BONNYVILLE - Dawn Weber, president of the board of directors for the Bonnyville SPCA, introduced the organization’s new executive director, Lindsay McNaught, to the Town of Bonnyville council during a Sept. 19 special meeting that featured several delegations with financial requests.
Mcnaught presented the SPCA’s ambitions for expansion. The SPCA offers shelter and support for cats and dogs that are in need of homes.
The Bonnyville SPCA’s budget request asked for ongoing financial support from the municipality, including an annual $50,000 operation grant.
The Bonnyville SPCA is looking at a short-term expansion of their current facility, and a long-term goal of a new building in order to accommodate the community's need for more shelter space.
The Bonnyville SPCA’s 2023-24 year saw $50,781 in veterinarian expenses. The shelter took in 96 dogs and 156 cats in that same period.
“We need more space as we're almost always at capacity. In the last two years we've been at capacity at all times for dogs, and in the last six months we've been at capacity with cats,” said McNaught.
For 2023-24 our total expenses were $291,500 and our total revenue was $283,300, so we were running in a deficit of $8,377. We just don't have the opportunity to save money and put some funds aside for a shelter expansion, or a new shelter in the future.”
Weber told council, “The Bonnyville and District SPCA has operated for many years without an executive director, and [McNaught] is exactly the boots on the ground that the SPCA has needed to put ourselves on the map in town, and really start to see some potential for growth.”
McNaught informed council that she has taken on a fundraising role and intends to procure more sponsorship and donors as well as host more fundraising events, such as the Disco Inferno fundraiser event happening in November.
“Our board of directors is working towards a governance role. We had our first strategic planning session, and we created work plans for our board and the executive director. We are launching new fundraisers and we're out there creating new relationships and sustaining existing ones in the community,” said McNaught.
McNaught explained that with her taking on events, fundraising, and some day-to-day operations, the board of directors can focus more on financial matters, policies, legal matters, and strategic planning for long-term growth.
Coun. Neil Langridge inquired about the potential for the SPCA to become financially sustainable, and McNaught expressed the board’s desire to increase fundraising and sponsorship efforts and explained that the hiring of an executive director was a step toward that goal.
McNaught identified community education, procuring grants, staff training, board development, spaying and neutering initiatives, and a free microchip clinic as some of the SPCA’s future goals.
No decision regarding the request was made by council during the special meeting.