annotated bibliography

A team effo rt The Columbus Dog Connection stretches its resources, while expanding services BY JAYNE GEST | (!) JGEST@SBNONLINE.COM

B U IL D IN G STR O N G ER C O M M U N IT IE S C O LU M B U S DOG C O N N E C TIO N

A s one of the older rescue groups in Ohio, the Columbus Dog Connection has been

around for almost 17 years. Its statewide profile was elevated after leading the push for O hio’s anti­ puppy mill bill a few years ago, but the nonprofit has quietly been making a difference for decades.

One reason for its longevity is its ability to do more with less.

Kellie DiFrischia, co-founder and co-director of the Columbus Dog Connection, says that one of their board members calls the nonprofit the most frugal she’s ever been involved with.

T h e group also has branched out into the spay/neuter business because i t ’s hard to address the overpopulation problem w ithout doing both rescue and spay/neuter.

“We would love to be out of business,” DiFrischia says.

Smart Business spoke with DiFrischia about making every dollar count as the Columbus Dog Connection seeks to build a stronger community.

SB: W h a t is t h e m is s io n o f t h e C o lu m b u s

D o g C o n n e c tio n a n d h ow has t h a t

c h a n g e d ?

KD: Our primary goal has been to alleviate the suffering of dogs. That task has come in many forms over the years.

Primarily, we re-home dogs and cats by rescuing abandoned pets, promoting all rescues and shelters in Ohio and being dogged in the pursuit of saving every adoptable dog until dogs and cats are no longer euthanized for lack of space.

However, we also were the lead advocacy agency on Ohio’s anti-puppy mill bill. We started a low cost mobile spay/neuter clinic to directly address the need for lower cost spay/neuter. And we have always shared our resources with other rescue groups and continue to assist them with the donations we are not using.

We also help the groups we do spay/ neuter with by sharing grant money we

SB : H o w d o e s y o u r f o s te r h o m e p ro g ra m

w o rk ? Is t h a t th e b ig g e s t w a y yo u u tiliz e

v o lu n te e rs ?

S O C IA L M E D IA : To learn more about the Columbus Dog Connection, like its Facebook page www.facebook.com/ColumbusDogConnection

16 S m art Business Columbus | December 2014

“We are humbled by every penny entrusted to our grass-roots mission and carefully spend only when we need to.”

- K E L L IE D IF R IS C H IA , C O -FO U N D E R A N D C O -D IR E C T O R , C O LU M B U S DOG C O N N EC TIO N

KD: O u r foster program is much like fostering a child. W e provide all veterinary care, crates, toys, etc., and the foster volunteer provides th e T L C . W e provide all the support you would need, including day care and boarding/ substitute sitting if you have vacation plans.

O u r foster volunteers do provide our greatest volunteer need. T h e m ore foster hom es we have, the m ore dogs and cats we can save.

SB: You m entioned th a t you’re extrem ely conscious w ith every donated penny. How do you tr y to m ake th e organization m ore e ffic ie n t and stretch your resources?

KD: We are hum bled by every penny entrusted to o ur grass-roots mission and

SB: How do you work w ith o th e r rescue organizations?

KD: We have always been big believers that we are stronger as a team effort instead of individual groups. W e do everything we can to assist all rescues and shelters.

O u r website is a comprehensive source for rescues and shelters who need inform ation o n anything dog/cat in O hio.

O u r H ab itat for D ogm anity P rogram has com pleted num erous events w here we assist shelters. W e did a shelter makeover in M eigs County, in southern O hio. W e’ve also had collection drives

KD: Yes, netw o rk in g in y o u r com m unity is th e key. Find businesses th a t love w hat you do and see if they are able to make an in-kind d onation to help your mission.

SB: W hat are Colum bus Dog C onnection’s recent accom plishm ents, and w hat's in store fo r th e future?

KD: As the lead agency to w ork on the O hio anti-puppy mill bill, we are still engaged w ith the state to see th a t the dogs in th e high-volum e kennels receive p roper care.

carefully spend only w hen we need to. W e ask for in-kind donations to keep our costs down.

A good example o f our thriftiness is our new sletter preparation. W e utilize volunteer hours to prepare the mailing, thereby keeping our production cost down.

W e are also very green and reduce, reuse and recycle often. W e belong to a program th a t gives store credit for ink cartridges. W e are fortunate to w ork w ith businesses th a t love w hat we do and reduce th eir services to cost for us.

for num erous rescues/shelters in O hio as well as Kentucky, M issouri and Indiana.

O u r w arehouse is a revolving door for donations that, w hen n o t utilized by our group, are re-d o n ated to th e rescues/ shelters in need. W e’ve donated over 900 elevated dog beds.

And most importantly, T h e Andy, our spay/neuter truck travels Ohio working with rescues/shelters to do low cost spay/neuter.

SB: Do you have any advice fo r o ther organizations, either for-profit or nonprofit, th a t are try in g to do m ore w ith less?

Every tim e we save a dog o r cat, we have accomplished som ething great for th a t animal. Every spay/neuter we do, we have im proved the overpopulation problem.

O n th e ho rizo n for us is m ore spay/ neuter. W e know we can’t adopt our way o u t o f this crisis o f overpopulation. T h e m ore spay/neuter we do today, the less m oney we spend doing spay/neuter later. •

How to reach: Columbus Dog Connection, ( 6 1 4 ) 4 7 1 - 9 0 0 0 o r w w w .c o lu m b u s d o g c o n n e c tio n .c o m

December 2 0141 Smart Business Columbus 17

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