For Animal Organizations

• Mutual accountability: To have effective programs, you need to hold volunteers accountable for getting their jobs done and volunteers must be able to count on the organization to support their volunteer work. If you design programs for volunteers where accountability doesn’t matter, the jobs won’t be very important and neither will their contribution. When volunteers are treated like staff and held accountable, it lifts them up. Likewise, if staff don’t hold up their end of the relationship, volunteers will leave and find a more volunteer friendly place to contribute their time.
  
• A partnership relationship: If you treat volunteers as partners in accomplishing your mission, you’ll get a much more serious volunteer. This kind of volunteer will eliminate supervision problems later on.
  
• Getting to know the volunteers through a well thought out interview process: This allows a volunteer’s skills and desires to match his job, as opposed to getting slotted into whatever is available.
  
• Meaningful work and appropriate autonomy.
  
• Communication. Staying in touch with volunteers. Checking in to say, “How is it going?” “Are you happy with your work?”
  
• Ongoing recognition, as opposed to a once-a-year dinner: “It’s what you do every day, the little things, the thanks, paying attention, saying glad you’re here.”
  
• Short-term opportunities: Many people today don’t want a huge volunteer commitment—they may only want to do one event or work for a short time. But if that first experience is positive, you may have attracted a longer term volunteer.
  

Profiled below are three animal welfare organizations with good volunteer programs: a private humane society, a municipal animal control shelter, and the lead agency of an animal welfare coalition.

Capital Area Humane Society
Service area: Columbus, Ohio
Population: 1.1 million
Shelter animals handled per year: 12,000
Paid staff: 44
Active volunteers: 600-800 (volunteered at least once in past six months)
Volunteer hours: 2,864 in April 2005
Volunteer Manager: A staff person performs this function approximately 35% of time
Four top volunteer activities:

• dog walking
  
• pet behavior -socialization and basic commands
  
• special adoptables-preparing animals with special medical or behavior needs for adoption
  
• matchmaking
  

What makes it work:

• Plenty of recruits: Recruiting is helped by the organization’s positive reputation in the community. The majority of volunteers find out about the Humane Society through friends or the organization’s website.
  
• Structure of program. Volunteers do not report to the Volunteer Manager. They report to 23 volunteer leaders who supervise and take responsibility for volunteer activities.
  
• Volunteer satisfaction. Due to excellent communication between volunteer leaders and volunteers, volunteers feel like they are part of a team. “Volunteers feel like we couldn’t do it without them—and we couldn’t. Integrating them into the organization makes them feel as important as they really are,” comments Christina Weyrick-Cooper, Manager of Outreach.
  

Key to success:

• Volunteer leaders: On average, volunteer leaders work 15-20 hours per week. Volunteer leaders are treated like staff—their opinions are completely trusted, they have a great deal of autonomy in designing their program (they create their own training manuals), and they take responsibility for their project areas. They have the same access to high-level staff as paid staff. Only two volunteer leaders are retired. The rest have full time professional jobs, working in government, small businesses, health care, insurance, and other fields.
  

Profile of a volunteer leader:
Susan Lant has been a dog-walker /volunteer manager for 4 1/2 years. Retired from her job as Deputy Director of the US Department of Agriculture, she currently works full-time at her husband’s computer business. She also donates approximately 24 hours each week to the Humane Society. Ten of these hours are spent walking dogs on Saturdays. Susan also leads orientations, conducts dog walk trainings, sets schedules, and networks with other volunteer leaders. The rest of her time is spent communicating via email with the volunteer dog walkers who report to her. Susan handles questions, fixes scheduling problems, discusses ideas, and provides overall guidance and support. Says Susan, “We work in a great environment. Volunteers are respected for their knowledge and contribution. There is nothing adversarial between staff and volunteers--the staff is very supportive and treats us with dignity and respect. When a volunteer has an opinion, it’s heard. The main reason why volunteering here is so good for me is that every single time I leave, I know I have made a difference.”


Seattle Animal Shelter
Service area: Seattle, Washington
Population: 575,000
Animals handled per year: 6,000
Paid staff: 31
Active volunteers: 300, plus 300 foster volunteers
Volunteer hours: 7-8,000 per month (includes foster)
Volunteer Coordinator: one full time staff position
Program started:1997
Four most popular volunteer activities:

• dog walking
  
• foster care
  
• Nine Lives (TLC, including subcutaneous fluids and meds, to sick cats and kittens)
  
• taking digital photos and writing stories to update the website
  

What makes it work:

• Shelter support: Staff has a willingness to incorporate volunteer ideas into organizational policies and procedures. Staff has created an environment where volunteers can effectively put their passion and expertise to work for the animals. Says Executive Director Don Jordan, “our volunteers put so much time and emotion in their work –if staff didn’t go the extra mile to support what the volunteers are trying to achieve, the volunteers would become demoralized.”
  
• Program structure: 35 team leaders manage 18 different volunteer programs. Because of the critical role they play in the organization, team leaders are held as accountable as staff, and staff relies heavily on their input. For example, team leaders with backgrounds in marketing and graphic design play an active role in developing the shelter’s brochures, t-shirts, and website.

Keys to success:

• Volunteers have a great deal of flexibility and a large number of jobs to choose from.
  
• Volunteers aren’t micromanaged--they’re given general guidelines but allowed to exercise their judgment and creativity.
  
• Volunteers are highly trusted.
  

Profile of the Get Fit with Fido volunteer program:
Every Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm and Saturday morning at 9:00 am, Get Fit with Fido volunteer team members run all of the available dogs from the shelter to a nearby park. Using their own access code, volunteers pick up the animals at a time when the shelter is closed to the public. These volunteers are considered advanced, and each must go through a rigorous training program to acquire top-notch dog handling skills and to be able to talk about the dogs as well as shelter policies and programs, with the public.

The distance of the run ranges from two to four miles depending on the physical condition of the runners and dogs. The dogs wear “I’m available for adoption” vests; runners wear their own team gear. Generally six to twelve runners participate in each outing, which takes about an hour. When the dogs return, they are calm, happy, and at their best for adopters.

In addition to providing the dogs with vigorous exercise, Get Fit With Fido increases dog adoptions, raises public awareness about the shelter, and serves as a recruitment tool to bring more volunteers into the shelter.


No More Homeless Pets in Utah
Service area: the state of Utah
Population: 2 million
Animals handled per year: shelter animals at offsite adoption locations only
Paid staff: 29
Volunteers: 500 active (volunteered within the last year)
Volunteer hours: As many as 3,000 per month, depending on events
Volunteer Director: one full-time
Volunteer activities:

• planning committees for major adoption and fundraising events
  
• Furburbia and Best Friends on Tour (offsite adoptions)
  
• 5-Alive Teams (grassroots fundraising teams)
  
• events (100-250 volunteers help staff adoption and fundraising events)
  
• advertising (distribute promotional materials for events)
  
• feral cat program (TNR, trap distribution, colony maintenance)
  
• animal ambassadors (represent NMHPU at outside events)
  

Recruitment:
Recruitment is done primarily through the www.utahpets.org website. Orientations are held weekly and add approximately 30 new volunteers per month.

What makes it work:

• Variety of tasks and responsibility levels: Some volunteers work just a few hours at one event per year. Others may be Event Directors who lead Committees of volunteers and are given full responsibility for all aspects of each event.
  
• Committee members: Generally highly-skilled working professionals, these folks are given job descriptions, deadlines and performance reviews and are expected to perform at a high level.
  
• NMHPU does a good job at articulating the organization’s mission: Most animal welfare organizations draw volunteers with the promise of hands-on animal work. With limited opportunities for hands-on work, No More Homeless Pets in Utah draws in volunteers based on its mission and goal—finding a home for every healthy and treatable shelter pet in Utah. All volunteer work is focused on how volunteers help save lives.

Secrets of success:

• Matching the volunteer’s talents and abilities to the job; placing volunteers where they feel needed and can make a contribution.
  
• Recognizing the volunteer’s efforts; letting them know they’re appreciated.
  
• Letting the volunteer know that each position helps save a life in some way.
  
• Getting to know the volunteers and staying in contact with them, even when their lives change.
  
• Staying on top of what the volunteers are doing and letting them know they’re still needed; recognizing ways they’ve made a difference.
  

Profiles of grassroots volunteer fundraising:
A “Snow Cats and Chili Dogs” house party was held at a volunteer’s home in the ski resort town of Park City. Guests were asked to pay for a day of snowmobiling and food. The event netted $1,300.

For a separate house party in Salt Lake City, a volunteer sent out invitations that specifically mentioned NMHPU and its mission statement. The invitations clearly indicated that the catered party was a fundraiser. There was no charge, but donated items were raffled off. Most of the items used during the event were either donated or discounted, including the catering. This party brought in $3,300.


Resources:

Volunteer Management for Animal Care Organizations
By Betsy McFarland

Building Better Skills
Betty B. Stallings
www.bettystallings.com

www.energizeinc.com