Fellow Mortals, Inc.
Compassion Changes Everything
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Wild animals share our world, but they are at the mercy of human activities and human structures that can change their reality in an instant. They suffer trauma when they impact with a vehicle or a window. They are poisoned accidentally and on purpose. They are injured and killed by legal and illegal means. When an adult wild animal is removed from the environment through injury or death, its young are orphaned. When a compassionate human finds a wild animal in distress and wants to help, they turn to a professional wildlife rehabilitator. Fellow Mortals is the only resource available for people from 123 communities and multiple counties on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. 2000 individual animals are brought to the hospital every year by the people who have found and rescued them.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Professional Wildlife Rehabilitation Staff
Fellow Mortals has provided care for 70,000 wild animals since 1985, including newborn, critically-injured, and threatened species. The majority of those admittedfor care aresuccessfully rehabilitated.
Professional rehabilitative care is available 365 days a year at no charge to the public or the taxpayer.
Non-releasablewild individuals of common species foster young of their species and serve as behavioral role models, which increases likelihood of orphans' survival and breeding success in the wild.
In addition to direct services, rehabilitators mentor college students and recent graduates through an intern program designed to provide hands-on experience to augment formal course work.
Fellow Mortals' licensed wildlife rehabilitators have degrees in biology and natural sciences.
Wildlife Internship Program
The intern program is open to college students and recent college graduates in wildlife-related fields and offers them an opportunity to acquire the hands-on experience necessary to succeed in their chosen field. Four to six internships are offered annually. Interns are provided with a stipend and housing, which makes this opportunity available to interested young professionals from around the world, regardless of their financial situation. All of Fellow Mortals' staff came through this internship program. Many other former interns continue to volunteer or donate decades after their internship.
Since 1992, this program has provided the consistent care necessary to care for the hundreds of orphans admitted to the hospital during the summer months, while providing recent graduates the hands-on experience necessary to follow their chosen career path.
Interns often come from outside Wisconsin, and from as far away as South Africa, Scotland, and Canada.
Wildlife Education
Fellow Mortals provides public education one-on-one to thousands of people annually, including every person who brings an animal to the hospital and through public outreach at our nature and education center, in schools and to special groups. Information provided includes natural history about wildlife species, as well as information on preventing unnecessary injury and orphaning of wildlife.
Educational materials including videos, pamphlets, and activity kits are developed for these programs and for distribution tothe general public.
All education programs are provided at no cost to any school, organization, or community program that is interested in the information. Any birds included in programs came to the hospital as injured adults.
In 2021, we created an episode of 'Into the Outdoors' which introduces wildlife rehabilitation to younger audiences and provides information about how to enter the field. It broadcast nationwide on PBS in 2022 and is available online.
Post-release Research of Rehabilitated Wildlife
Fellow Mortals conducts post-release studies to gauge the success of our rehabilitation protocols for beaver, great-horned owls, waterfowl, and other species, and has partnered with Wisconsin and Illinois state biologists to band birds and track them with radiotelemetry. We are also working with citizen science participants who keep daily logs relating to wildlife released on their property.
Nature & Education Center at Meadowlark Acres
In 2013, FM received a gift of a 52-acre property which is equipped with public facilities and buildings suitable for development into a nature and education center.
At the point where funds become available, we plan to construct permanent habitats for wildlife, as well as an education facility that will be staffed by a full-time wildlife educator and rehabilitator.
Until a permanent facility is built, we provide education programs on the property for special learning opportunities.
The home on the property provides housing for our interns and some staff. The property also serves as a secondary care area for wildlife nearing release, and a release site for individuals of for whom habitat is available.
Where we work
Awards
Letter of commendation to Yvonne Wallace Blane 2007
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Andrea Kirk
Letter of support, Internship program 2012
Cazenovia College, Dr. Thad Yorks
Letter of recommendation to Yvonne Wallace Blane & Steve Blane 2014
Raptor Education Group, Marge Gibson
Outstanding Charity in Wisconsin 2017
Parade Magazine
Partnership Award 2019
Wisconsin Conservation Wardens
Affiliations & memberships
International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council 2024
National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (NWRA) 2024
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of animals monitored post release
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Post-release Research of Rehabilitated Wildlife
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Post-release studies help us understand how rehabilitated animals acclimate back to the wild. We are limited by lack of funds for this program.
Number of nonreleaseable animals saved from euthanasia and placed for wildlife education or conspecific fostering
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Wildlife Education
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Unreleaseable wild animals must be euthanized unless they can be placed with licensed individuals or institutions as education animals or fosters to orphans of their own species.
Number of animals rehabilitated
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Professional Wildlife Rehabilitation Staff
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This number represents the # of animals brought to the hospital by members of the public. Highly pathogenic avian influenza drastically diminished the # of waterfowl & other birds admitted in 2022.
Number of non-releaseable animals saved from euthanasia to act as fosters to orphans of their species
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Wildlife Education
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Wild orphans must be raised to know their own kind. This number represents the number of birds in our rehabilitation program which were saved from euthanasia to act as fosters or education birds.
Percentage of animals admitted which were successfully rehabilitated
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Professional Wildlife Rehabilitation Staff
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Admitting injury or condition affects release % [#Rel + #Placed] / [Total# - (DOA + DIED/EUTH w/in 48 hours because of severity of injury)]
Percentage of newborn and eyes-closed mammals admitted that were successfully rehabilitated and released: rabbit <7 days; grey squirrel <4 weeks; opossum <50 grams
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Professional Wildlife Rehabilitation Staff
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We do not euthanize orphans based on age or weight 253 newborn to eyes closed; 98 released Rabbit 157 Squirrel 55 Opossum 41 #Released/# Admitted = %Released
Number of wildlife education contacts related to admit of injured wildlife
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults
Related Program
Wildlife Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This # represents every in-person education encounter for the year. Most often more than 1 person is involved with an animal rescue; often there are 3 or more.
% of newborn/new-hatch (<=24hours) animals admitted to care which survived and were released
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Professional Wildlife Rehabilitation Staff
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Some rehabilitators euthanize orphans under a certain weight or age. This metric represents successful rehabilitation of individuals whose lives would have been taken under that criteria.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We believe that injured and orphaned wildlife deserve professional attention from a person who is trained and experienced in caring for the species. Fellow Mortals provides care for any species of wild bird--from sparrow to eagle, and for any non-predatory mammal. We work with eyes-closed and newborn birds and mammals, as well as critically-injured adult wildlife.
Fellow Mortals' care model is unique in the wildlife rehabilitation field, as we do not utilize volunteers at the hospital or in their homes. All wildlife care is provided by full-time licensed wildlife rehabilitators at the hospital location. In the busiest months, we are joined by a handful of college students majoring in wildlife-related fields, who provide care for orphaned wildlife under the supervision of professional staff. We are very fortunate to have several veterinarians who donate their skills for surgery, consulting, and advanced diagnostics. This model was proven out during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic when we were able to continue operating without closing our doors as our small staff was basically isolated already.
A wild animal must do more than survive to be released; it must know its own kind, how to find or procure food in the wild, and be properly imprinted on its own species. We work hard to keep healthy wildlife from coming into care but when necessary, they are often placed with a conspecific (same species) adult. Providing injured and orphaned wildlife with surrogate parents is critical for impressionable young animals, especially birds that imprint quickly and will imprint improperly if not provided with appropriate role models. Injured adult wildlife benefit from the presence of their own kind as well. Observations of adult patients housed near or with conspecifics results in patients exhibiting less stress, more normal behaviors, and better adaptation to care.
In every instance, our goal is to provide appropriate care for the individual animal, with the best result a release of a healthy, properly socialized animal back to the wild. Just as important to our mission is to provide information and education about wild species and natural history to the people who bring the animals to us, with the goal of preventing wildlife conflicts through inspiring understanding and compassion toward the wild species that share their space.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
All of our small professional staff came to the organization through our Wildlife Care Intern program, which has been operating since 1992. Without the internship program, we would not be able to handle the influx of 1,500 animals over the space of three months. Young songbirds are fed every 15-30 minutes a minimum of 24 times a day. Young mammals are fed at least every four hours, sometimes five times a day.
A permanent staff is critical to our rehabilitation success and we are working to expand our permanent wildlife care staff to sustain our operating model.
In addition to staff, extensive and varied facilities are required to provide care for over 100 species of wildlife, over 500 individuals at the same time. We currently have 10,000 square feet of hospital and clinic space, which includes various pool habitats for waterfowl and marine mammals. We also have various outdoor habitats and caging for wildlife nearing release and requiring more space for exercise, and more separation from human activity.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are fortunate to have a stable, dedicated, multi-talented staff and have been able to count on some consistent funding from long-term donors that provides an ability to budget major items, and we are steadily building the support of monthly donors through our program titled 'Team Hope.' We currently have over 100 monthly donors, which provide enough funds to cover the expense of one senior staff person.
In addition to wildlife rehabilitation expertise, staff members have diverse backgrounds in legal, business, the building trades, biology, etc., which allows us to handle nearly all aspects of running the organization without requiring outside assistance.
Our board and advisory board includes individuals who donate services in veterinary, legal, accounting, and business, and another approximately 75 volunteers donate time over the course of the year for fundraising, help in the admissions area of the hospital, for general facilities maintenance and cleanup, and IT work. In 2022, $238,000 was donated in professional services which would have otherwise come out of donated funds.
We are currently identifying and segmenting responsibilities that have historically been accomplished by one or two people, as well as adjusting compensation to reflect what our valued staff would earn in the marketplace. We know that to attract and retain qualified staff requires that we pay what they need to cover necessary expenses.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
2023 is Fellow Mortals 38th consecutive year serving as a no-fee resource to the public without any closures during that time. Since our inception, we have continued to push the boundaries of what is possible for wildlife care and have created some of the most unique facilities in the world.
It isn't just about keeping the organization alive, it's just as important to us that we have kept our philosophy alive and true. We stay transparent and keep our core values in mind as we plan for the future.
While fundraising has never been our strong suit, we have been very, very fortunate to have donors who understand and support our philosophy of valuing individual life. Many of our supporters have been with us since the early days of the organization; others have joined in supporting our mission after we helped them with a wildlife situation. At this point in our organization's path, some of our donors have passed and have left bequests of sizable sums to the organization. We are close to being able to create an endowment fund that will provide stability for the organization in the years to come.
From 2021 through today, our business model of operating with a professional staff has met the unanticipated test as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have long operated differently from the volunteer-based paradigm in the wildlife rehabilitation field. These past years have found our business model sound, as we did not cease or limit services in any way as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while volunteer-run facilities closed entirely or limited or changed services. Many of these organizations have still not returned to normal operating procedure.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Fellow Mortals, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 03/14/2024
Attorney Richard Scholze
Scholze, Ludwig, Ekes & Gorn, SC
Term: 2023 - 2024
Yvonne Wallace Blane
Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital
Term: 2024 - 2023
Yvonne Wallace Blane
Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital
Richard Scholze
Konicek, Kaiser, Scholze & Wanasek, Burlington, WI
Jessica Nass
Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital
Aimee Sosenko
Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/01/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.