8 Ways to Recruit Volunteers and Keep Them Engaged
Volunteers are the heart and soul of a community-centered animal shelter. They drive the organization’s mission, vision, and values, and make it possible for a shelter to expand its support for people and pets; to keep more families together and save more lives. Now, while so many shelters are full and then some, plus understaffed, volunteers are especially needed. Which got us wondering—how are shelters recruiting volunteers, and keeping them excited and engaged, through this time? We asked, you answered! Below...
Diaz Dixon Talks About Belonging, Friendraising, and Uncomfortable Conversations
[embedded content] We’re thrilled to introduce you to Diaz Dixon, HASS’s new Maddie’s® Advisor of External Affairs and Partnerships. Diaz joins HASS in this role after serving on the project’s executive committee. Diaz is a human service provider turned community patron passionate about targeted messaging and relationship building to enhance business development and self-growth. You may have seen his well-received TEDx Talk about the challenges of preconceived notions and how they shape and impact our realities. In...
10 Ways Shelters and Rescues Can Use QR Codes Today
QR codes are everywhere these days—at restaurants, where you scan them instead of being handed a physical menu; bouncing around your TV screen during the Super Bowl (what was that ad even for?!); on the back of a business card, to direct you to someone’s LinkedIn page or TikTok channel. And no wonder, since some 85 percent of Americans now carry smartphones. More and more animal shelters and rescue groups are finding creative, effective ways to use those data-filled squares that you scan with your phone—and you can, too!...
Getting to know HASS’s new director, Vincent Medley: Transforming animal sheltering with hope, joy, and data
[embedded content] We are so pleased to introduce you to Vincent Medley, who’s joined our organization as Maddie’s® Director of Human Animal Support Services. Vincent comes to the Human Animal Support Services project with over two decades leading government animal services agencies, and field services departments—and, through this experience, a deep commitment to lifesaving and preserving families. In this video interview with Arin Greenwood, a writer for the HASS project, Vincent talks about how his background...
Funding for Animal & Environmental Causes Has Grown by $10 Billion in 10 Years
A report finds more donors giving more money to animal and environmental causes—though this funding is still just 3.4% of total giving. We spoke with author Jamie DeLeeuw about what she found, and what it means for the public and animal orgs. Over the last decade, funding for animal and environmental causes has grown by $10 billion—from $6.15 billion in 2010 to $16.14 billion in 2020. But it’s still just 3.4% of total giving. These figures were noted by Jamie DeLeeuw, Human Animal Support Services’s director of...
5 Webinars You Don’t Want To Miss
It’s been a great year of HASS webinars so far, with people from every part of animal welfare sharing their thoughts and lifesaving expertise. Here are five—and if you like these, which we really think you will, be sure to check out the rest of HASS’s webinars, starting from the very beginning of the HASS project. You can find them all here, which is where new webinars are posted, too. Every webinar is free, and each one is aimed toward helping you save lives and keep families together. We hope you’ll check them out,...
Supported Self-Rehoming Without Surrendering: Setting Up Supportive Services with Safety and Success
[embedded content] Approximately a quarter of animals enter animal shelters under the intake type called “owner surrender.” Pet parents often do not know how to safely and successfully rehome their pets themselves. Supported self-rehoming is a great way for organizations to give pet parents who can no longer keep their pets the tools they need to safely rehome their own pets with ongoing support from shelter staff and volunteers. Supported self-rehoming not only gives pet parents an opportunity to be a part of selecting a new...
At This Shelter, Any Employee Can Shadow Any Other Employee for a Day
About a year ago, the APA Adoption Center—a 100-year-old nonprofit, open-admission shelter with a government contract to serve St. Louis County in Missouri—launched a new program called Show Me How. Any employee, in any department, could shadow any other employee for a few hours. That includes top leadership, front line animal care staff, adoption counselors, veterinary staff, and so on. Anyone can shadow anyone. The program was launched as part of an effort to improve the organization’s culture, says CEO...
What Are Your Rights When It Comes to Your Apartment’s Pet Policy?
Renters have certain rights when it comes to bringing a service dog, emotional support animal or companion pet into their apartment. Most pet owners will say that their beloved pet is part of their family, but if you rent an apartment, condo or house, you may be subject to a few rules when it comes to pet ownership. “Companion animals provide us with so much and are integral members of the family for most Americans,” says Katie Jarl, director of government affairs and policy at American Pets Alive!. “And for those with...
Times Are Hard. Neighbors Helping Each Other—and Their Pets—Will Help
With rents and food prices high, whole families are struggling—including pets. Animal shelters across the country report that loved pets are being surrendered—given up to the shelter—by people who feel they have no other choice, in this very hard economy. This contributes to shelters becoming and staying full, while families are split apart. More and more shelters are turning their efforts to helping pets and people stay together with pet food pantries, access to veterinary care, emergency fostering programs, and other...
