grants we were able to fund; our newest program, Friendly Audits, and other aspects of AKI support, strategies, and activities, is available on our website, HERE. For a preview, showing how you designated your donations to AKI in 2020, check out our Designated Donations pie chart (this doesn’t include donations to the Uganda SPCA Land Fund, held separately from AKI’s general account):
Highlights from 2020
In keeping with our record of raising more money each year that we’ve been in existence (since 2007), in 2020 we raised more money than we did in 2019—even given the extraordinary challenges! [THANK YOU!] I think that’s because donors understand how critical their support is to animal welfare organizations in poor countries; they like our accountability and transparency; and they can easily find out how their donations are used and what they’ve achieved.
We received 50 proposals to our 3rd Annual Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program and were able to fund 9 of them. In a year when animal welfare organizations were really struggling, we’re so happy we could help so many. We started a new program aimed at strengthening Africa-based animal welfare organizations by providing non-financial support through our “Friendly Audit” process and have matched 8 volunteers with 8 organizations (5 organizations are on the waiting list).
A kind and generous donor offered a match for donations to the USPCA Land Fund and we were able to raise even more than the match!
The AKI Board met and decided to retain our current Partner Organizations and for 2021, especially given how precarious our world continues to be, and to ensure we can continue to help our Partners at the levels we anticipate they’ll need, not to add others.
Looking to 2021
We love what Annemarie from Donkeys for Africa said about our Friendly Audit program: “What a lovely description, friendly audit! I think it is a marvelous way of sharing expertise and would love to see more organisations doing this.” We agree with Annmarie and we plan to do more Friendly Audits in 2021.
We raised more this year for the USPCA Land Fund than in any previous year, and I know we’re all anxiously waiting to hear what’s next for the USPCA: Have they identified the perfect plot?; Would they prefer to keep looking for other available land?; Do they -and we-need to continue raising money for the Land Fund?—The USPCA Executive Committee is evaluating the situation now. It’s a huge decision and there’s a lot of money involved, so no one is taking the decision lightly and as soon as we know more, we’ll let you know more!
We had arranged to make several in-person presentations about AKI in various locations in the US, but covid-19 put a damper on that. In 2021, we plan (and hope) to see several of our supporters and meet new ones while making in-person presentations on AKI to get the word out about what we and our supported organizations are doing.
We are committed to holding our grant program in 2021. All of our 2020 grants will be completed by March, and we’ll begin preparing for a mid-2021 launch of our 4th Annual Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program.
The AKI Blog-January
In January, we published two new AKI Blog posts, both about AKI Partner Organizations:
Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society: covid-19 hasn’t daunted them - This post is about LAWCS activities in the last few months of 2020 and how AKI donors have helped them achieve so much last year.
Kingston Community Animal Welfare is back to work! - This post is about a few of KCAW’s recent rescues, and an old favorite (Hint: the picture below).
Thank you from AKI & our supported-organizations!
REMINDER: All monthly/recurring donors should have received an end of year email message from me with the total amount you donated in 2020 and information about what your donations achieved. If you didn’t, please get in touch!
It seems there’s more uncertainty than ever and few of us feel that we’ve reached a new normal. Which makes me a little nervous to start the year with so much hope, but having looked at what our Partners and Grant Recipients have accomplished; to see how our Friendly Audit organizations are growing —and have so much room to continue to grow(!); and to be in touch with so many of you who care about AKI, our mission, our supported organizations….I will continue to hold out hope for a successful, kinder 2021—a world where kindness to animals really does have no boundaries.
100% of your donations go to AKI-supported organizations, our Partner Organizations in 9 countries: Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Namibia, Liberia, Ghana, Armenia, Jamaica, and Honduras; and AKI's 2020 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Recipients who work in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (2 grantees), Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Please help us get the word out about AKI by forwarding this message to your friends and family who love animals. Please stay safe and healthy. With Gratitude, Karen Menczer, Founder & Director & the AKI Board