Humane Society Silicon Valley

“The 990 was provided to the board members for their review prior to filing.”

“Annually, the board members, officers and key employees are asked to complete and sign a "conflict of interest policy & reasonable efforts" questionnaire. There is a conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy and code of ethics and conduct policy included in the employee handbook. Human resources points them out as key policies in the employee handbook during orientation with all new employees. In the event of a conflict, procedures for addressing the conflict of interest are specified in the organization's policy. They include discussion among the executive team and if needed, presentation to the board of directors, discussion by the board, investigation of alternatives, other due diligence, and specific rules for making a decision on a course of action.”

“When compensation is modified, usually annually, the board of directors conducts a study of chief executive/president and chief financial employee compensation of other similar organizations meeting the following criteria: 1. Each of the organizations listed is in the animal welfare industry and of similar size and responsibility for the president and chief financial employee of the organization; 2. Each of the organizations is of long standing within their communities; 3. Each is in california in large metropolitan communities where the cost of living is similar to hssv's community; and 4. All of the organizations in california that meet criterias 1,2 and 3 are included. To help assure quality and independence, the study is prepared by staff and reviewed and approved by the treasurer and board chair, prior to presentation to the entire board of directors.”

“Audit reports, annual reports, and 990's are posted directly on its website. Hssv provides a contact email on its website for anyone who wants to request a copy of other documents, such as the governing documents and conflict of interest policy.”

“Humane society silicon valley (the organization") is a california nonprofit public benefit corporation that has operated continuously since 1929. The focus of the organization is companion animal rescue and homelessness prevention. The organization serves as a safety net for companion animals in silicon valley, sets a national example for innovation and seeks to transform human lives through deeper connections to animals. The impact achieved reflects the quality of the organization and its people. Impact: the organization is driving significant, positive change for both companion animals and the people who care for and about them. The solutions are achieving groundbreaking results. Specifically, the organization: -saves 100% of all healthy animals in the organization's care and has done so since 2006. In the year ended june 30, 2018, the organization saved 95% of all animals that came through its doors, including many needing rehabilitation or extended treatment. This compares to the national average of 77% (for 2012, as reported on https://www.aspca.org/animal- homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics). Even more importantly, these results are being achieved while the overall community save rate continues to improve. -provides rehabilitation and medical or behavioral treatment for nearly 4,100 (in fiscal year 2018) animals each year. These animals are just like pets many people already have in their homes today but they don't yet have the loving guardians they need to overcome common challenges. Given time, space, and tailored medical and behavioral attention, these animals can lead high-quality lives for years to come and provide profound enrichment to their future two-legged families. Currently, approximately 69% of the animals saved require this kind of care and treatment. -finds and helps keep loving homes for nearly 6,850 animals each year. This includes providing counseling and no cost pet food to keep over 160 pet animals in their homes (excluding managed colony cats), returning nearly 185 lost animals to their homes, transferring 863 animals, including wild life, to rescue groups and managed cat colonies, and facilitating adoptions for 5,638 animals. Currently, 61% of these adopted animals will receive foster care or kitten nursery care prior to being matched with their new families. -the organization also provides "showcase" foster days for an animal rescue partner. By providing the use of the organization's facilities to the same rescue group at the same time each week, this group is able to maintain a presence where potential adopters can routinely find them. This enables more animals to ultimately find homes each year. -performs and influences over 8,900 spay/neuter surgeries each year. Over 2,000 of these annual surgeries are a result of the organization's efforts to secure funds for the broader community. Private funders and grant awards have allowed humane society silicon valley to deploy and administer a program to address large numbers of homeless animals coming from five specific zip codes in santa clara county. These funds enable the organization to work in partnership with a local municipal shelter to offer free spay/neuter surgeries, microchips, and vaccines to all cats, dogs, and rabbits in the targeted zip codes. -provides education for over 7,900 children, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. These education programs enable social and emotional learning through interactions with animals. This includes economically disadvantaged children and at-risk youthmany with little prior exposure to animals. The organization also works with local schools to provide carefully designed programs tailored to their students' unique needs, especially those who need support in building empathy, responsible decision-making and relationship skills. These outcomes demonstrate that humane society silicon valley is delivering on and advancing its mission to groundbreaking levels. Innovation: humane societ”

“Strategic direction humane society silicon valley is saving homeless pets and transforming human lives at the local, regional and national levels. Key parts of this strategic focus for the organization are: commitment to maintaining a robust life-saving eco-system in silicon valley. Achieve a community-wide save rate of 95% or greater. This includes continuing to save 100% of all healthy animals and moving towards the goal of saving 100% of animals in the county that can be healed through rehabilitation and medical or behavioral treatment. -expanding collaborative partnerships throughout california to broaden mission impact. -delivering mission impact through accountability, engagement, innovation, and transparency. - leading the practice of shelter medicine to ensure quality of care for shelter animals across the sector. -exploring and piloting integrated services that impact both animal and human lives to provide value to the community well into the future. Charity ratings charity navigator and guidestar are key organizations that provide, on their websites, information on nonprofit organizations. The following information pertains to ratings and comparability to other nonprofits. The organization's fundraising expenses, as a percentage of total functional expenses, and its fundraising efficiency (cost to raise $1) are higher than some other animal welfare organizations due to the additional costs necessary to fund the comprehensive campaign. The organization's goal is to become a national model for saving the lives of companion animals that are capable of healing. The comprehensive campaign is needed to sustain and increase the organization's mission impact through progressive and scalable programs. To achieve that goal, an investment in the comprehensive campaign is required. In addition, during the campaign, administrative positions spend more time fundraising and, therefore, a greater percentage of those salaries are allocated towards fundraising rather than administrative (management and general) expense. If those salaries were allocated towards administrative expense, the organization's fundraising efficiency rating in charity navigator would increase positively. At the same time, the organization's administrative expense would still maintain its excellent rating due to a very low percentage of total functional expenses spent on management and general - even when those allocated salaries are reabsorbed into the administrative category. Additionally, as part of the organization's long term sustainability plan, the organization carries low interest tax-exempt bond debt which was used to finance the construction, equipping and furnishing of the animal community center. Tax-exempt bond financing is common for not-forprofit entities. However, under charity navigator's financial rating system, carrying debt is penalized, even for organizations like humane society silicon valley with a strong financial position. The organization's current ratio was 5.9 to 1 and 5.6 to 1 at june 30, 2018 and 2017 respectively. The organization has sufficient liquid assets to pay off the bond payable debt. However, these assets have been invested for long term growth to create an even stronger financial foundation for the future. See note 9 for more information on the bonds payable. The above factors negatively affect the financial portion of humane society silicon valley's rating on charity navigator, a key nonprofit charity rating organization. However, the organization's strengths are its program efficiency ratio and its accountability and transparency ratings. The organization's program expenses are 78% of total expenses, which is considered excellent by charity navigator's ratings methodology. In addition, the organization scored maximum points on the accountability and transparency factors of the rating.”

“-the organization brought in almost 3,800 kittens in fiscal year ended june 30, 2018 thanks to these strategies and it is a great opportunity for other shelters to learn how humane society silicon valley executes this on a day-to-day basis. The efforts around setting up and maintaining these programs require thoughtful cooperation among behavior, animal care staff, foster coordinators, and kitten volunteers. 80 nursery volunteers are trained to work with the organization's staff to actively socialize and interact with kittens, improving their confidence faster and allowing them to become adoptable in a shorter period of time. Volunteers are trained to assist in caring for the animals in humane society silicon valley's quarantine rooms, providing vaccinations to kittens on-site and in foster care, and conducting behavior assessments. 30 volunteers run the organization's kitten vaccination station clinic during "kitten season," to streamline booster vaccines for the organization's healthy foster kitten population. Over 600 volunteers participate in the foster program annually. This is a wonderful opportunity for apprentices to learn how humane society silicon valley is able to best prioritize care for kittens utilizing thoughtful space and volunteer power to improve internal operations when intake levels are high. -built the state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly animal community center, which is one of the first gold leed certified animal facilities in the country. This facility sets new standards for the care of homeless animals and the way that people learn about, engage with, and celebrate animals. This facility brings together and leverages the power of individuals and groups to make a difference in the lives of both companion animals and people. -committed to focusing on combining compassion and commitment to humane society silicon valley's mission (heart) with professionalism and competence (head). The organization seeks to attract and retain subject matter experts in animal care and experienced leaders from the for-profit and nonprofit worlds who are drawn to the organization's approach and philosophy. -implemented transparency and accountability in operations and financials. The organization's audit report, 990 and annual report are all posted on the organization's website. -the organization's leadership and expertise are revolutionizing companion animal care in silicon valley and setting an example for what is possible across the nation. Humane society silicon valley is demonstrating on a local level that inspiration and determination can drive community collaboration that saves and enhances lives.”

“Created maddie's kitten lifesaving apprenticeship to host 12 people a year to learn about setting up and managing several vital programs to manage kittens including: -kitten nursery, used to house under socialized kittens as well as nursing mothers with their litters; -feline foster program, which fosters over 2,100 kittens and cats annually; -ringworm and uri treatment rooms, used to quarantine and treat kittens with uri and other treatable but contagious diseases. The organization brought in almost 3,800 kittens in fiscal year ended june 30, 2018 thanks to these strategies and it is a great opportunity for other shelters to learn how we execute this on a day-to-day basis. The efforts around setting up and maintaining these programs require thoughtful cooperation among behavior, animal care staff, foster coordinators, and kitten volunteers. 80 nursery volunteers are trained to work with our staff to actively socialize and interact with kittens, improving their confidence faster and allowing them to become adoptable in a shorter period of time. Volunteers are trained to assist in caring for the animals in our quarantine rooms, providing vaccinations to kittens on-site and in foster care, and conducting behavior assessments. 30 volunteers run our kitten vaccination station clinic during "kitten season," to streamline booster vaccines for our healthy foster kitten population. Over 600 volunteers participate in the foster program annually. This is a wonderful opportunity for apprentices to learn how we're able to best prioritize care for kittens utilizing thoughtful space and volunteer power to improve internal operations when intake levels are high.”