Biggest Problems
Biggest problems in animal rescue – 4) Competition vs. Collaboration
Competing and Collaborating for animals! Humans are by nature competitive. But how can we channel this competitiveness into a coalition of rescues and volunteers who are all trying to accomplish the same goal of saving innocent animals? We need to think about competing versus collaborating when it comes to local animal shelters and animal rescues. First it’s important to both recognize the problem & the opportunity. Competition by itself is not a problem but the problem comes in when the competitiveness masks the overall intent of animal rescue. Without a doubt, every animal rescue organization in the U.S. and around […] Read more »
To Petfinder or not to Petfinder
Ask a rescue person and they likely have an opinion of PetFinder.com and other adoption portals. But with an average of 40 million visit per month, PetFinder is a dominant force and a go to site for millions of people looking to adopt an animal. So why wouldn’t you want to use them or the dozens of other portals for animal adoptions out there? The case for using PetFinder. With an average of a million hits per day, PetFinder.com has grown since being launched in 1996 by Betsy Banks Saul as a way to get the message out regarding adoptable […] Read more »
Biggest problems in Animal Rescue – 3) Attracting & Retaining volunteers
Getting the best local animal rescue volunteers in the door… …and then keeping them! Another challenge that animal rescue organizations face is how to attract and retain local animal rescue volunteers to help out in the local animal shelter. Thankfully, this is a common problem and one that is not limited to animal rescue type operations. There are a plethora of websites with lots of great ideas on how to engage volunteers and make them an ongoing part of your success. One of my favorites however, is this simple top ten list from Joanne Fritz on about.com. http://nonprofit.about.com/od/volunteers/tp/whatvolunteerswant.htm Again turn […] Read more »
Effective fundraising for animal rescues
Is your animal rescue in the money? Fundraising is a part of animal rescue. Some people thrive on the idea and others abhor it as a mandatory requirement that they must do in order to succeed. Be that as it may, some organizations are more successful than others at raising funds to sustain their operations. Why is that? Many of the fundraisers for animal rescues that I have attended over the years focused on just that, raising money. Their booth had a banner with the organization name, a jar for cash donations, and perhaps an animal or two there to […] Read more »
Biggest problems in animal rescue: 2) recurring funding
Biggest problems in animal rescue. We need money. We’ve been discussing the challenges that animal rescue volunteers and organizations face, and we would be remiss not to discuss the challenge of recurring revenue which is a constant challenge in rescue. How do you run a business when it’s difficult to predict what your revenues and profits will be versus your cash outlay every month? How can you ensure continuity of your operations when it seems like there’s always an expense you can’t predict? Local animal shelters and animal rescues need recurring revenue to survive and thrive. Rescue organizations are historically […] Read more »
Biggest problems in animal rescue – 1) Lack of structure & organization
Animal rescue is hard. There’s no way around that. But what the biggest problems in rescue are and how to solve them, well that’s more of a debate. Let’s explore some of the challenges and best practices starting with the lack of structure and organization in rescue. We think that’s definitely one of the biggest problems, don’t you? It’s hard to run an animal rescue. There’s no getting around that. So what’s the solution? How do these well-intentioned small businesses thrive and what is the secret to success? How come some animal rescues grow year over year while thousands startup […] Read more »
Import rescue animals into your state or save what’s local? What’s your take?
Importing animals versus saving what’s local. One of the more controversial topics in rescue, is where the focus should be. Many animal rescue organizations focus locally in their community, pull from local shelters, and adopt to local customers while other rescue organizations transport animals across state and sometimes country lines rather than pulling locally. Others have developed programs around importing animals to help other more overpopulated areas. We know this is a hot topic for many people and so we invite you to weigh in with your opinion and perspective to help us have a healthy discussion. First, the case […] Read more »