One Step at a Time Editorial

By Rich Avanzino, 2001

You know the expression, "his eyes were too big for his stomach?" Some animal welfare organizations fall victim to it. In their effort to save lives, they try to start too many programs at once using too few resources. When this happens, they lose their focus, diffuse their energy, and fail to accomplish their goals.

I believe you have to be disciplined to achieve goals and this starts by admitting that you can't do it all - at least not in the beginning. Spreading staff and resources too thin over too many projects generally ensures that no single project will be done well.

To succeed, I think it's best to pick one major objective and then move towards it in single, deliberate steps. After you accomplish the first step of your objective, move on to the next.

Let's say your organization's first objective is to increase spay/neuter surgeries by 20% next year (The number you choose should be related to a major goal like ending adoptable deaths in five years. You have determined that by increasing surgeries by 20% per year you will be able to reduce shelter intake and shelter deaths sufficiently to save all healthy, adoptable animals at the end of the five-year period).

Now figure out your numbers: how many more surgeries per day, week or month will you need to do to get to your goal in your prescribed period of time?

Then, what strategy will you use to increase surgeries? Will you work with community veterinarians to offer discounted spay/neuter surgeries? Set up a mobile clinic? Advertise more? Are you going to focus on in-house shelter animals? Feral cats? Community animals? Animals of low-income caregivers? Are you going to start with cats or dogs?

My advice in considering various strategies is this: determine where the need is greatest and then try to develop an approach that takes the easiest path first--this will help you succeed. For example, if your shelter takes in more cats than dogs, initially focus on cat spay/neuters. The surgeries are less difficult and less expensive, doctors can alter cats more quickly, cats take up less space and you can do larger volumes.

No matter which strategy you choose, carefully think through your rationale and then explain what you're doing and why to your staff, volunteers, membership, community and peers.

And make sure the first step is attainable so you can succeed. This is the way you build internal morale and build external confidence in your organization. It's ultimately the way to move on to the rest of your objectives and succeed with those, too.

After you've increased your surgeries by 20% in a year, celebrate the achievement. Throw a party. Call in the media. Tell your membership and the community what a great job you've done. Then ask for help (money and volunteers) to reach step two.

Reaching the first step is a momentum builder. It not only takes you closer to your objective, but also enables the community to see your progress and encourages donors to support you in reaching the next step. People want to invest in winners.

The bottom line is, if you're going to do something, do it well. If you bite off more than you can chew, your organization is liable to choke.