News July 2010

A Letter from ASPCA President and CEO Ed Sayres

GO!

Dear Colleagues,

On August 1st, 46 ASPCA $100K Challenge contestants kick off their no-holds-barred efforts to win a $100,000 grant for saving the most lives and a $25,000 grant for getting the most people engaged in saving lives.

I ask you to please join me in wishing these contestants the best of luck, because as we all know, what’s really at stake is far more important than money.

Challenge contestants in every region have been reaching out to involve community members in saving lives and raising the profile of shelters and homeless animals across the nation. Contestants have been strategizing innovative solutions for increasing adoptions and TNR and improving return-to-owner rates. Everything they learn about saving more lives will help inform and build all of our life-saving efforts in the future.

You can meet the contestants and follow their advances at our website: challenge.

Last year, these 46 contestant agencies collectively saved 45,603 lives during August, September and October. This year, if these agencies all hit their target increase, that number will soar to 58,803! The ASPCA salutes their significant efforts.

Sincerely,

Ed Sayres, ASPCA® President and CEO

Wanted: Participants for "Less Is More" Research Study

When there are fewer animals on your adoption floor, your adoptions can increase and your length of stay can decrease. Why? Because when there is too much to choose from, consumers (potential adopters) simply do notchoose.

The team at the UC Davis-Koret Shelter Medicine program, Dr. Kate Hurley and Dr. Sandra Newbury, as well as the ASPCA Shelter Research & Development team, have found good results in saving lives when decreasing the number of cats available for adoption. While we have data to support the success of this program, we do not have a controlled study. In order to have data to fully support the effectiveness of limited choice for increasing adoptions and decreasing length of stay, we need a few shelters that are excited to try limited choice — while leaving ALL other variables the same — to participate in a research project.

Interested in making a difference for cats all across the country? Learn more about the research project and how to join the study.

Are Social Networks an Important Part of Your Business?

Operating a social network is more than setting up an account on Facebook. Social media sites require frequent management, committed member cultivation, and consistent marketing. Done properly, social networks can dramatically increase your visibility, raising community support and perhaps even funds.

A recent NonProfit Times article summarized the 2010 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report released by Common Knowledge, NTEN, and ThePort. At least half of the 1,200 nonprofit professionals who responded to the survey expect to increase the number of staff focused on social networks next year. Organizations that commit two or more full-time equivalent (FTE) resources to social networking are ones that reported being most successful, though most nonprofits only commit ¼ to ½ FTE.

• The overwhelming majority of nonprofits (93%) use Facebook for traditional marketing to promote events and services.
• Nearly 95% of all nonprofits reported raising some revenue through social networking sites — more than 40% via Facebook — though less than 5% reported raising more than $10,000.
• Among Environmental and Animal Welfare nonprofits, 91% reported a Facebook presence.

Are you on Facebook yet? Whether social networking is a foreign language or you just want to maximize your existing efforts, check out these basic tips to help you get started, resources and links to learn more, and examples of animal welfare agencies who are using social media to engage their communities and get animals adopted.

Daily Animal Inventory Tips

Do you know the actual number, physical description, and animal ID numbers of cats on your adoption floor? What about the dogs in stray holding? How many kittens are in foster care right now? Does your software count match the actual number of animals in your care?

Much like maintaining a balanced checkbook, keeping an accurate inventory of your animals allows you to know where you stand on a daily basis. Conducting a daily physical head count enables you to catch and correct mistakes early and also provides the opportunity to visually inspect every animal in your care every day — which will help you save lives! Our Daily Animal Inventory Tips and Strategies page will get you started.

Not convinced yet? In her blog post Feeling Dirty?, Dr. Emily Weiss discusses the advantages of daily inventories and provides examples of how incorrect data could drive faulty program choices. If you don't already do daily inventories, now is the time to develop the habit.

Creating Healthy Spaces for Animals

Could the way your space is being used in the shelter contribute to illness among your animals? With some creativity, careful planning, and elbow grease, Shelby Humane Society in Alabama found ways to rearrange and upgrade how their space was being used … and immediately improved operations and the wellness of their animals.

Shelby's story reveals a path other shelters can take to achieve similar results. First, an evaluation determined that the shelter needed to better manage their animal population and provide better isolation and separation to improve overall animal health. Planning ensued. SOPs were updated. And everything culminated in an intensive two days of cleaning, renovation, and interior decorating.

One sign of success: the shelter's felines can see and be seen. The staff installed brand new, multi-level cat condos in a busy hallway (formerly known as the vending machine area), providing the animals plenty of enrichment and increased visibility. "Most of the cats really seem to enjoy lying on the very top level and watching everyone as they pass by," says Jennifer Russo, Shelby's Director of Development. "And they love having the extra space to jump and stretch out."

Sounds like a win-win deal; the animals get improved housing and a better quality of life… and Shelby enjoys a boost in adoptions numbers. This could be your story too!