Therapets Society Therapets Society (Therapets) is a charitable organization that is formally registered as a charity with the Canada Revenue Agency. Therapets was founded in 2000 by veterinarians Sonja Kruse and Elija Thomlinson. Sonja and Elija shared an interest in the use of therapy animals for a wide variety of roles, including hospital visits to children and elderly patients, assistance for individuals with physical or cognitive disabilities, and companionship for the elderly.

They strongly believed that individuals, and the community as a whole, benefit when humans and animals can rely on one another's strengths. Therapets began with three board members Sonja, Elijah, and Elijah's wife, Laureen, who is a physiotherapist at a local medical clinic.

In the early years, Therapets managed to raise approximately $100,000 per year from individual donors and corporate sponsors, and organized a program to have pet owners primarily those with dogs and cats provide volunteer hospital visits to children and elderly patients.

The society also started its Forever Needed program, where therapy animal trainers visit dogs in shelters to assess their ability to work as therapy dogs. Those dogs that showed promise were adopted by Therapets and trained for service as general companion animals. These companion dogs did not need the intensive training of a full-service assistance dog because they were not relied on for high-risk life assistance; they were only required to be obedient and able to assist in basic ways, such as fetching items on command and maintaining a calm presence. Sonja, Elijah, and Laureen were elated that they could save dogs from shelters and provide them a meaningful life as a companion to someone in need. The bond formed between dog and recipient seemed more special because the recipient knew they had saved the animal that was there to help them.

Since its inception, Therapets has grown to have a board of six directors, with an annual budget of approximately $2.5 million, although the level of funding received annually from donors and sponsors varies significantly depending on the state of the economy. Sonja has become the executive director of Therapets and has given up her veterinary practice but maintains her licence to allow her to be the in-house veterinarian for the society.

The volunteer visitation program has been taken over by another group, and Therapets' main focus is now on the Forever Needed program, which still trains general companion dogs, but has expanded to include training service dogs for individuals who are blind, and for children and young adults with a number of other conditions, such as autism and epilepsy. Therapets operates its own training centre with paid trainers on contract. After working one-on-one with the trainers for many hours, an average of 30 dogs per year graduate to become service dogs.

The society has developed its own training methodology that has been very successful, thereby increasing the speed at which the dogs can be trained for service. Therapets works with a licensed organization that manages the process of matching the trained service dogs to their new human partners.

In addition to Sonja, Therapets has two staff members, an administrative assistant, and an animal caregiver who is in charge of feeding the dogs and keeping their sleeping and playing areas clean. Several volunteers help ensure that the dogs are happy and healthy, and assist with basic training for newly rescued dogs that require a large amount of socialization to reach their potential.

In the past, Therapets' sole focus was preparing animals for placement with their new recipients. Recently, the society received a large, multi-year government grant to provide end-to-end services for its assistance dogs and new human partners through the Forever Needed program. In addition to training, the grant will enable Therapets to provide education services to potential service dog recipients, match service dogs to potential recipients, and provide training to the recipients with their new service dogs.

Ultimately, this program is expected to increase the number of successful dog-torecipient pairings by providing these end-to-end services and a more comprehensive and consistent training experience. Therapets is excited about being more directly involved in the process of matching dogs and recipients based on their individual personalities and needs. Therapets had been pursuing government funding for this program for several years but had faced many challenges and setbacks along the way, and there was considerable uncertainty during the process. Future funding may also be uncertain if the economy does not improve in the next few years.

For Therapets to continue to receive funding, including support from the new government grant and from some of its larger sponsorships, an audit of the society is required. Currently, the financial statements are prepared by a local accounting firm on a non-audit basis. As an added challenge, the training centre's neighbours have been voicing concerns about the noise level of the dogs barking. As a result, the municipal government has been evaluating the centre's practices and use of its property, to ensure that Therapets is not in violation of any municipal bylaws. Therapets has also been asked to act as an advocate for government support for individuals who believe they would benefit from a service dog. In particular, a group of veterinarians called Vets for Vets has requested Therapets to join them in advocating for better support for war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The board has been exploring options to broaden the range of individuals who are familiar with and have access to assistance dogs through additional communication channels like social media; these advocacy opportunities may provide Therapets with a means to do this.

The Therapets board members are excited about the new opportunities coming their way. The board consists of the following people:

Name Occupation Age Gender Years on board

Sonja Kruse In-house veterinarian, executive director of Therapets, and chair of the board 44 Female 17

Elija Thomlinson Veterinarian 51 Male 17

Laureen Thomlinson Physiotherapist 49 Female 17

Yasid Ghaffour Veterinary student 25 Male 3

Chandra Choudhry Veterinary student 20 Female 1

Darya Ballo Executive director of the local animal shelter 42 Nonbinary 7

Board members have been selected based upon their match with the society's mission, and their training and experience in each case has focused on animals and health. The board's only committee is the audit committee, which is chaired by Sonja.

The following appears on Therapets' website home page: Mission and vision: We strive to provide companion and service dogs whose performance is unquestionably dependable. Our dogs are professionals that never disappoint! As a specialist in performance management, you have been asked by the Therapets board for feedback on the new opportunities at Therapets. The board has requested your advice from a strategy and governance perspective.

Because of funding uncertainties, Therapets is always considering options to reduce costs without sacrificing quality of training or service.

Required:

a) Complete the table below to describe how each of the listed factors impacting costs affects Therapets' operations. (5 marks)

b) Explain what opportunities each factor provides for cost control. Hint: Be creative in identifying parallels between how these concepts apply in a corporate environment and in a not-for-profit service organization such as Therapets. (10 marks)

Factor	Effect(s) on Therapets' operations	Opportunities for cost control
Economies of scale
Diseconomies of scale
Learning-curve economies
Differential low-cost access to productive inputs
Technology independent of scale