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No More Homeless Pets Forum
January 12, 2004 Engaging the Community |
How can you recruit community leaders to the cause and negotiate your way through tricky community politics? Dennis Stearns of No More Homeless Pets in the Triad and Stephanie Hiemstra of No More Homeless Pets in Utah will share their expertise and experience.
Introduction from Stephanie Hiemstra:
Have you heard the saying, "It's not what you know, but who you know"? Well, it certainly proves to be true in the case of successful animal welfare agencies. Animal rescue work is tough enough without all the tricky politics. Working in unison with your community is critical to the success of your organization. With community support, you can achieve things that you may never have thought possible. I will show you how getting the "right" people to support your cause can help you by leaps and bounds. With community backing, you can create positive awareness for your cause, which will in turn allow you to increase your fundraising opportunities, membership and volunteer databases, animal adoption numbers, and more.Through my work with the 28 adoption agencies who make up the No More Homeless Pets in Utah coalition, I have learned that politics can play a very major role in the success, or lack thereof, of your own organization. Learning to work well with others on all levels will help you ascertain your goals and improve your credibility among your peers and other members of your community.
In this week's forum, I will try to help you weave your way through these "community politics" which can make life for your organization extremely challenging at times.
Questions
Getting legislators to listen
Rebuilding bridges after they are burned
Making alliances with vets
Convincing officials that tax dollars should be used to target low income for programs
Forming an adoption committee and focus
Recruiting new leadership for a Board of Directors
Reaching out to targeted neighborhoods with a spay neuter message
Working on an issue when there are different backgrounds and agendas
Finding the key decision makers in governmental agencies
Getting groups that like to be low key to be more high profile and get support
Getting the county to build a new shelter
Getting groups working together when there are negative issues
Making your group well known in the community
Making connections to find the leaders in the community
Getting legislators to listen
Question from member in PA:
I live in a big farming and hunting state. In addition, my county is one of the major sources of puppy mills in the country. The state legislators are strongly supported by all three groups. One state representative is animal friendly, but really no one else.We have formed an alliance comprised of shelters, rescue groups, and individuals committed to "No More Homeless Pets" ideas. Our alliance has formed a Citizens' Advisory Committee to interact with the public and legislature to educate them and work with them on animal issues. What do you recommend as the best approach to get our foot in the door and get the rest of the legislators to listen, especially considering the strong lobbies we are up against?
Response from Dennis:
When you're up against multiple groups that may not support No More Homeless Pets ideals, here are a few ideas:You say your state representative is animal friendly. See if he/she will help recruit other champions in the state legislature who will support No More Homeless Pets.
Major cities in a state often carry special weight at the state level. Find the leadership program in your area that likely has many of the movers and shakers as members. Then see if the director will help you. It will help if someone you already know and trust is a member of that group and can help make No More Homeless Pets a top leadership theme.
Many hunters are actually quite sympathetic to No More Homeless Pets ideals. They are just approached in the wrong way by activists who shoot first (so to speak), and become adversarial instead of seeking common ground. Find someone in that group who believes in the No More Homeless Pets mission and who is respected by his/her peers. Get that member to be your spokesperson.
The media was a major catalyst to our own state forming a task force to deal with No More Homeless Pets issues. After the Charlotte Observer ran its series, Death at the Pound, the outpouring of citizen outrage and support for change was dramatic. With over 70% of the populace having pets and, in our local polling, and over half of these describing themselves as "animal lovers", the media and politicians take notice when this group gets stirred up. To be effective, it needs to be done in a professional way so it motivates the right people to take action.
Watch for opportunities to get the spouse or close friend of a "difficult" opponent into your camp. The right, well placed person with the right motivational tools can do in weeks what it may take an army of activists to do in years!
All these efforts take time and patience. Follow the "dig your well before you're thirsty" parable and begin a steady, consistent approach to building the network now instead of right before a big vote comes up. Expect some setbacks but stay positive and persistent, but burn no bridges unless you don't mind doing a lot of swimming later on!
Response from Stephanie:
You are certainly not alone in your fight to create awareness in a community that seems to put up a lot of barriers. I think you are already off to a great start, because you have formed your advisory committee and it has people from different areas of the community. It is always important when forming these types of committees that there are a myriad of people involved including a veterinarian, someone from animal control, someone to represent animal welfare and other influential members in your community.Because you have at least one state representative who is animal friendly, you have an "in" on whom you should focus. I would set up a meeting with this representative to discuss what angle you should use to approach the other legislators. It is always a good idea to remember to approach any issue from the standpoint of the state. Although you might be interested in tackling a specific animal issue because it is simply the right thing to do, you must speak their language by showing them how it will benefit the community. One topic that often works well is showing them how you can either save the state money or bring money in. You need to evaluate your community and decide what animal issues might be accepted by a majority. Pick one issue at a time and approach it from a professional, organized and sincere perspective.
Good Luck!
Comment from Michelle:
A local coalition of dog park supporters in our community, called the Northern Virginia Dog Park Coalition, created a survey for political candidates in 2003,since the topic actually became an issue in the media during their campaigning. The survey was short and concise (about 8 yes or no questions and one open-ended question to elicit further response), asking politicians in our area if they own a dog, if they visit dog parks, if they support dog parks, if they would back these parks with funding from the counties, etc.Many of the legislators surveyed responded favorably and actually included personal information about the animals they own or have owned. I can personally say that I learned a lot about each politician and can now easily identify which ones are very animal friendly. We live in a fairly animal-friendly community. But I had no idea how many of our politicians actually cared so much about animals until I read their responses to this survey. Now, we know exactly who to go to for support for animal issues.
Thanks to the survey, we know the names of many of the politicians' animals, how many they have, etc. I think it will make a big difference when we can call up a legislator and say (for example), "Hey, we're doing a Super Adoption, we'd like an honorary chairperson for the event: We'd like you and your dog Spot to serve as the honorary chairperson and super dog. Would you be interested?"
Perhaps conducting a survey to see where politicians stand both personally and in their political roles on animal issues is a good place to start. The results may actually surprise you and you may have more animal friendly legislators than you thought. And, if they're not animal friendly, you may get some insight as to why, which can only help you when preparing your points to educate them.
The NoVA Dog Park Coalition survey and results are online at:
http://www.pollow.com/dogpark/NVDPC_Questionaire_2003.pdf
http://www.pollow.com/dogpark/FairfaxResults.pdf
Comment from Jennifer:
I work quite a bit with legislators and staff on small business issues. I can't emphasize enough how important presenting dollar savings is, especially in this economy. Tugging at heartstrings is just one small piece of it, and doesn't work by itself because there's always a cause that's more pathetic and unjust: sick veterans, abused children, the elderly, etc. But if you can show these people that your group or idea will save them money and, incidentally, appeal to voters, then you're golden.Also, you can't stop with legislators. They set the law, but they don't implement it. That's the staff, whose side you also have to get on. Show them respect, show them dollar savings, help them be heroes, and your efforts will go a lot further.
Rebuilding bridges after they are burned
Question from Christina:
I am in the saving animal field, but unfortunately, I went backwards on the "making friends in high places" aspect of helping animals. To be honest, I walked into it totally oblivious to all that helping animals entails. I thought that everyone would jump on the bandwagon. I was wrong! I made lots of enemies fast. The situation in my area was, basically, if no one knows what's going on, no one will care or complain. Well, I stepped up and told people of the abuse in the county pound, etc. I know now that I made a big mistake by informing people of the nasty conditions. I thought that it would help turn the situation around; instead it turned people against me.When I opened our shelter, I had people coming at me from all sides with lots of negative energy. I was forced to close the shelter because of the lack of funding and not enough help. We did help lots of animals get good homes and we still send animals to be spayed/neutered. What can I do to get back on the right track with my community? I know that I made mistakes in dealing with things, but I want to help the animals. We are a current 501(c)(3) organization and I am attending college to get my degree in Non-profit Management. Do I need to relocate to help animals or do you have ideas on how I can recover? Our animals in this community need help.
Response from Dennis:
Once you've burned a bridge, it often takes a lot of work to re-build it. Being a helpmate sometimes helps. Volunteer to help an "enemy" solve one of their problems. They will be suspicious at first of ulterior motives and may even reject your offer the first or second time; be sincere and keep trying. Send them a hand written letter (much better than an e-mail). Be open and honest about mistakes you've made and your desire to patch things up for the good of the animals. It is amazing how many "blood feuds" can get solved with just a bit of authentic communication. Being willing to forgive and forget is essential, even if you still believe that you were in the right, to do the best thing for the long term good of the animals.We have also found that many Coalitions around the country include partners who don't "play well" with each other no matter what they try to do to fix relations. Sometimes that's ok, although certainly not ideal. At our No More Homeless Pets Super Adoption events, we've observed groups who are hostile to one another actually helping each other at the events, usually because the animals would suffer otherwise.
You may need to recruit people who are upbeat and well regarded in the community to be on your board or volunteer. One of our Alliance groups had this problem and the leader recruited several "diplomats" to help re-build bridges and be the outside face for the group. It took a while, but now that group is back in most folks' good graces.
Sometimes a good book or audiotape series on building good relationships can help you self diagnose what you can do differently and how to communicate with others who have different styles of give and take. Consider How to be a Great Communicator by Nido Qubein (www.nidoqubein.com) plus tapes like The Day that Turned Your Life Around from www.nightingale.com.
Response from Stephanie:
I understand how you felt it would be beneficial to shed some light on what may have been a bad situation. Unfortunately, negative publicity often generates more negative publicity and can make relations ugly, which you have discovered the hard way. The best way to accomplish things and to create positive alliances among animal welfare groups and animal shelters is to discover ways to work together to make things better for everyone, especially the animals.It is not going to be easy to turn relationships around in your community, but it can be done if there are enough people interested in working together to make a change for the better. You would benefit from discussing what happened with the key players in each organization from which you are now receiving opposition. You can try to explain where you were coming from and also recognize that the way you handled it was wrong. You can also discuss what you would like to do with your own organization and ask what they would need in order to let you back in the door.
If you decide to leave your community and start rescue work in a different place, it is very likely that you will discover that there are groups or shelters in each area that could use a facelift in either attitude or sheltering animals. Try to look at every situation and find something positive in it. There must be at least one thing that you can give them credit for whether it is a specific animal they saved or a great employee. Focus on the good to help give you an edge so you can focus on the bad. In order to affect change in a local shelter or with another group, you have to gain their trust and show them respect.
No shelter is going to want to work with you if they feel you are going to try to damage their credibility in the community. Shelters, unfortunately, often get a bad rap, because they are forced to euthanize animals due to overpopulation in their area. You must work to build their trust and show them how your involvement in their programs can help them boost employee morale, and more importantly, save animals lives!
Making alliances with vets
Question from a member:
What is the best way to go about forming strategic partnerships with veterinarians while avoiding political struggles? We have several influential vets in our community that are reluctant to get involved because of perceived competition. Because of the politics involved, it is difficult to move forward without their support. Also, many of the vets do not want to do feral cats or provide aftercare if they participate.Response from Dennis:
We found this to be a tough issue here and around the country. Many vets feel they have been helping the cause for years but don't get much credit and are faced with a rescue community that always asks for more than they can give. Most vets are small business owners who spend years in training, build up big debts coming out of school and are faced with many challenges to run their business well, staying on top of the latest in animal care plus staying balanced in their personal life.Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, tells the story of the person that goes up to the old wood stove in the corner when the temperature is dropping and says, "Stove, give me some heat and then I'll put in some wood". Pretty silly, right? Yet many vets tell me that this is exactly how they are approached to provide free or discounted services. Anything you can do to put in wood first, meaning to help the vets achieve their own goals (business, personal or whatever) before you need something from them gives you a much better leg to stand on when you need to ask for their help.
One group we studied out west made it their business to develop personal relationships with key vets and their staff and learned their likes and dislikes. Every week, they had volunteers bring homemade lunches over that included all their favorite foods. If someone had a problem, they looked for ways they could help including finding baby sitters for their children on short notice. Every chance they had they promoted the vet practices with which they had developed relationships so that it was a win-win all around.
Not surprisingly, when we interviewed some of these vets, they said they would move heaven and earth for this particular group, because they first showed they cared about them as people and didn't just try to make them feel guilty about not doing more for the animals.
Convincing officials that tax dollars should be used to target low income for programs
Question from Karen:
Dennis, after 5 years of independent operation of our program, our county council (location SC) recently began to warm to the idea of providing some public funding for our low-cost spay/neuter services. My organization recognizes the necessity of targeting the funding to low-income families to get the result we want, lower intake and euthanasia numbers. We did, however, receive feedback from council inquiring why should the tax dollars of all citizens not be available to all citizens to use for spay/neuter of their pets. We are confident we can make the business case for targeting, but would appreciate any thoughts you have on convincing council that the best use of public funding is to subsidize low-income families; it seems you've been able to do that successfully in a similar geographic location.Response from Dennis:
We found this theme over and over in our national benchmarking study - focus on pet owners who are on local, state or federal government assistance and help them get their pets fixed with financial incentives and easy accessibility. Some would argue that expanding spay/neuter to the working poor is also important. This definition of "working poor" varies by region, but often can include families with less than $25,000 of annual income. A Sacramento spay/neuter program we looked at defined working poor as under $40,000 of annual income. Hard to argue with either approach, but any time you can focus your fire hose water at the base of the fire you are likely to get better results. It just takes a lot of effort and the results often take a few years to get traction.We have two great organizations in our backyard, with a third soon to come on-line in a neighboring county. Plus we have a number of vets who have focused on this area. The more water focused in low-income spay/neuter, however defined, the faster your own fire will get put out. I'd suggest you attend workshops. Also get tapes from No More Homeless Pets, SPAY USA, HSUS, ASPCA and other industry conferences with speakers focused on this issue. Study your options carefully. Many a high volume clinic has found itself in trouble due to lack of good up front planning.
We are testing a neighborhood model that has great promise. It is too early to say whether it should be a core program (like our $10 co-pay program for low-income pet owners) versus an add-on after the core is in place and working well. We work with the neighborhood leadership to organize a low-income community to get all pets spayed or neutered for free using various partnerships of animal control, vets, rescue and community groups. We have the support of Leadership Greensboro, which makes developing these partnerships easier. Find out if your local leadership group (usually a part of the Chamber of Commerce) has animal lovers in its top ranks, and get them on board! Recruiting one great leader who is well respected and has contacts throughout the community can make the difference between having a headwind or a tailwind as you try to get community support for your programs.
Peter Marsh and the Solution To end the Overpopulation of Pets (STOP) in New Hampshire has proven you can get the job done without clinics by organizing vets in conjunction with regional and statewide efforts. Peter has done a lot of great research in this area and proven the low-income spay/neuter model in his state. Check out http://www.saveourstrays.com/marsh2.htm for a good summary.
Another good source to prove the targeted model to skeptical types is the ICMA Animal Control Management book, a highly credible industry guide. Or try the Humane Society of the US. Request a copy through the on-line e-mail service.
Forming an adoption committee and focus
Question from Sally:
I have just been recruited to Co-Chair our adoption steering committee. I was wondering if you could give me a few ideas on how to get this started. We are just small but have about 6 rescues and 5 shelters working with us. I have no idea what this committee is supposed to do and the Organization doesn't either really. Some of our members got the idea for the committee from a conference they attended. I would love to hear your ideas and get started on this project as soon as I can.Dennis Stearns response:
When we did our benchmarking study of over 100 of the best adoption groups several years ago, we found that most had a few common characteristics. They had a core group of dedicated team leaders willing to rotate to adoption fairs evenings and weekends. They had a focused volunteer team building and maintaining foster homes. Many struggled in the early years with both getting and then keeping foster parents. The really good adoption groups recruited adoption counselors with good people skills to work with the public. Many groups found that the skills that made a good foster parent were very different than those needed for being a good adoption counselor.The #1 reason we were told that foster parents burned out was keeping fosters too long or getting too many animals, which often had social problems with existing pets in the household. A great front-end marketing program can help solve this problem. #2 was having too much financial burden loaded on the foster parents. Dedicated fundraising programs can help this. #3 was not getting enough pats on the back from the organization or team leaders. Make sure you've got some cheerleaders in the group to keep morale up.
Getting the core system of team leaders and volunteers with different skill sets is probably the first priority. If you have existing folks working in adoptions, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Foster homes and adoption fairs that are in high traffic areas and attractive to the public are two important parts of a good adoption process. Once you have the basics down pat, then you can think about expanded adoption marketing, including Super Adoption events and Furburbia type stores. Check out the archived No More Homeless Pets Forums for lots of great adoption tips, many from programs we studied including Mike Arms. Get your hands on one of his audiotapes from a No More Homeless Pets conference. We've distributed copies to many of our local Alliance members. It is worth its weight in gold!
Response from Stephanie:
I am a huge fan of forming committees to accomplish big tasks. Committees are great in the way that you can brainstorm among other members, combine your resources and increase the momentum of your job. The ideal situation would involve a member from each of your participating shelters and rescue groups to be on the committee. Of course, you don't want to force anyone to participate because there is a time commitment, which requires "buy-in" from everyone involved. When forming a committee, you need to think about all of the key players and what they can bring to the table. A steering committee generally functions as an advisory committee, getting together to brainstorm and/or make decisions for the group.Without knowing a little more about your organization, it is hard for me to know exactly what you are looking for. I will assume you are gearing up to organize an adoption plan for your participating groups and shelters. You need to evaluate the situation in your community and decide what are the most effective ways to increase adoptions. Then you can create a strategic plan. You may want to consider creating a small sub-committee of volunteers to focus on adoptions and implement your ideas.
If you decide to have a subcommittee, you will want to provide each person with a specific job. You can put together a detailed outline of what each job entails and make sure the volunteer has a good understanding of it before he/she agrees to get involved.
With or without a sub-committee, you will need to do some research among your groups and shelters to find out what has and hasn't worked for them in the past. For example, you may discover that website adoptions work really well, but several of your groups or shelters don't have time to post animals or follow up with them. This would be a great topic for your committee to tackle and solve. You could have a position on your committee whose job is to find and implement ways to make it easy for these groups to do adoptions through the Internet.
There are many groups and shelters all over the country that tried innovative ideas to increase adoptions that have been successful. I always find it useful to do some expanded research that could potentially bring some new adoptions strategies to your community.
After you identify what works, you can start putting your plan into action. Set goals for your committee but don't make them so high that they are unattainable. Start small and work your way up!
Good Luck! If you have more questions about adoption strategies or developing a committee, please feel free to contact me anytime.
Recruiting new leadership for a Board of Directors
Question from Anita:
Our new animal shelter is located in a relatively small community in the mountains. We have raised 1.4 million in just over four years to build a full service animal resource center. Our cat adoption center is now open; our main building, which will house dogs, is due to open in the spring. We have received wonderful press in our local papers, and the support for this project in the community has grown in leaps and bounds. While we have received strong financial support from the business and political leaders in the area, people respond as if we are selling a lethal disease when recruiting for our Board of Directors. What is the most effective way to entice some of our area's movers and shakers to our Board, which is in need of an infusion of new blood and vitality?Response from Stephanie:
It sounds like you are doing a lot of great work. Congratulations on your successes thus far! I was recently at a conference in which Bonney Brown and Faith Maloney of Best Friends Animal Society were speaking about boards. They pointed out some great resources that can help answer many of the questions people have regarding boards. A couple of good places to start should be with checking out the websites www.boardcafe.org and www.boardsource.org.It is very important when you are looking for people to join your board, that you find people who are not only influential in the community, but also sympathetic to your cause. Once you identify the people that you would like to have it is a very good idea to spend some time getting to know them, before you invite them to be a board member. This will give you the opportunity to see if they share your basic principles and ideals. There can be a large time and energy commitment involved in being a member of a board. You will generally not find people who want to give so much of themselves to a cause unless they believe in it.
Once you decide someone is right for your board, you must explain their responsibilities in full before they decide to commit. It is not a good situation when you recruit someone only to find out after the fact that they are not willing to do what you need.
You don't need to have a huge board. In fact, another useful piece of information I learned in this past conference was that a smaller board, with seven individuals or less, is generally better and more efficient than a large board. This might help you to focus on fewer, more effective people to join your board.
Your board is critical to the success of your organization. A good board will help raise funds, act as volunteers and oversee a great deal of what happens in your shelter. Your organization sounds like it has a great deal of community support, and although it is a small community, there must be people out there that you have not thought about that could potentially be members of your board. Look for veterinarians, financial consultants, lawyers or anyone else that can bring what you need to the table. Good luck!
Response from Dennis:
Sounds like you are doing a great job on a lot of fronts! I'm guessing that you are paying for the sins of others. If the animal leadership of one or more groups in the past has had a poor relationship with community leadership, the movers and shakers are going to stay away, even if they like your mission or animals in general. We've heard many, many animal lovers who are political and community leaders tell us in private that they would never join this or that group because of the "crazies", even though they believe in the mission!This is an example of well meaning people in the movement who burned bridges or didn't understand that only a broad community effort will solve our problems. Thinking they were helping the animals, they actually caused more companion animals to suffer and die due to their own ego, poor communication skills, abrasive tactics or whatever.
People generally like to be around other people that they like, trust, and respect while doing volunteer work that feeds an internal passion. It may take a while to find the right person to be on the board, but when you do, they will help build your group's credibility if you have made the relationship worth the effort.
We were told about one rescue group that ran meetings poorly, didn't follow the agenda, bickered constantly, didn't follow up and spent 3 hours discussing things when 1 hour should have been enough. They lost three movers and shakers on the board who went to other groups and helped make those other groups flourish and prosper. And they lost one valuable board member to a non-animal cause, because that member thought all the animal groups were this dysfunctional. Every good person we lose from this movement makes it longer and harder to solve the challenges - translation - more animals suffered because someone did things the wrong way instead of the right way.
Ask your local Chamber of Commerce or Leadership group what non-profit organizations they know that run a really good ship. Call the head of that group up. Tell them that you've heard from so-and-so that they do a great job and you would like to buy them lunch and learn more so you can run your ship better and save more animals as a result. Many will be happy to do this if approached in the right way. Rehearse your pitch with a friend if this is uncomfortable for you or get someone in your group who is good at this stuff to make the call. We know of a few groups who did this. They found that they had the love of animals in common and ended up getting the head of the best run group in town on their board of directors who then became a recruiter for that group - now wouldn't that be a bonus!
Reaching out to targeted neighborhoods with a spay neuter message
Question from Joan:
We are a small, all-volunteer nonprofit who will soon launch a spay/neuter subsidy fund to enable the lowest income pet owners in a three-county area to alter their pets. Ours will be the first and only program in our area to screen and serve this critical segment. It will begin as a low-volume but highly targeted effort. We hope our work will encourage larger groups (with more money and people) to re-direct their spay/neuter programs to low-income communities where the need is the greatest.Most of our surgeries will be done by one of three (already established) mobile programs, which will travel into areas that have been identified and prioritized by our local Animal Controls, Shelters and other animal welfare providers. We intend to have three or four, one-day "events" each month, each in a different low-income area. A mobile spay/neuter unit will park in a central location within the neighborhood and spay/neuter the pets of previously approved pet-owners.
Challenge #1: We had planned to identify community leaders in each area and physically meet with them to invest them in the effort before each spay/neuter event. But we simply don't have the resources to undertake this. Being all volunteer means our people have full-time "day" jobs, most too restrictive to allow for daytime meetings on behalf of our group. And asking people (mostly female) to go into these communities at night for meetings just does not seem feasible.
Challenge #2: We'd planned to have our volunteers physically placing flyers and applications within the communities in mailboxes, at businesses, as bag stuffers in stores, etc., several weeks before the events. This could be done on a weekend, in groups, during the day. But again, is it safe to ask our folks to walk through these neighborhoods where dogs may be running loose, etc.?
If not, what else might you suggest in order to 1) make some community connections BEFORE each event and, 2) physically blanket these small areas with our flyers and applications? We will have Animal Control officers carrying pre-approved vouchers. We will place ads in local papers, including the free "trader" magazines, and create press around each event. What else can we do to maximize the opportunity within these neighborhoods using limited manpower?
Response from Stephanie:
Answer to challenge #1: Naturally you need to protect the safety of your volunteers first. Often times within groups of volunteers there are people with different schedules. Some people work in the day, some work in the evening. If you really don't have anyone who can go to a meeting in the daytime, you might want to consider teaming up for meetings in the evening. Sending a few people (and maybe their husbands) to meet with the community leaders in the evening might be more appropriate. You might also be able to invite the person to lunch or dinner in a different area of town that is easily accessible to you and them.Of course, meeting with the community leader over the phone is not ideal, but it would be better than not meeting with them at all. If you are well prepared, you can accomplish a great deal over the phone in a short amount of time. These people are often very busy so you will want to respect their time as you are planning your approach.
Answer to challenge #2: Again, the safety of your volunteers is most important. Without knowing your community, it is hard for me to speak to the safety of your volunteers canvassing the area at night. You will need to use your best judgment on this one. It seems like you should be able to accomplish what you need to do on the weekends like you mentioned. It is a good idea to work with a store in the area that will stuff flyers in their bags as they are bagging groceries. It is often hard to get large store chains to do this without some kind of a partnership, but if there are local community based stores, you might be able to get their help.
You can also look into what groups are active in that community. Are there youth or senior groups that might be looking for a project? They could volunteer their time passing out flyers for you. This is a great way to cover a lot of area in a small amount of time.
I don't know what kind of financial resources you have but a direct mail piece (a postcard works well and is less expensive) could save you a great deal of time and reach more people in the community. You can purchase different mailing lists in most communities with all of the specifics that you need including income level, pet ownership etc. If you can afford it, this might be worth looking into for you.
Given your plans to equip Animal Control officers with vouchers, the ads you will place in the newspapers and magazines and press surrounding the event, you appear to have a good plan of attack and I hope you have great success with your project.
Response from Dennis:
In our area, the police department supports our efforts through neighborhood watch groups and will tag along in really tough areas. We have recruited a few "large tough types" who grew up in these neighborhoods to be part of the process. The neighborhood leadership will typically know where trouble may be and, if they have bought on to the program, help keep you and your volunteers out of harm's way.It sounds like you need to recruit a more diverse group of volunteers, perhaps through a community leadership program, local volunteer center (check out www.pointsoflight.org) or by partnering with another group. Some of our female volunteers have boyfriends and husbands that act as guardian angels. Although, they shouldn't replace locals who know the turf or public officials (animal control or police/sheriff) in really tough neighborhoods. Plus you need to make sure that they are diplomatic and won't start something just because they are there - boys will be boys.
The famous line about robbing banks because ""that's where the money is" applies to target marketing. Our low-income program includes getting flyers into places these folks frequent with the help of our Leadership Greensboro network. Ask low-income community leaders what they would do to get the word out. Ask follow up questions and listen carefully to the answers. Sounds like you have a great project under way that could make a major impact in your area.
Best of luck!
Working on an issue when there are different backgrounds and agendas
Question from Melinie:
We have been meeting with our City Animal Care, several people from the City who are involved in the parks and marina, a representative from HSUS, and a couple of independent rescuers. For over 10 years, our organization has provided T/N/R and daily maintenance of a large colony of cats by the river.Last June we were told that since we fed the cats, we were attracting the wildlife, and the boaters at the marina wanted the wildlife (skunks) gone. The problem started when some one dumped approximately 40 - 60 cats at our location last spring. Not only were we going though more food, but the skunks were attracted to the supply of food. In one night, 127 skunks were killed.
We met with the city officials to work out a plan where we could maintain our colony, but keep all of the wildlife safe. I brought in a person who knows skunks. She taught us to feed the cats up high on feeders. Skunks can't jump. We did just that, but the public still sees the cats and leaves food on the ground. Many animals were killed and are still being threatened.
We are continuing to have monthly meetings to try to solve this problem. Our organization doesn't want to see any animal to lose its life. All of us who are meet are coming from different backgrounds and have different agendas. How do we all get along and save the lives of all the animals at this park? This is a tricky situation.
Response from Stephanie:
This is a very difficult situation and I am very sad to hear about the problems you are facing. It sounds as though you are taking all of the appropriate steps to try to insure the safety of all animals in the area. It was a very good idea to bring in the expert on skunks to help you make arrangements to attract fewer of them. It is also very wise to hold regular meetings with all of the involved parties to keep the lines of communication open.As you suggested, the main issue you need to focus on right now is how to get everyone to work together to save the lives of all the animals. Whenever you are working with others it is critical that you show them respect. This doesn't mean you have to agree with them, but it will allow you to deal with the situation in a more professional manner. Prior to every meeting, there should be ground rules set that everyone agrees to. Some of the rules that should be included are:
- Listen! This seems obvious but all too often we go into a meeting with our own agenda and don't hear a thing anyone else has to say.
- Know your facts! It is best to approach a negotiating situation prepared with facts more than feelings.
- Don't criticize the individual! Attacking people never helps. Protecting all the animals is a passionate issue for you, but you need to stay professional when trying to come to an agreement.
- Find a common goal. There will be something that everyone in the meeting can agree on. Now, the next step will be discovering the best way to tackle it together.
- Bring a mediator. You may not be able to find someone who is cut down the center of this issue, but you can appoint someone in the meeting to be the person that makes sure the group stays on track with the ground rules. This way, if the mood gets elevated, someone can help to bring it down without taking sides.
You should keep your ground rules typed on no more than one page. As you are developing them, just think about the problems you have had in past meetings and develop a way to avoid them.
It is very easy to get emotional when dealing with issues that are so important to you, especially when animal's lives are at stake. Although these meetings can get very frustrating at times, it will benefit you a great deal to manage your emotion and handle the topics as efficiently as possible. Although it won't be easy, if everyone goes into the meeting with an understanding of the ground rules, and with mediator assistance, you should be able to work together and negotiate a way to deal with the situation that can satisfy everyone.
When it comes to dealing with this specific situation, I recommend speaking with experts in the field of feral cats. I assume that people from Alley Cat Allies or our own Holly Sizemore, the Feral Cat Program Director for No More Homeless Pets in Utah, could give you information on how they have dealt with feral cat situations that have required collaboration with many different people.
Dennis Stearns response:
Skunks are something I don't know much about, although I've run into my share of the two-legged variety over the years. Having at least one good diplomat who knows how to resolve disputes at every meeting might help. In my opinion, every group should recruit diplomats who are well connected in the community well before they actually find they need them to help resolve a problem.Putting up signs asking the public not to feed the cats, but assuring them that the cats are being cared for by your group is another idea. Also check out, Alley Cat Allies website has lots of great articles and tips on dealing with cat colonies.
Finding the key decision makers in governmental agencies
Question from Barbara:
In May, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) passed a feral cat policy despite strong public opposition and a complete lack of scientific evidence that feral cats are a threat to native species. In response, a coalition of feral cat/ TNR groups and advocates has been formed of which I am a member.The problem is that the FFWCC members are appointed by the Governor, who has denied us a meeting. We're told that we cannot have a private meeting with the FWC commissioners and that it would have to be posted and open to the public.
To make things more complicated, the US Fish & Wildlife Dept. has contracted APHIS (Dept of Agriculture) and has begun trapping at 2 federal parks in the Keys.
With Alley Cat Allies help, a letter writing campaign targeting key people in the FWC and the US Fish & Wildlife service has been ongoing, but what other action would you recommend, and how do you find the real decision makers in such "embedded" government agencies?
Response from Dennis:
This is a tough one and may be the classic "Dig your well before your thirsty" paradox. It is very hard to get in the door when the crisis erupts unless lots of network building, seed planting and relationship building has happened for years ahead of time. Just about every time I don't follow the "thirsty" rule, I regret it later on as I'm scrambling to make something happen without the right foundation having been built. Even if that carefully nurtured contact doesn't agree with you on a particular issue, if they value the relationship you've developed they will try to help you get a fair hearing in front of the right people - then it comes down to your ability to persuade and negotiate.Know the audience (do your homework) and send in a spokesperson who can connect with the group and find common ground. If the group is comprised mostly of one type of person (age, special interests, etc), the old political trick is to get someone that looks and talks like the majority of the audience, right down to the cadence (slow versus fast). Many studies have shown that most people respond better at a subconscious level to the way the message is sent even more than to what is said. If you have only one person with one style doing the talking, it is like having only a hammer - you hope every problem you run into is a nail.
Feral cat issues are even more tricky, since they are often misunderstood even by traditional cat and dog lovers. In addition to the strategy that you and Alley Cat Allies are taking, you might try getting sympathetic media to run some educational stories in key cities around the state. This needs to be done anyway. We have a plan for a similar push here in North Carolina. You never know who that has well placed ties to the FFWCC will read the article, or a friend who knows a friend who knows a committee member. Make sure the media include a "want to help?" box in the article with e-mail and contact info.
Have you set up a website discussing the problem with at least a splash page and links to Alley Cat Allies? For the media and the public, it is amazing the impact a well laid out web page on a particular issue (not buried somewhere in a bigger website) has these days. Word of caution - a cheesy website or one that turns people off can have just the opposite effect. If you don't have a web designer in your volunteer mix, add it to the list. Ask other volunteers/members in your group who they know in the field that loves animals, or call small and medium sized PR, advertising and web design firms and ask for help. Most folks in this field seem to be animal friendly so with a little persistence (and honey!) you should find a great volunteer.
Response from Stephanie:
It sounds like you have strong public support, so why not go ahead and meet with the FWC commissioners in a meeting that is open to the public? If it is your only way to speak with them, you may have no choice. As you have discovered, meeting with officials from government agencies when there is already bad blood over an issue is not an easy task. When you get the opportunity to meet with someone, make sure you have a good representative on your end defending your points. It is always critical that you are professional and respectful of the people you are meeting with. Come to the meeting armed with facts regarding TNR and issues related to feral cats and native species to try to convince the right people that your coalition has only the best in mind for every animal and person involved.On any issue, I always recommend speaking to the experts so you are definitely on the right track by working with Alley Cat Allies. They certainly understand what people are up against when it comes to feral cat issues. And because you are already working with them on a letter writing campaign, you probably already know that they have a great piece on their website called "The Strategic Campaign for Change". The information in this article is very useful and might give you the tools necessary to work your way in.
Getting groups that like to be low key to be more high profile and get support
Question from Sheryl:
Some humane groups (our local humane society and feral cat TNR program, for example) receive no public funding as a matter of principle. The TNR group, in particular, describes itself as wanting to remain "low profile" even though its Executive Director and a Board member are local city officials. It seems they would rather avoid potential conflict than seek more substantive support. Some local public officials, Aldermen, etc., are animal lovers or just want to do the right thing. The community needs more education about, involvement in, and opportunities to partner with humane organizations. How do we build relationship between city, town, and county officials and these humane organizations, which seem to be operating parallel to each other?Response from Stephanie:
You are in a fortunate position, because you have high ranking people in your community who love animals and are participating in your local animal welfare movement. Now, the trick is to show each group how a community-wide partnership will benefit everyone involved.I would start off by setting up a meeting with a representative from each of the local groups (the humane society and feral cat program) to see how you can work together. Pick your battles wisely. You may not agree with every group's adoption policies or foster procedures, but if you have the same basic ideals, spaying and neutering, education, animal care etc, you can move forward together. Once you are all on the same basic page, it would be a great idea to get together with your city, town and county officials to show them how a partnership could help everyone, especially the animals. The city officials that are interested in keeping a low profile may have been burned in the past and are afraid of drumming up any negative publicity. One of the most important things you will have to prove to them that you can be trusted. Mutual respect among everyone is the name of the game.
Now in our 4th year of the No More Homeless Pets in Utah Campaign, we have developed some very strong relationships among adoption groups, the humane society and our city/county shelters. Getting to this point was not always easy. Again, we had to prove that we could be trusted. We don't allow any member organization in our coalition to speak negatively about any other member of the coalition. One of the most important things that has grown from these relationships is a mutual respect for what everyone is doing. Through these collaborations the lives of thousands of animals have been saved. Obviously, this makes for positive publicity that everyone can capitalize on in his/her community. When people are getting along and good things are happening, others want to get involved, be it through volunteering, donating or adopting, people like to be a part of something that is making a difference!
Once people start working together, great things can happen. Joining forces can help you to use volunteer time efficiently, help you raise more money and most importantly, help you save more lives!
Response from Dennis:
Again Stephanie hit on most of my key points - if Republicans and Democrats are highly polarized in your community, you may want to find key leaders in both parties who will sit down for lunch and discuss how best to work together. Our experience is that these two parties often respond to different arguments. Our own statewide legislative process currently going on in North Carolina has both parties playing nice with one another, because they are all animal lovers on the Committee and want to see the best thing done for our furry friends. As we draft legislation and try to get it passed later this year, we will need champions from both camps to work on the non-animal lovers in the legislature with the two political parties.The message here is you need a guide who knows the ropes, the personalities, and helps you watch out for the political minefields. Find that person and the rest will get easier. And take lots of deep breaths, since you will invariably experience "two steps forward and one step back" even with an excellent guide on your side.
Getting the county to build a new shelter
Question from Gloria:
A small group of us has been speaking to our village Board of Trustees for almost 4 years now regarding the establishment of a permanent animal control facility for our village. Notice I said "permanent." The village has been managing their animal control mandate by essentially renting cage space in local vets' offices. We have been advising them, and most of the trustees agree with us, about the need for a permanent facility. However, they have been dragging their feet for all this time, claiming no appropriate sites have proven feasible. We suspect otherwise, but we are consistent about sending the same message: establish a permanent facility.We are not a poor community, in fact, we are an above average income village. My request at this point is can you put us in touch with any experts, that is, people with animal clout, who we can perhaps talk to and have them advise our village trustees.
We have been working very long and hard and really need your advice at this point. Beyond the problem of the permanent facility, another larger shelter in an adjacent community is wooing us to join their regional facility. For many reasons we don't want to this at this point. For people who don't know better, a large facility looks like a bargain compared to a village doing its own small shelter. We are talking about the fate of thousands of animals yearly here, as you can well realize.
Response from Stephanie:
Because you have been working on this for such a long time, I assume you have done your research and explained to the trustees all of the reasons why having your own village shelter would benefit everyone involved. You mentioned that "for people who don't know better" the larger facility looks better than doing your own. If the benefits really are much greater for you to have your own shelter, you should focus on educating the people who may not have a great understanding of why. It might not be a bad idea to drum up public support for this as well. Of course, you need to be careful because if you create negative publicity, you could burn bridges and completely eliminate your chances of having your own shelter. If done appropriately, the public can help catapult the trustees into making a decision that pleases the majority (hopefully they fall on your side).There are many respectable groups in the country that I am sure could give you useful advice. You may want to start by speaking to The Humane Society of the United States, www.hsus.org, or folks working in successful county shelters like Maricopa County in Arizona www.maricopa.gov/pets. There have also been a lot of experienced animal control speakers on this forum over the past several months. If you haven't already, go back and take a look at some of the topics covered. You may find the answer to your questions through them. If what you need is not in their answers, you might find some good people you can email or call to get more information. Best of luck!
Response from Dennis:
After studying a lot of programs and shelters the last three years, my feeling is that more effort needs to go into targeted programs than building new shelters. A balance needs to be struck in many places with sub-standard facilities, however, rather than one versus the other. If getting a bricks and mortar shelter put up is beyond the current village budget, we've seen large steel warehouses be put up inexpensively (may not work as well if you live in extreme temperature climates). Coupled with dynamic foster home programs that "flex" during kitten and puppy season, this creates a solution for usually less than $100,000, if you can get lots of stuff donated (including the land) and have a strong volunteer base to manage the facility and foster homes.If the option were to spend another $200,000 and have a better facility or spend that money on targeted low-income spay/neuter programs, I'd opt for the combo. With that said, we have always looked for the way to do the "and" versus the "or". You say you are an above average income village, so my guess is that a good marketing campaign to do both might yield some unexpected donations even if the village didn't want to fund any of it. You might get the Village Trustees to say they'll put up half of the money if you can raise the other half. One group we know did this and they raised the other half in less than 6 months!
Getting groups working together when there are negative issues
Question from Alicia:
I have lived in my community for almost four years now and have been watching some of the politics surrounding animals and the shelter in our area. I was a member of a group that tried to get going, but fell apart because members were taking in way too many animals and there was no effort at educating the public about animal issues (overpopulation, dispelling spay/neuter myths, animal welfare, responsible ownership, etc). I really want to get something going but I don't know very many people around here.One of my vets offered services and assistance to the group before it died. I've discussed the problem with the shelter people, and they agree that something needs to be done. Where do I start? The city keeps cutting the budget of the shelter, and there's a lot of animosity over this issue. There is one group currently in the area doing what it calls animal rescue, but they only take in purebreds (and then sell them), and are not trusted by the shelter workers Unfortunately this group is associated with the Humane Society and a lot of people in the community have a skewed vision of what animal welfare groups are really about. Any suggestions?
Response from Stephanie:
You said you were a member of a group that tried to get started before. Are there any other people leftover from that group that might be interested in starting up a new rescue organization? Do the folks at the shelter know anyone (volunteers perhaps) that might be interested in starting a new group? It sounds like you have a supportive veterinarian in your community who might also know other people interested in getting involved.Regardless of how you find them, once you have people in mind, spend some time getting to know what their interests are. It is critical that you find people who can work well among other members and with your shelter and humane society workers. All too often I see groups that have a "hot-headed" member who manages to burn bridges wherever he/she goes. If you have a representative of your group out spreading bad blood, it will almost guarantee the demise of your group.
Although it doesn't sound like the shelter, the humane society and the one rescue group in your community are on the same page, it will benefit you greatly to try to work with all of them. One thing I suggest from the very beginning is that you set a policy among all people affiliated with your group to not publicly talk negatively about any other group in your area.
Another thing that can guarantee the demise of your group is lack of organization and planning from the get go. When you find people that want to help, your momentum can be very strong and you may want more than anything to start pulling animals from the shelter to get the ball rolling. Don't Do This! Just as you described in your previous attempt to start a group, without planning people will burn themselves out very quickly.
I recommend starting out by talking to other groups in the country who have started from scratch and are now running small but successful adoption groups. Some of the critical elements of proper planning include:
Put together a Board of Directors. Try to find individuals in your community (Vets, Financial Planners, Lawyers, Public Relations Specialists) who can bring something beneficial to your group. Check out www.boardcafe.org for more info.
Write by-laws, articles of incorporation and file for your non-profit status within the necessary guidelines of your state.
Don't bite off more than you can chew in the beginning. If you are going to focus on animal adoption programs, you may not want to dive into all of the other issues you mentioned right away including addressing pet overpopulation, spay neuter myths, education, etc. On the other hand, if those are the most important things to you, you may want to hold off on your adoption program until you gain more volunteers and feel more prepared to do it correctly.
Organize volunteers to be responsible for specific jobs: Place someone in charge of foster homes, someone in charge of your adoption program, etc. This way, things will hopefully not get out of hand.
Organize, and put in writing, all rules and regulations for every element you want your group to be involved in including:
Adoptions: Rescue guidelines, Adoption guidelines, Adoption applications, Adoption Contracts, Adoption follow up etc.
Foster homes: Applications, Trainings, Handbooks, Policies and Procedures
Spay/Neuter: Work with your local vet to insure every animal you adopt is sterilized prior to leaving your organization
If you do some research on the Internet you will discover you can find examples of all of the items I have listed above. Most organizations will grant you permission (be sure to ask) to use as much of their literature as you would like. This way, you don't have to re-invent the wheel; instead you can make adjustments to existing forms so they work for your organization.
I know it sounds like a lot of work and it might be a little discouraging, but trust me, if you plan ahead, you will save yourself a ton of time and frustration in the long run. Good luck!!
Response from Dennis:
Stephanie covered all my points quite well. My only addition is that you need to get the city to stop cutting the shelter budget unless intake and euthanasias are dropping dramatically. If you can't find a champion on the City Council or City management, find people with clout in the community who do know these people. If needed, become the squeaky wheel.Do surveys at grocery stores or other high traffic areas of how many people own companion animals, are happy with the current kill rate at the shelter (usually public information). Would they, a) support city funded spay/neuter programs, if it stopped the killing, and b) would they support them if it actually saved the city/county money in the future.
Our answers to these questions here were 70% own pets, and 91% not happy with current kill rate. While 9% didn't have an opinion, no one said, "Yes, we think it sounds good". In response to a), 70% would support spay/neuter programs, and b) 94% would support if it saved money in the future.
Share this info with the local media, take out ads, and do letter writing campaigns. Let the powers that be know, in a nice way, that this issue is bubbling up, that lots of ordinary citizens care, and that they need to take it seriously. Always smile no matter what the response is - as Stephanie said, burn no bridges!
Making your group well known in the community
Question from a member:
What we run into when we try to talk to influential people in the community (whether that be public officials, grant foundations, or socialites) is that they often say that they like animals but that they are already involved supporting important issues like health, children, and the arts. Many area businesses seek out these charities to align with because of the perceived positive status. I realize these are all important too. But how do we start elevating animal issues to the importance and social status of other issues so that people want to be involved in our cause and it is something that they seek us out for rather than us begging them?Response from Stephanie:
The animal welfare movement is gaining a great deal of momentum and there are a lot of grants out there if you do a little research. It is great to find grants that are available in your community, but you should also look at nationwide opportunities that exist. It might help you to look at the forum discussions that were held last June with Patty Finch of PETsMART Charities and Jim Mason of Two Mauds Foundation speaking about how to give your group the edge needed to get the grant.One great example of a group defying the odds and having great grant success is an adoption group that is part the No More Homeless Pets in Utah Coalition. They were trying to get a grant from a very prestigious foundation that does not give money to animal welfare causes. A group member called this specific family foundation to find out what they were looking for in grant applicants. After speaking with them for quite some time, they discovered a very sophisticated way to make themselves eligible for this grant. They applied and received $50,000. This is a small rural group who used innovative ideas and good thinking to get a much deserved grant. They would not have been so successful if they had not called and opened the door for themselves.
Also, the more well known your organization is, the more interest businesses might have in supporting it. Most businesses and individuals who want to donate, won't give their money a group in the community with no presence or credibility. Get yourself out there by making connections in the media and in your community, so when you stroll into a business to ask for their support they know who you are and what you do. If you are not well known in your community now, you can start with a grassroots campaign. Try to find individuals or businesses that could directly benefit from working with your group. You can team up with a local pet supply (not a pet shop!) to create a "business deal" together. If you are adopting a lot of animals to families in your community the pet supply store could really benefit from your support and vice versa!
Bottom line is... gain recognition and credibility for your group in the community. Often times individuals or businesses donate because they care passionately about the cause. Other times, like you said, they want to align themselves with a charity because of the perceived positive status they will receive. If you are a well known and well respected group, they will see the benefit in aligning themselves with you! Good Luck!
Making connections to find the leaders in the community
Question from Nancy:
I know both of your organizations have had luck reaching out to leaders in the community. If you don't have a volunteer who knows the head of the symphony or police, or a celebrity to do PSAs, or don't know how to even get past the secretary to talk to the marketing person at a large corporation, do you have any tips on how to make these connections? Most of us scoop poop all day, so we don't run in the same circles. We don't have a leadership group in our community to approach.Response from Stephanie:
It was a lot of hard work and relationship building that gave us the connections we have today. I know it seems like a daunting task, but it is your responsibility to make yourself known. You have to go out and meet these people whenever you get the opportunity. Invite them to your events or gatherings or go to events they might be supporting. If there is someone you want to meet, do a little research to find out their interests and what they support. You can also find out if any of your local news anchors are animal lovers. If they are, they might be willing to help you with making connections to other recognizable faces in your community.Simply calling is a good way to get connected. You can set up a meeting or presentation for your local police or fire department to show them who you are and ask for their support (know what you want before you do this). Also, don't forget to use your volunteer application to ask volunteers what they do for work and for fun. You might be surprised what and who some of these folks know!
There are many groups in Utah that I work with who are very small and didn't start out knowing influential people either. Now, they are working with their local government officials, writing and receiving large community based grants and growing in remarkable ways. Many of these groups are in small rural communities where there simply isn't a lot of opportunity to branch out. However, they are doing amazing work by making themselves known in any way they can!
One good way to get your name out there is to get involved with the media. I recommend reading the forum with Merritt Clifton from Animal People in November. He covers information about "getting good press by making yourself known in the media". Remember these "important" people are just people too. Their title or profession might make them seem untouchable, but they aren't. Many of them love animals and might be interested in helping if someone just asks. Don't be shy, get out there and start making connections!
