E-SHOP UPDATE AND PAPER-BASED COMMUNICATIONS
Posted on 11 October 2023.The calendars of Il Rifugio will be available again for 2024, both in desk and wall format with many beautiful images of our donkeys, mules and hinnies.However, we must communicate with great regret that our online shop will remain operational until the end of January and will then be permanently closed. The sale of items at our Info Point will only take place until stocks last, during the opening days.
Why?
Our e-store is now eight years old and would need to be completely redone, both because it is old and because with the introduction of the 2018 GDPR regulation, constant updates required by law must be carried out. These are updates that can no longer be supported by the current system, precisely because it is obsolete.
The creation of a new page would involve an expense of approximately 5,000 euros in the first instance, in addition to periodic costs for the correct management of the data, always in compliance with the privacy law and, naturally, the worktime that is absorbed by it.
As many of you will already know, Il Rifugio is open to the public only during certain scheduled days and the revenues from the sales of our Info Point alone would not justify maintaining the sale of gadgets only on site, with the online shop closed.
The needs of our animals are truly many and, unfortunately, there is never a shortage of emergencies.
We therefore arrived at the painful decision of having to "cut" something, carefully evaluating the balance between costs and benefits, to give, as always, priority to our mission.
Again for better management of the donations received, starting from January, we will no longer send paper-based communications.Paper and production costs are increasingly higher, as are shipping costs.
We are unfortunately aware that, by doing so, someone will be excluded from our periodic updates, but we will have contributed at least a little to the well-being of the donkeys and the environment where we all live, reassuring our supporters that we will always be reached through other channels for any questions or information about what we do.
Times change, the pandemic has transformed us all a bit and not even our reality is immune to changes. We have a small staff and we have therefore had to review priorities in terms of costs and time which can and must be focused primarily on our resident guests and their needs.Trusting in your understanding, we warmly invite you to share the magic of solidarity again this Christmas with our donkey-themed gadgets.
And, with our calendar, of course, which will accompany you throughout the new year.
Thank you so much for supporting us over these years. And for continuing to do so.