USESR ETHICS

Statement of Values of USESR

• Commitment to the public good;
  
• Accountability to the public;
  
• Commitment beyond the law;
  
• Respect for the worth and dignity of individuals, both human and equine;
  
• Inclusiveness and social justice;
  
• Respect for pluralism and diversity
  
• Transparency, integrity and honesty;
  
• Responsible stewardship of resources; and,
  
• Commitment to excellence and to maintaining the public trust.

Personal and Professional Integrity

Mission

Governance

• Ensures that its board members have the requisite skills and experience to carry out their duties and that officers and directors understand and fulfill their governance duties acting for the benefit of the organization and its public purpose;
  • How we do this: Each board meeting includes a short educational demonstration by a different member of the board of directors for the purpose of training all directors of USESR. The individual making the presentation chooses the topic. Topics include subjects such as Nonprofit Lobbying, Reading Nonprofit Financial Reports, Volunteer Management, Board Recruitment, and Forming Committees, Conflict of Interest, etc.
• Ensures that the organization conducts all transactions and dealings with integrity and honesty;
• How we do this: We have a strict Code of Ethics in place, as well as written penalties for violating said Code. In areas we have had trouble in, we use written contracts. Believe it or not, some of our Foster Care Providers (always required to be members of USESR) have decided that they own the USESR horses they are fostering. For this reason, our Foster Care Provider Contracts state that no receipt for care of a USESR equine can list the Foster Care Provider as the owner of the USESR equine. Another problem we have had pertains to reimbursement of veterinary or other services for fostered USESR equine. One time, a Foster Care Provider saved up all receipts which qualified for reimbursement for many months and submitted them all at the same time. We cannot afford to act as some sort of savings account for our Foster Care Providers, therefore our Foster Care Provider contracts limit the amount of time in which receipts for reimbursement must be submitted. Contracts also provide a legal record of everything agreed upon between USESR and the person signing the contract. We also use contracts when we allow members to use equipment or software owned by USESR. We do this because so many times, we have loaned these things out for strict use of carrying out USESR volunteer duties and never gotten them back. While we find most people to be honest and ethical, there are a few who are not. Their actions force us not to be able to trust people as we would like to be able to.
• Ensures that the organization promotes working relationships with board members, staff, volunteers, and program beneficiaries that are based on mutual respect, fairness and openness;
• How we do this: By using written contracts, keeping our word, and avoiding long-term debt.
• Ensures that the organization is fair and inclusive in its recruitment practices for all board and volunteer positions;
• How we do this: We use an Officer's Pledge and officers sign a Code of Conduct Contract. We do not seek to recruit officers or members who only agree with us. We prefer people who think independently and are willing to bring fresh ideas to our policies, procedures and programs. One of the things Officers pledge to do is vote the way they believe, even if all of the other officers vote against them.
• Ensures that policies of the organization are in writing, clearly articulated and officially adopted;
• Ensures that the resources of USESR are responsibly and prudently managed; and,
• How we do this: Our officers are able to be in contact with each other on a moment's notice most of the time. "When in doubt, call the cell phone", is our unofficial motto. Any urgent matters that arise are dealt with immediately or on the day they arise.
• Ensures that the organization has the capacity to carry out its programs effectively.
• How we do this: Sometimes, the need is very urgent, as was the case with the Hitch-Hiking Horses, a group of 300 starved horses in California which USESR coordinated the movement and placement of said horses with qualified nonprofit equine rescue organizations across the United States. USESR took in just four Hitch-Hiking Horses. We did not meet BLM requirements for caring for wild horses, but these horses needed somewhere to go before a judge would agree that the county seize them. We knew that one way or another, we would be able to care for all four Hitch-Hiking Horses in our care. We trust you, our generous supporter, to help us raise funds needed to provide materials we may need, such as stronger fencing, corral panels and other equipment that would make gentling and handling these horses easier. So, while conditions may not be 100% as we would like them to be, we knew we had the "capacity" to make them so.

Legal Compliance

• As of this writing, we have a small group of enemies of USESR who are actively stalking us. These people send anonymous letters and make anonymous phone calls to businesses we attempt to do business with, such as a location we announce we are setting up a booth at or doing a fundraiser at. They also contact all of our new officers in an attempt to persuade them that we are not what we appear to be. A favorite of all trouble-makers is to accuse an organization (we are not unique in this aspect) of financial improprieties. These people think that we do not know the law, therefore some of them have demanded to examine our bank statements from the year we first began business. We refuse to do this because although doing so is required by Texas law, an exception is made when there is just cause to believe such a request is made strictly for the purpose of harassment. Since this organization was only a few months old, Antoinette Smith has been accused of stealing money from the rescue. People who hear this are too embarrassed to ask if it is true because, if it was true, it would be denied anyway. Thus such an accusation becomes an easy weapon to use against the organization. Some accusers have mistakenly stated that we are required to make our IRS Form 990 public. In fact, we have no IRS Form 990 because we have never made over $25,000 in one year, which is the minimum requirement for filing a Form 990. Yes, we DO know the law and yes, we DO comply with it at all times.

Responsible Stewardship

• USESR spends a reasonable percentage of its annual budget on programs in pursuance of its mission;
• USESR compensates staff, and any others who may receive compensation, reasonably and appropriately;
• USESR has no paid staff. The above statement refers to reimbursement for costs associated with fostering USESR equine, fuel costs for transport of equine, and reimbursement or payment for reasonable maintenance of personal equipment used to carry out necessary USESR business.
• USESR directors ensure reasonable fundraising costs;
• USESR does not pay a professional fundraising company to raise funds for us. We do have a program in place whereby anyone who raises funds for us can, with the permission of the board and a written contract, be compensated for said fundraising.
• USESR does not accumulate operating funds excessively.
• At least one other Texas rescue has had an excess of $35,000 in its checking account and last we heard, the number had risen to $77,000.00. USESR will never have over $5,000.00 sitting in a bank account while thousands of horses go to slaughter each year. Instead, we will seek to expand our ability to rescue more equine and we will extend loans and grants to other equine rescues.
• USESR ensures that all of our spending practices and policies are fair, reasonable and appropriate to fulfill the mission of the organization; and,
• All financial reports are factually accurate and complete in all material respects.
• The USESR checkbook and check register are available for anyone's review at every USESR meeting where business is conducted (meaning regular meetings of the Board of Directors "BOD"). We also use Microsoft Money 2000 to prepare and submit reports to the Board at these meetings.

Openness and Disclosure

Program Evaluation

Fundraising

• There have been times throughout the years when someone donates money for a certain equine and by the time we receive it, it is no longer needed for that particular equine. In this case, we have always contacted that donor and explained why their donation is no longer needed for the purpose they specified when they donated it and offered to refund their money. There have also been times when people have contacted us to inquire about membership and volunteering. We have been and continue to be honest with these people. If there really isn't any activity in their area, we explain this to them and we explain what they would need to do in order to create activity in their area. Not everyone has the time to spend recruiting activity in their area. So that they do not waste their money joining an organization they can never actually be active in, we disclose this to them and allow them to make their own decision.

Related Links:

• Rumor Control
• USESR Talks Back - "We sue people"