In November 2021, Maddie’s Fund^® launched and distributed the Foster Plea Survey. The Survey’s objective was to establish baseline data on how and when internal foster pleas are being sent to foster volunteers. Internal foster pleas are non-public queries to an organization’s existing foster base to acquire foster homes for specific pets or groups of pets. This survey did not collect information on pleas directed to the general public (external).

Animal shelters and rescue organizations are interested in placing more pets into foster homes. Various methods have been used to communicate pleas and connect pets with foster caregivers, however no data exists about the which types of pleas are used the most, work the best, or the optimum frequency to use.

The methods most used are phone calls (85%), text messages to individuals (81%), and individual emails through regular email services such as Gmail or Outlook (80%). The least commonly used methods of sending pleas are software such as Trello, ClickUp or Slack (13%), volunteer software such as Better Impact (18%) and group emails through a paid service such as MailChimp or Constant Contact (29%).

The Survey asked respondents about the following general topics:

• The methods and frequency of their internal foster pleas
• To whom internal foster pleas are sent
• Organization type, yearly intakes and foster placements
• The information most often contained about pets in their pleas
• How often they include photos or video of the pets in their pleas

View results of the Foster Plea Survey.