In these hard economic times, the Humane Society of Hall County could use a few more stray dollars.

The recession, hitting everybody, hasn’t spared the nonprofit organization at 845 W. Ridge Road in Gainesville, but the toll hasn’t been as bad as expected.

“We’re seeing some downward trend, but basically overall, we’re doing pretty good,” said Rick Aiken, president of the Humane Society of Hall County.

“Donations have been holding pretty steady. Our followers ... have been very supportive and we’re hanging in there,” he said.

“We have seen a decline in some of our fundraising, but we’re becoming a little more active in that area and learning how to do some things differently. We’ve got a lot of fundraisers coming up.”

And the shelter sponsors plenty of fundraisers, just as other organizations and businesses sponsor benefits with proceeds going to the shelter.

Chili’s just has announced that its restaurant off Spout Springs Road in Flowery Branch “has chosen (the shelter) as one of its charities for 2009” and is sponsoring “Give Back Nights” in July and August “to raise funds for our homeless animals awaiting their forever homes.”

A couple of key events are planned this year, including the 2nd Annual Motorcycle Ride for Paws, 8th Annual Putting for Pets and 22nd Annual Dog Day Afternoon golf tournament.

Details are still being worked out on the Oct. 12 golf tourney, which serves as the shelter’s biggest fundraiser.

The organization receives about $120,000 per year from fundraisers, but because of the economic downturn, “we were down (in that funding) about 6 percent last year,” Aiken said.

The shelter also works to elevate its name — and awareness of its mission — in other ways.

It sponsors educational opportunities, such as through a camp for children ages 10-12, Pet PALS (“Prepare Animals for Love and Shelter”).

Through the camp, taking place this week and set for next Monday through Friday at the shelter, children learn to train dogs, socialize cats, hear from guest speakers and see what it’s like to work behind the scenes at the shelter.

“I think we’re in a good position because we do a lot of education, where most shelters can’t afford to have a staff member to do a lot of that,” said Kelley Uber Sterner, director of education and volunteer services.

“It’s good outreach. We’re able to go to festivals, do adoptions there, and we have enough volunteers where we can bring animals out and do different public events,” she said. “Also, we go into classrooms a lot.”

Like most nonprofits, the shelter relies on fundraisers, along with donations and other giving, to help support its annual budget.

The shelter is ending a contract it has had for nearly 20 years with Hall County Animal Control to house strays brought in by officers.

“A year ago, we decided we no longer could do that because of budget restraints the county had,” Aiken said. “And we evaluated our programs and found out that 65 percent or better of what we were doing was Animal Control-related and we needed to go to more Humane Society operations.”

The contract was supposed to end July 1, but “we’ve given the county an extension because they have not completed their facility,” Aiken said.

“That was 44 percent of our budget. And in these economic times to give that up, why would (we) do that?” he said.

“We’re euthanizing more animals now than we took in in 1992. What we’re doing is not working, so the (shelter’s) Board of Trustees decided we needed to change our direction and focus on things we haven’t done in the past.”

The shelter can focus more on adoption and its spay and neuter program, among other efforts.

The transition will mean belt tightening, however.

“We’ve always been lean, but we’re going to be real lean now,” Aiken said.

But the change “will give us an opportunity to concentrate more on our fundraising. (Employees) can now focus totally on fundraising, where before they were (raising money) and working with the animals.”