Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation – fighting to preserve South Africa’s wildlife heritage

Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation – fighting to preserve South Africa’s wildlife heritage

South Africa has an enviable and diverse wildlife heritage, but it is one under threat from risks such as poaching, conflict with farmers, and encroaching human development. Wildlife lovers, Paul Oxton and Carina Crayton, started Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation in 2015 with the aim of saving wild animals and preserving as much as possible of this legacy for future generations.

With the two founders as its only full-time employees, the core of the Foundation’s work is saving animals in an emergency. Working in partnership with ethical wildlife rehabilitation centres, the Foundation provides stabilisation, trapping, rescue and transport for injured or threatened animals. It also provides life-saving veterinary medicine and care through its network of consultant veterinarians, equips wildlife clinics nationally and supplies consumables, capital items and expensive food or milk formula to these rehabilitation centres.

For reporting, donor funding and fundraising purposes, non-profits like Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation need to be confident in the way they manage their finances. Sage Accounting makes it easy for Crayton to capture financial data from anywhere the internet is available, so she can spend her time in the field rather than in the office.

“Being an outdoors person, I dislike being confined to the office. Now that I have caught up on my outstanding record keeping, it is only a matter of a few days a month to keep it all up to date. I can do the finances in the middle of the night if I choose. The lesson there is consistent commitment, at a time that works for you, says Crayton:

She has also benefitted from the free online training courses made available to non-profits through Sage Foundation NPO Success. The training has equipped her with better insight into the specific requirements of accounting in the South African NPO sector, as well as the tools and processes that help an organisation stay on top of its admin.

“We are equally at home doing our finances as we are in the field. We conduct snare and anti-poaching patrols, clean wounds, hydrate stricken animals and strap broken wings. We also work in urban areas where human/wildlife conflict continues to escalate – always with the main aim of returning the animals to safety and freedom. It helps that I can manage our finances on the fly,” says Crayton.

Float like a butterfly

Being agile is critical to their survival and, as a small NPO, Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation depends on volunteer fundraisers and workers, as well as donations from the public and businesses to carry out their work. It’s a point of pride for Oxton and Crayton that the Foundation’s overheads are low, with no fancy offices, and that nearly every cent they raise is ploughed back into saving or improving animals’ lives.

Their ultimate vision is to set up their own wildlife rehabilitation facility so they can do even more for animals under threat. Adds Crayton: “The need for wildlife assistance is increasing in South Africa, and there can never be enough ethical facilities that focus on proper re-wilding and re-population in depleted areas.”

Crayton and Oxton handle most of the finances and admin themselves, with a careful focus on accounting for how they use public money. Sage Accounting software enables them to automate finances, save time and focus on fundraising and wildlife rehabilitation rather than admin.?

Crayton says that in the non-profit world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with responsibilities. “Sage is like a friend lifting a heavy burden from your shoulders, helping break any potential barriers along the way and saying: ‘l’ll carry that for you’,” she says.

For more information about product discounts and free training through Sage Foundation NPO Success, visit here.?