The Montgomery County Humane Society sits in a wealthy area with a supportive government that’s giving nearly $19 million for a new shelter. Neither of these things has kept it out of financial trouble.
Since President J.C. Crist took the reins in 2005, donations declined about 40 percent — dropping from about $235,000 in 2005 to about $140,000 in 2007. In that same period, the organization has lost half its capital, going from roughly $1.8 million to about $900,000 in cash and equivalent assets.
At least three board members resigned this year after clashing with Crist, questioning his management style and fundraising efforts.
“Despite its presence in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, the MCHS struggles to raise around $1 per capita in the county when the national average is around $3.50 per capita with some shelters raising twice that amount,” Melissa Rubin, a vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, said in an e-mail she sent when resigning from the board in March.
Around the same time, former board Vice President Allan Cohen also left, similarly saying he was concerned about Crist’s financial management.
“I wanted to know how many people he was hiring, what he was doing with our county contract, with employment,” Cohen said. “We could never get answers.”
Crist says Rubin and Cohen weren’t pulling their weight on the board, and the financial problems come from the Humane Society taking on more work in a community that’s less willing to give.
“This is a turbulent economic environment,” Crist said. “Every nonprofit is having a tough time. Yes, we are spending more these days — taking care of animals that lived in foreclosed homes, taking in over 100 animals during the [Hurricane] Katrina crisis. … Unfortunately, we don’t get support to deal with that.” Rubin says the Humane Society of the United States reimbursed Montgomery County for its help during Katrina.
Crist, whose last job was as IBM’s national Web service sales marketing director, says he understands the importance of development, but it is no cakewalk in Montgomery.
He says a consulting group advised him upon taking the job that Montgomery ranks among the top 10 toughest counties in the country to get donations from.
“That’s because it is so transient and culturally diverse,” Crist said. “Some cultures don’t value spending money on protecting animals as we do here.”
