South African Veterinary Foundation (SAVF)

Vet Foundation partners with veterinary software providers to make donations to Pet and Equine Memorials Funds simple.

The South African Veterinary Foundation has partnered with veterinary software providers to make donating to the Pet and Equine Memorial Funds a lot simpler. Veterinary practice management software companies have taken hands with the Foundation to make it easy to extract the details of deceased pets and their owners from a veterinary practice database on a monthly basis and submit these details to the Foundation electronically, together with the appropriate donation in memory of these animals. The following veterinary software products have joined forces with the Foundation: Avimark, Cybervet, Microvet, RxWorks, and VetPet III. Veterinarians who use any of the systems provided by these vendors can get in touch with these vendors on how easy it is to extract these reports from the respective databases, and submit it to the Foundation.

Many vets are aware of this program, yet there are still many practices that do not utilise this incredibly effective and easy practice loyalty builder. Here is how it works: When a companion animal (like a horse, dog, cat, bird or any other animal which is kept as a pet) dies at home and is brought to your practice for disposal or dies at your practice through disease, accident or illness, or by euthenasia, the name of this pet together with the owner’s details is submitted to the SAVF together with a donation varying between R35 and R150. The details of these animals and their owners are extracted by means of a simple report and this list of deceased pets with their owners’ details is then submitted on a monthly basis together with a single payment for all of them, to Debbie at VetHouse (savf@sava.co.za  or fax 012 346 2929). Bear in mind that these donations are fully tax deductable. (SARS allows you to deduct up to 10% of taxable income to recognised Public Benefit Organisations per year.) A letter is then sent by the Foundation to those owners, stating that you, their vet, have made a donation to the SAVF in memory of their animal, which will go towards research and the improvement of the study of animal science in South Africa.

The effect this letter has on a client is profound. Firstly because this gesture of goodwill is unsolicited and usually comes as a surprise, but secondly because it raises the value you as vet places on peoples’ pets or horses and the bond they have with their owners. It re-enforces the relationship you have in the physical interaction with pets and their owners, in your practice.

Not only do these donations really make a difference to animal science in South Africa and contribute in ways general practitioners do not have means to in terms of research, but is also associates you as practitioner with one of the most credible organisations in the veterinary environment, and will raise the level of esteem your clients hold you to.   Apart from the real value added to people and pets’ lives it is also a credibility exercise and practice loyalty builder beyond compare.

Professional marketers tell us that nothing touches a customer more than when you manage to connect with them at an emotional level. If you do not make use of this fantastic opportunity to touch people’s lives whilst making a genuine difference to animal health in this country, you are missing one of the most effective and powerful practice builders available to vets.

Show your commitment to animal owners and make a donation to the South African Veterinary Foundation (SAVF) in memory of a deceased pet or horse by making use of the tools your veterinary practice management system offers you.

For more information on the South African Veterinary Foundation (SAVF) and our work please visit our website at www.savf.org.za

The South African Veterinary Foundation was founded in 1984 and serves as the research fund raising body of the South African Veterinary Association. The SAVF is a non-profit, Article 21 company (fund raising number 02200239000 2). The foundation was established to raise money to promote a greater understanding of animals by means of research and an informed public.

Foundation Mandate

To promote and advance Veterinary and other Biological Sciences in all their aspects. This includes supporting veterinary research at all levels, to fund bursaries and loans for veterinary studies and to invest and administer various financial portfolios in order to promote the knowledge, image and status of the Veterinary and Paraveterinary Professions and practice within Southern Africa resulting in improved quality of life for animal and man.

Bank account

Bank: ABSA – Monument Park

Branch no: 632005

Account number: 4053654551

International Code: ABSA2AJJ