My Nonprofit Reviews
FormerFHSVolunteer
Review for Frisco Humane Society, Frisco, TX, USA
I was a volunteer for this organization for 3 years. During that time I worked in the cat program to help get rescued cats adopted to good homes. In early 2013 we discovered this organization had not been a recognized non-profit for 4 years, even though they were still operating as one. There were also very questionable and unethical activities taking place, along with a serious question on the financials and where some money was being spent. During the period they were not a recognized non-profit, they were still taking donations from the public, requesting, and receiving, grants from different places, etc. Over half of the volunteers asked for the board to step down and they all refused. They did, however, "fire" any volunteer to dared ask for their resignation. Some of those were dog and cat fosters and all of their foster animals were thrown out of their program as well, leaving the fosters to financially care for them. The board members have been in place for 8 years and they have no intention of stepping down anytime soon. As long as they are still on the board, this organization will continue to be mismanaged and using questionable, if not illegal, tactics. The public needs to be aware of these issues.
More Feedback
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
First and foremost - remove the board members and elect new. Review and rewrite bylaws. The Attorney General should investigate this organization and an audit of their financials should take place.
Would you volunteer for this group again?
No
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
A lot
Did the organization use your time wisely?
Okay
Would you recommend this group to a friend?
No
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2013
Frisco Humane Society is and always has been an ethical organization. The Board of Directors would like to address the review comments that were made by a disgruntled volunteer. We had some volunteers resign in 2013. Some of these former volunteers started their own rescue organization or joined this new rescue organization. We believe these comments were posted on Guidestar.org to prevent our organization from being approved for a sponsorship relationship with another organization for which we applied for participation. Part of the approval process included being in good standing with the public. We believe these comments were posted during our approval process with the intent of having our application denied based on public views of our organization. Rather than moving forward and focusing their efforts on rescuing and helping animals, these individuals have their primary focus on disparaging our organization. 1) In 2007, it was discovered by our President that our Texas charter or certificate of authority was forfeited due to a renewal form not being renewed in 2003 when it expired. This filing is required every four years. The renewal notice had been made to a former volunteer who had not been associated with the organization for several years and to an old address which the volunteer had not lived at for many years. The required document was re-filed immediately when we discovered the oversight. Our franchise tax/sales and use tax exemptions were re-instated back to their inception dates of 10/23/2001 with no penalties or adverse impact to our organization or to any of our supports/vendors. Our Texas franchise status can be verified online at https://mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html. The FHS taxpayer id is 17529654679. 2) The Frisco Humane Society is very ethical, professional and frugal with its financial management. Our financials are public record and filed with the IRS and available for public review. Our financial spend is valid and our records include sufficient documentation for the expense. There is no unethical activity related to the financial management of our organization. 3) The services of two volunteers which had existing foster animals were terminated in 2013. These volunteers were given multiple options regarding their foster animals which included allowing them to transfer their fully vetted animals to another rescue organization, FHS asking for the animals to be given back to us and/or offering to find new fosters for them in order for the animals to remain in our program. Our requests for the return of the animals were denied by both of the terminated volunteers. We have termination letters, attorney letters and legal documents to support this. One of these individuals even filed two lawsuits against FHS for which FHS prevailed in both cases. Upon their termination from FHS both of these volunteers became members of the new rescue organization that we mentioned above. 4) The Board of Directors has never done anything illegal. These comments are just being thrown out there with nothing to support them in order to continue to slander/liable the Board and the organization. 5) The FHS 2008 financials were audited by the IRS in 2011. The final determination letter from the IRS was issued in 2012. These are public records documents and are available for public review upon request or at guidestar.org.
