Confessions of a charity business owner

KidsCan and Pet Refuge founder Julie Chapman talks to NZBusiness about the challenges and rewards of running a business in the charity sector.

Julie Chapman is one of New Zealand’s most successful leaders in the not-for-profit sector. She established KidsCan in her garage in 2005 starting with a $40,000 grant. KidsCan is now New Zealand’s leading children’s charity dedicating to providing the essentials to Kiwi kids affected by poverty, with annual revenue of over $20 million.

Last year Julie established her second charity Pet Refuge which provides temporary shelter and care for pets affected by domestic violence, keeping them safe while their owners escape abuse. The charity has just celebrated its one-year anniversary.

NZB: What prompted you to start Pet Refuge?

Julie: I learned about the issue of pets being used as a means of control and coercion through my work at KidsCan. One of our team was attending a conference one day, and someone from Women’s Refuge spoke about the issue, and how they wished there was something available dedicated for pets, to hold them and accommodate them until their owners could be reunited.

NZB: What was your business background before Pet Refuge and Kidscan?

Julie: I didn’t really have a business background at all. I had worked in several Marketing roles but starting an organisation from scratch was a huge learning curve for me. I worked with a business mentor who helped me with ensuring good processes and systems were set up right from the start. 

NZB: How is what you do different from other animal welfare organisations?

Julie: Our work is quite different in that regard from the work that rescues do – these are much loved pets that people do want back. So, we keep them safe until that can happen.

NZB: It must be challenging to make a charity financially sustainable?

Julie: Diversity of income streams is really important. So, we’ve got a range of income streams – we have individual donors, corporate partners and we also apply for grants from trusts. And then we also undertake fundraising campaigns. We’ve got an urgent appeal in August and that will be what we call a ‘one-off donation campaign’ where we ask people to donate $25 to provide a safe night.

NZB: How was Pet Refuge impacted by Covid?

Julie: Covid saw an increase in the need for Pet Refuge services for victims of family violence and a drop off in donations.  We were able to mitigate the financial impact of this thanks to funding support from Ministry of Social Development.  What we are really focused on now is finding two more cornerstone business partners who want to get on board and support our work as we continue to grow to ensure we never have to say no to pets and their people. 

NZB: Have you transferred many KidsCan learnings to Pet Refuge?

Julie: Yeah, the cool thing is that the Pet Refuge administration and fundraising teams work in the KidsCan office. KidsCan is able to share what they’ve done in the past, and what works and what doesn’t. There’s no patch protection because we’re talking to two different audiences.

NZB: What’s your philosophy on people and team culture

Julie: My philosophy is that you should always hire people that are better than you at lots of different things. And if you stick to that and get the right people, then you don’t have to be really hands-on. A collaborative style, and a positive, humble approach is important and to listen to people.

NZB: How do you provide support for staff?

Julie: I think for our team it is important that we understand that they are dealing with lots of stories and circumstances that are quite traumatic. So, there is the danger, I guess, of them taking that on. So, we have supervision from counselors available for our team caseworkers that work directly with clients, which is really important, and we don’t share the gory details of a case, for want of a better word, with the shelter team that’s going to be looking after the pet. I’m really supportive of giving our team time to work in their physical and mental fitness so we give three paid hours a week for all team members to exercise their bodies and minds to support their wellbeing.

NZB: You take pets from all around New Zealand, is that right?

Julie: Yes, we take pets nationally. We’ve got our own shelter that can take around 40 pets at a time and then we have some another offsite locations around New Zealand. When a woman has made a plan, or been working on a plan to escape for months, and then they finally decide, ‘tomorrow’s the day,’ and they ring you and they say, “I’m leaving tomorrow,” you can’t say, “can you just hang on a couple of weeks until we’ve got room at our shelter?”

NZB: Does it vary a lot in terms of how long most of the pets are with you?

Julie: Yeah, it can. We’ve had one dog that has been with us for over a year, and housing for people is the big issue – people being able to find housing with pets, but really, it can be anywhere from a couple of weeks to up to four months.

NZB: Tell us a bit about your vision for animal welfare in New Zealand.

Julie: I’d like to see a big improvement to our animal welfare laws. I think they’re pretty loose at the moment and there’re some terrible things that people who own animals and don’t treat them well can get away with in this country. Like the life chaining of dogs – it’s unbelievable to me that you can put a dog on a chain and leave it there for its whole life, as long as it’s got a water bowl, some food and hardly any shelter.

NZB: Are there any particular challenges you experience in terms of doing the work at Pet Refuge?

Julie: Probably the main one has been the housing. Housing is a challenge for lots of people, but it’s even more challenging for people who’ve been through domestic violence and want to have a pet because there is a reluctance. Although it feels like there’s a bit of a shift in landlords’ kind of accepting that having a pet is not necessarily a bad thing, because there’s lots of benefits to it. For example, people with pets don’t want to be moving all the time.

I’m very much ‘if there’s a problem, let’s look at the way we can solve it.’ So, for me, it’s talking to the social housing providers. I’m going to be speaking to some government MPs about possibly letting pet bonds be introduced or some kind of insurance that owners can take out to cover the contents, you know, in terms of damage made by pets.  

NZB: Are there any ways in which your own worldviews, or mindset, or values have changed as a result of your work either with KidsCan or Pet Refuge or both?

Julie: There’s not much that surprises me these days. But I’ve always had a service orientated leaning. My parents were quite involved in community stuff and my mum was involved in her church, so I’ve always had a passion for helping people, and always had a huge love for pets.

I wouldn’t say I’ve become cynical; I think I’ve actually become more aware of what people can go through and the different situations people can find themselves in.

To donate to Pet Refuge visit www.petrefuge.org.nz or call 09 975 0850.