More than one million grassroots donors contributed to a new record

Bella has more than enough reason to be pleased after a new record year for the Grassroots Share. There are three animal welfare organisations in the top ten list of recipients in 2017, sharing a total of more than 3.7 million grassroots kroner.

2017 also saw a new grassroots record, raising more than 455 million kroner. The money was paid out to clubs and associations all over Norway, thanks to the 1,082,616 players who were registered as grassroots donors in 2017.

Sport and animals

Overall, the largest share of grassroots funding goes to sports clubs and associations. Once again, Vålerenga Football Club came top of the list in terms of donated funds.

But it wasn’t only sports clubs that were grassroots winners in 2017. Animal welfare did very well too.

Three animal welfare organisations – Foreningen for omplassering av dyr (FOD – the Association for the Rehoming of Animals), Kattens vern (Cat Welfare) and Dyrebeskyttelsen Bergen (Animal Welfare, Bergen) were among the top ten grassroots recipients in 2017.

With about 1.5 million kroner raised by almost 3,800 donors, FOD achieved third place on the list.

No public funding

Since 1980, FOD has found new homes for more than 9,000 cats and dogs.

The association receives no public funding, so all its money comes from donations, membership subscriptions, gifts and inheritances, combined with funds from the Grassroots Share. The staff at the FOD centre, located south of Oslo, are volunteers, and the funds go towards ensuring that the care each animal receives is tailored to its needs.

“We care for each animal individually according to its needs”, says Mette Sommer. Some of them need long walks, For others a short walk will do. We feed them, pet them and play with them, as well as working on tracking and agility”, she says.

A large part of the FOD’s expenditure is in veterinary fees because animals often arrive at the centre with a history of neglect behind them.

Welcome increase

As well as the costs involved in the everyday running of the centre, it now needs to upgrade its facilities. So the increase in the Grassroots Share from 5 to 7 per cent from 1 January this year is very welcome.
“This increase means a great deal to us”, says Sommer. “We have to upgrade the enclosures and kennels and purchase new beds”, she says.