Getting Naked…Together!
"I'm afraid your data is dirty..."
For the past several weeks, my mailbox has been full of some fantastic e-mails sharing Naked Data experiences and asking about Naked Data. It is so exciting to hear about folks taking a good hard look and discovering that their data may be dirty — and working out a solution for how to get clean. It is great to hear the stories about how a new perspective on the data has provided insight to modify program and save more lives.
For example, one e-mail described a shelter’s dig into their capacity, and the discovery that their foster tracking had some issues — with animals spending more time than they should in foster care, and some difficulties in figuring out how to get those animals back into the shelter and into homes. One option may be to enable some of those foster families to become adoption agents for the shelter. We are about to embark on some research on just this subject with ASPCA $100K Challenge Contestant Louisiana SPCA, who used a foster-as-adoption-agents program to help with their live releases during the Challenge.
One e-mail contained a simple question about neonate vs. kitten vs. adult. They wanted to be sure they were using the same designation that the ASPCA and UC Davis had both agreed on: neonate: under six weeks, juvenile: up to 5 months, adult: over 5 months. This simple breakdown can result in some great opportunities for data analysis and program focus. Many communities have implemented spay/neuter programs targeted at decreasing intake. If the shelter is not breaking out intake into these categories, it can be much more difficult to make any inference about the impact of a S/N program. Remember, the population that will be affected through your S/N program is the next generation — if you are not measuring neonate and kitten intake separate from adult cat intake, measurement of change becomes quite muddy.
The simple designation of neonate vs. kitten vs. adult can result in some great opportunities for data analysis and program focus
With all the talk of data in the field from UC Davis, the Asilomar group, PetSmart Charities, PetPoint software and the ASPCA, the field is getting closer to all talking the same language — be it what we consider a return (within 30 days of adoption), how we talk about capacity, or what we mean when we say live release rate. Many are discovering that their live release formula is not really a live release formula — but instead a ‘what has not died’ formula — and the shift in perspective has opened the door for more life saving programs and better ability to actually measure that effect.
I would love to hear about your experience with Naked Data — if you are not shy, share here — or shoot me an email!
Tags: Asilomar Accords, intake, live release rate, naked data, R&D, return rate, spay/neuter, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine program
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Meg Allison Says:
We have been tracking our adoption data to see which communities come to us for their companion animals. We want to thank them and figure out what makes them come to us when others aren’t. This will allow us to target those communities that haven’t been coming to us with information about our services. Having hard data to back up our organization’s choices allows us to be efficient with our resources and have the greatest impact on our community.
Emily Weiss Says:
Meg – I love the focus on the data received from your adopters – what a great way to target and focus your resources to bring more people in the door!