EquiFriends - how your dollars help
Student tuition at EquiFriends covers approximately 28% of the actual costs to provide therapeutic riding classes. Therefore, EquiFriends depends on the generosity of the community through donations and fundraisers to keep the cost of tuition at a minimum. Read below where our funding comes from, where our money goes, and what your donation can provide.
Fundraisers
Approximately 55% of EquiFriends' annual revenue is earned through EquiFriends fundraisers. There are two major annual funding events: "The Slicker 'n Nicker" Ride-A-Thon and "The Mane Event" benefit dinner and auction; minor fundraisers includie the NW Model Railroad Train Show and Swap Meet and the Todd H Robinson Charity Golf Classic.
Tuition
EquiFriends charges $25 per ride for tuition, plus a $10 insurance fee per session. For example, tuition and insurance is $260 for a 10 week session. Private lessons are $45 per lesson. Tuition comprises approximately 25% of the budget. Ten percent of each session enrollment is eligible for tuition assistancve to riders with a financial need.
Contributions
Approximately 15% of EquiFriends budget is received through contributions from local organizations, private citizens and corporations. This includes designations of individuals through payroll deduction funds and from corporate matching gifts programs.
Grants
Grants comprise approximately 5% of EquiFriends' revenue.
In-Kind Donations
Approximately $25,000 in services and product donations are received yearly. The major In-Kind service donation for the past 10 years has been through Pilchuck Veterinary Hosp. and Snohomish Veterinary Clinic, and through local farriers.
The cost per lesson
A single lesson at EquiFriends costs us $73.03. Where does that money go? 78% of it, $56.99, pays for payroll and payroll taxes. 10.3%, $7.55, pays for our occupancy at EquiFriends - the stalls, arena, and offices. 6.2%, $4.51, pays for hay, grain, and supplements for our horses. The final 5.5%, $3.98, covers the cost of caring for our horses - vets, shoeing, innoculations, dental care, and bedding.
What your donation can provide:
$50 Office supplies such as copy/printer toner, copy paper, batteries, etc.
$100 Purchase educational materials for our instructors, buy special feed pellets for our 2 Cushings-disease horses; replace water buckets for our horses’ stalls, etc.
$250 Provide supplies for annual auction table centerpieces; purchase 2-3 new winter
turnout blankets for our horses, support Volunteer Appreciation Week for 2 sessions for our program, etc.
$500 Support one rider and horse for 1 10-week session; provide travel and conference costs for 1 staff member to attend national NARHA conference, purchase new phones for staff use, etc.
$1000 Buy 5 tons of hay for our horses (we use 20+ tons/year), help with the stuent portion of therapeutic riding lessons for 3 riders for 1 session, sponsor 1 of the silent auctions during our annual benefit dinner auction event, help provide cleaning service for new restrooms in our facility, etc.
$2500 Sponsor 1 horse for 1 year (all feed, hay, vet care, worming, shoeing, etc), provide a multi-media projector and laptop for making grant proposal presentations to local funding sources, purchase new software for existing computer stations, purchase quality horse for program use, provide all funding for EquiFriends Annual horse Show for our students, etc.
$5000 Help pave the parking lot so our students and families do not have to navigate wheelchairs and walkers through the rocky and muddy parking lot we currently have, replace paddock fencing, purchase electric gate opener and gate for perimeter fence, help sponsor the dinner portion of our annual benefit dinner auction at the Everett Events Center, etc.
$15,000 help with drainage on our hillside paddock area to eliminate the mud and flooding each winter (total project costs is around $80,000), support 15 student/horse combinations for one session at actual cost to provide lesson (we typically serve 100 riders/session), fund entire costs of annual benefit dinner auction-allowing ALL proceeds to support our program, etc.
$25,000 Help prepare our outdoor arena for use throughout the year (cover, sides, drainage and footing) so that we may expand our program offerings to fill the need for our services, provide salary for full-time event/volunteer coordinator, provide health insurance for full-time staff for 1 year, etc.
$50,000 Sponsor all the horses in the barn for 1 year, help replace paddock footing in turn-out areas, provide landscaping and groundskeeping support for our property, etc.