Our organisational strategy (2023- 2027)
Dr Elisabeth Svendsen MBE founded The Donkey Sanctuary to strive towards a better world for donkeys. We continue her mission to improve the lives of donkeys every day.
For over 50 years, we have looked at the world from the donkey's perspective, and we believe in creating a world where every donkey can express their natural behaviours while experiencing kindness and respect.
We know that we are not alone in our beliefs; donkeys, humans and the planet share a unique relationship that spans generations, cultures, and continents. Experience shows us that we work most effectively in partnership with those who share our vision, including our supporters, partner organisations, NGOs and governments.
Our strategy outlines how we intend to share the rich benefits of our single species focus, guided by our founder's extraordinary dynamism and devotion.
A different way to look at the world
We cannot help donkeys across the world if we do not recognise the inescapable link between animals, the natural world and people.
Our five year strategy is more ambitious than ever and shows how seeing the world from a donkey’s perspective can help donkeys, people, communities and the environment, heal and flourish in challenging times.
Our vision
A world where every donkey has a good quality of life.
Our mission
Improving the lives of donkeys every day.
What we will achieve
Our strategy enables us to be ambitious and remain undaunted by the challenges ahead.
Over the next five years we will:
- Improve the lives of 5 million donkeys
- Be global leaders in a plan for donkey welfare
- Inspire a global community of a million to help us in our mission.
To help us achieve these goals we will:
- Make The Donkey Sanctuary a great place to work and become a partner of choice
- Establish world class operational practices that make the most of our resources
- Work to increase our income.
Achieving our goals
Our strategy is grounded in four strategic pillars that will help us focus our activity to pursue our vision and deliver on our mission.
Welfare
Make positive and sustainable change to the everyday lives of donkeys by improving their environment, nutrition, behaviour and health.
Over the next five years, we will focus on measuring donkey welfare issues more consistently and objectively and evidencing improvements in the care or welfare support provided to donkeys through our programmes and projects.
Knowledge
Develop and share expertise, knowledge and understanding to improve donkey welfare.
Over the next five years, we will be working on transferring and exchanging our knowledge with people working and caring for donkeys while continuing to evolve our understanding through learning and listening.
Voice
Speak up for donkeys by challenging poor welfare and advocating for better.
Over the next five years, we will be working towards increasing the awareness of issues affecting donkeys worldwide and seeking the enforcement of legislation to reduce the harm and suffering of donkeys.
Community
Demonstrate the benefits of donkeys and people living and working in harmony together.
Over the next five years, we will be working to ensure that people with the power to help donkeys are supported, valued and empowered.
Impact through partnership
We work with like-minded individuals and organisations so that we can act quickly and effectively to help donkeys. Our partners are credible and resilient organisations, regardless of their size.
We share our abilities and resources in a collaborative and non-competitive way while benefiting from our partners' unique values, experiences and skillsets.
What our strategy means for Spain?
In launching our new five year organisational strategy we have been reviewing our core activities to ensure we reach more donkeys and mules in need in the most effective and impactful way.
To be able to do this, our headquarter, The Donkey Sanctuary, has made the difficult decision to close our Fuente Sanctuary to visitors and will also be unable to accept any new rescued/relinquished donkeys into our care. These decisions have not been made easily but are unfortunately necessary in order for the charity to expand in other areas and pursue a more sustainable approach to improving the welfare of more donkeys in Spain.
The ‘Sanctuary’ model in Spain can only help a very limited numbers of donkeys and is unfortunately not solving the root cause of the issues donkeys face within the community. To do this, we need to refocus our effort on improving donkey welfare in the wider community, relieving the problems associated with mistreatment and abandonment. Therefore we consider that the most impactful way to focus our energy is in improving legislation, raising awareness of the plight of donkeys and their status as sentient animals, training equine specialist as vets and farriers in best donkey practices and advocating for better to local administration where resources and knowledge exist to take care of stray/abandoned equines, so they don’t depend on the resources of non-profit organizations.
In parallel to this, we want to be able to guarantee the highest possible standards of welfare for the 205 resident donkeys living on our own sanctuaries and the 115 donkeys in Guardian homes in Spain.
Over the next 5 years, we'll be putting the donkey's perspective at the forefront as we continue to improve their lives every day.
