Tips: Taking on a Big Campaign or Contest, Part II

These tips were inspired by the ASPCA $100K Challenge, but you can apply them to any large campaign or contest that your agency undertakes. Bottom line—you've got to pull out all the stops. Heed these 10 DOs and DON'Ts from 2010's 2nd-place finisher, the small but mighty N.O.A.H. Adoption & Spay/Neuter Center in Stanwood, WA, as presented in their webinar "Small Shelter, Big Adoptions."

Do Take Stock…and Stock Up!

If your campaign means more animals, make sure you order extra supplies for the increased number of animals and adoptions you'll be handling in your facility. That includes vaccines, microchips, collars, and even shampoo. (At one point, NOAH ran out of collars and had to 'borrow' them from the gift shop!)

Don't Air Your Dirty Laundry

Your wash will likely double during your campaign due to more adoptions, more baths, more everything—it did for NOAH!—and they recommend sticking your soiled laundry outside if you don't have a separate facility for it. Why? So the public doesn't have to smell it…

Don't Forget to Include Photos Of Your Kittens on Petfinder!

Pre-Challenge, NOAH would likely not have spent the time taking and uploading photos of available kittens to Petfinder, as they get adopted so fast. During the Challenge, however, they included photos with all their kitten listings on Petfinder—and what a difference it made! It was stunning to see how many hits the kittens with pictures got versus the kittens without.

Do Name One Key Player to Oversee Important Tasks

Though staff and volunteers will be working together as teams on different projects, it'll be extremely helpful to have one person in charge of each area—like social media, adoption events, transfers and animal inventory.

Don't Turn On Your Voicemail

It's so important to have a real live person answering the phone. This is a HUGE customer service advantage. NOAH even changed their standard greeting during the Challenge, identifying their shelter as an ASPCA $100K Challenge contestant.

Do Transfer Animals In & Out Like Crazy

NOAH scheduled regular weekly transfers and suggests you do, too. Although all of NOAH's animals originate from other shelters, many ASPCA $100K Challengers initiated new partnerships to bring animals in and transport others out for adoption by other agencies.

Do Keep It Clean

Although they saw an incredible increase in the numbers of animals and people coming and going in and out of the shelter, NOAH did not see an increase in disease outbreak. They attribute this to complete disinfecting of each suite and the hallways every day.

Don't Leave Any Space Unused

You'll likely be increasing your inventory during your campaign—but where will the animals go? Small dogs can often share a suite, which will free up space. (Do keep a close eye on them, of course, to make sure everyone's getting along.) NOAH had cats in their library and lobby as well…but only for a short time during the Challenge.

Do Lower Your Adoption Fees

This is NOAH's hands-down number-one way to increase adoptions—but you may have to try several promotions offering various discounts to see what's best for your agency. NOAH did free cats with a donation—a bag of food or litter or a cash donation. P.S. Great news: Even with fee-waived cat adoptions, NOAH saw a 53% increase in adoptions revenue and a 41% increase in gift shop revenue during the Challenge. Psst, learn more about free cat adoptions here.

Don't Give In To Fear

Your staff is probably overloaded with work as it is—and may recoil at hearing about your big campaign or contest. When NOAH staff and volunteers first heard they had to save a minimum of 300 more lives in 3 months than they did during the same period last year, they were, well, scared off—until their executive director broke the number down. They were asked, "Can you do 3 more adoptions every day, Monday through Friday? Can you do 5 more adoptions a day on the weekends?" When seen in smaller increments, it seemed much more doable—and the fear went away.

Listen to the complete recording of NOAH's webinar and download their slides for more tips on taking on a big campaign or contest.