Shelter’s Edge

Anybody finished their spring cleaning? We noticed our Amazing Shelter Photos file was overflowing—clearly it’s time to share these 10 smile-worthy reminders of the lifesaving work you all do.

Canyon County Animal Shelter, Caldwell, IDThree words for you—Kitty Photo Bomb.


The Humane Society of Southern ArizonaAristotle puckered up as part of a three-day Adore-a-Bull celebration.

Animal Rescue League of Boston, Boston, MAA few days after this fun photo collage was featured on Facebook, Moe (but of course) was adopted.


Southern Pines Animal Society, Hattiesburg, MSWhen SPAS’ adoption van broke down, they used this picture to raise funds for a new one—the donations came roaring in, and they got their new vehicle.


Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, Springfield, MAChance, adopted last fall, hanging with his human. Two paws up!


Special Bunny, Carnation, WA

Pet Helpers, Charleston, SCYup, it’s true—everyone loves ASPCApro webinars!

Charleston Animal Society, Charleston, SCProceeds from the first-ever Charleston firefighter calendar went to injured, abused and abandoned animals. Now that’s hot!

Kentucky Humane Society, Louisville, KYHomeward bound.


Ulster County SPCA, Kingston, NYWho ya calling a copy cat?

Got some photo faves of your own? Please share a link in the comment box.

Related Links:
10 More Photos We Love
Even More Shelter Photos We Love

Gearing up for Adopt-A-Shelter Cat Month or getting ready to launch a big campaign (hello, contestants in the 2013 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge!) and thinking about a free or reduced-fee cat promotion? Here are some helpful resources to get you started, and some creative inspiration from your colleagues in the field.

Must-Read Resources and Tools

- An ASPCApro classic—Dr. Emily Weiss busts some myths on free cat adoptions in “What? Give Them Away?”

- Check out our Free Adult Cat Adoptions section on ASPCApro to read about six very different agencies, private and municipal, large and small, that have successfully implemented free cats programs.

- Concerned your staff, volunteers and board may have reservations about trying a free or reduced-free promotion? Our Tips for Free Adult Cat Promotions include talking points on how to “sell” the idea, as well as hints for prepping your cats and promoting the program.

- “Fee-Waived Cat Promotions: Shelter Tested and Approved” profiles 3 agencies’ successful fee-waived campaigns, with advice for other shelters thinking about giving it a try.

Guinn Friedman, Director of Operations at Humane Society for Greater Savannah, shares the Georgia agency’s forays with fee-waived promotions, which they find work better than reduced-fee adoptions: “We ask folks to bring an item off our wish list in lieu of an adoption fee,” she says. “All of our follow-ups have been positive and we have not had any returns due to financial reasons. JUST DO IT!”


Slammin’ Shelter Signage, Free Cat Edition

Check out these past promotions from agencies all across the country:

Charleston Animal Society, Charleston, SC

Asheville Humane Society, Asheville, NC

Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado Springs, CO

HALO Animal Rescue, Phoeniz, AZ

Humane Society of Greater Miami, North Miami Beach, FL

Please share your experiences with fee-waived and reduced-free promotions.

Related links:
Free Adult Cat Adoptions
Dr. Emily Weiss on Fee-Waived Adoptions: “No Such Thing as a ‘Free’ Cat?”

As usual, shelter friends, we are in awe of just how darn good you are at maximizing a holiday’s potential for promotion. Mom was the word on Facebook this past weekend as we saw a rich variety of Mother’s Day posts – you celebrated animal mamas, foster mamas, pet mamas and people mamas! Here’s a sampling of some of the clever twists you took on Mother’s Day:

- St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center recognized Mother’s Day with this sweet pic celebrating their foster moms. “Whether opening their homes to give a mother cat a place away from the bustle of the shelter to raise her babies or taking on the extraordinary task of bottle feeding newborn orphans, we salute their lifesaving help,” posted the NJ agency. (And P.S. they also included info for folks interested in joining their foster team – smart!)

- Free cats, discounted dogs, a clever angle, slammin’ signage – Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region did everything right to engage their fans on Mother’s Day. “Pets need moms, too. That’s why we’re offering FREE cat adoptions and $20 off dog adoptions!” the CO agency told their community.

- Celebratory collage, pet moms edition: We love this joyful graphic that Rockwall Pets shared with their Facebook fans.

- Love the way Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society wove the Mother’s Day theme into this shareable graphic featuring a pet available for adoption at the NM agency. Looks like Snick’s pretty clever, huh?!

- Salt Lake County Animal Services asked fans for pictures of mom or grandma with their fur babies. Don’t know about you, but we’d say they hit the jackpot with this response from daughter Holly:

“My mother, Jean Powers-Mullen, fostered dogs and cats for rescue organizations in Salt Lake County my whole life. At age 85 she still donates what she can to many animal rescue organizations. Here she is with 9-year-old Missy, her Yorkie.”

- In this gorgeous tribute to resident mama cat Marigold, Animal Rescue League of Boston was smart to add a spay/neuter message: “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you moms out there from the ARL! Marigold is spending her Mother’s Day taking care of her kittens like a good mama! Please spay & neuter your lil’ nuggets!!!”

- In honor of Mother’s Day, Louisville Metro Animal Services‘ Staff Pick of the Day was Chloe, a 3-year-old pug mix who played mom to two foster kittens during feeding and bathing time!

- We’ll close with this happy message from Animal Rescue League of Iowa – brought to you by a few of their adopted alum – which invited everyone to get in on the Mother’s Day action: “Whether your kids are two-legged or four-legged, happy Mother’s Day from all of us at the ARL!”

How did you celebrate Mother’s Day at your agency? Got a Father’s Day promo in the works that we can share? Let us know about it in the comment box!

P.S. We have a webinar coming up on May 22 with lots of examples of creative, fun and successful adoption promotions presented by Bonney Brown. Get it on your calendar here: Marketing to Dramatically Increase and Sustain Adoptions.

Related Links:
Marketing to Dramatically Increase and Sustain Adoptions
Little Black Book of Adoption Promotions

If you celebrated National Volunteer Week at your agency, we bet you said those wonderful words at least once last week. Take a look at what some of your colleagues in the field did to show their appreciation for their volunteers, in person and online.

(And to the agencies whose materials are featured here—thank YOU for the great ideas we’re passing on as inspiration for next year!)

- In honor of National Volunteer Week, Maryland SPCA introduced their Facebook fans to individual volunteers by posting photos and stories all week long. Here’s half of the mother-daughter puppy fostering team:

- Many agencies tallied the total number of hours their volunteers donate in a year and shared it via social media channels. Asheville Humane Society created this wonderful shareable graphic for their Facebook page.

Love how they converted those hours into staff time—really helps to show how valuable volunteers are.

- Hankie alert: Animal Humane Society shared a thank-you video each day during National Volunteer Week, with individual staffers hosting each segment. All videos share the same crisp, compelling format, starting off with a thoughtful quote before the staff person introduces the volunteer and lists the different ways in which he or she brings value to the Minnesota agency. So touching and personal:

- Sacramento County Animal Care gave a shout-out for a special volunteer on their Facebook page.

Senior Officer Libby Simmons presented a bicycle to volunteer David Verdugo, who cleans, feeds, socializes animals and helps customers in the shelter 5 days a week. David had been walking 4 miles to and from the shelter—but now he’s got wheels! Check the original post for the complete story—and to read the funny and sweet comments it received. What’s so great: This post spreads such good vibes about the agency, and shows how caring both volunteers AND staff are.

- Wisconsin Humane Society takes the week so seriously they give it a theme every year. For 2013, it was “We treasure our volunteers.” Staff from each campus went all out with the decorations and put out a spread like this one:

WHS also created a thank-you video that they shared to wrap up the week:

Bonus tip for next year if you’re thinking about creating a video for volunteer appreciation week: See the charming cast of characters that WHS featured at the end?! You probably have some at your agency you can recruit!

Related links:
“Volunteer Programs: What We’re Learning From You”
“3 Secrets to Volunteer Success”

Can we talk? Here’s one way to keep the convo going on your Facebook page… Ask questions! Check out these 3 ideas from your colleagues in the field.

Fully operational
You guys live it every day so you may not always realize it, but your social media followers would be fascinated by the day-to-day operations of your shelter… how much litter and food you go through in a week, how many doggie toys you have, how many adoptions you did last month, how much laundry you do…

It certainly doesn’t hurt to include a compelling photo like this one! Check Kansas Humane Society’s original post to see all the comments and don’t worry, Elmo made it out unscathed.

Make new friends
It’s smart to regularly ask fans to ask their friends to like your page, and posting a shareable graphic makes it even easier for them to do so. We’ve seen it done various ways, but the City of Sacramento’s Front Street Shelter’s “Male Challenge” is a first!

Love the way they used their Facebook analytics here, and were very clear on what they wanted their fans to do.

It’s all in the timing
Holidays, weather, a hot new movie, when the hometown team kicks butt… all can be great Facebook fodder when you add pets to the equation. (Fun example: Charleston Animal Society asked for pix of fans’ animals watching the Super Bowl!)

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week, Greater Androscoggin Humane Society (GAHS) posed this one last week:

This short, simple status was one of many volunteer-related posts throughout the week—GAHS posted a follow-up with the answer (450), as well as multiple photos of their volunteers in action. If you’re going to be doing a mini-campaign on Facebook on a specific topic or event, try throwing in a related question or two—it adds a nice variety and can help keep the momentum going.

Now we have to ask you something! Share which questions have worked well on your Facebook page.

Related links:
“Facebook Basics: 3 Questions to Ask Your Fans”
“Facebook Basics: 3 Ways to Thank Local Businesses”
Social Media section on ASPCApro