Pet adoption events near me – Learn more with Healthier Pets Today! Considering hosting sizable pet adoption events near me? Your event planning checklist should start with deciding where to hold it.
Please consider this advice from experts who have figured out how to increase visibility, safety, and comfort for both people and animals at their successful large-scale pet adoption events near me.
Table of Contents
1. Choose Onsite or Away
Mega adoption events can be held both onsite and offsite with success. According to Jennifer Smith, a customer service supervisor, Austin Animal Center in Austin, Texas, sees value in both possibilities.
She advises because “events held at the shelter require fewer resources” while evaluating advantages and disadvantages.
The main goal of a big pet adoption events near me is to place as many animals in loving homes as you can, but you could also have other objectives that can influence where you decide to host the event.
Onsite Event
Amy Shrodes, director of marketing and development for OK Humane in Oklahoma City, OK, said, “Having the event onsite might be your best bet if you want to increase awareness of your shelter’s location.”
The division manager of Greenville County Animal Care in Greenville, South Carolina, Shelly Simmons, prefers onsite adoptions because they provide potential adopters access to all of the animals in the adopt a pet Florida shelter, even those kept as strays who might not otherwise be visible to the general public.
Offsite Event
An offsite venue can be ideal if you want to attract a sizable audience and many collaboration agencies, according to Shrodes.
Do you need to know any laws or regulations for offsite locations? Before choosing a site, Susan Cosby, executive director of the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, advises looking into any landlord restrictions and municipal and state legislation.
All dog adoptions in Pennsylvania must take place on the premises of a facility with a kennel license, making hosting an event at a park or another offsite location a lot more complicated. She also warns that limits based on anticipated attendance may be imposed by the town or the landlord regarding tent size.
Questions To Consider When Deciding On A Location
- Can you physically move and secure all the animals and materials at the offsite?
- Can you maintain a crew and a regular functional shelter during an offsite event?
- Will the procedure for offsite adoption be distinct from that used at the shelter? How will you manage the animals’ medical history and information?
2. Pick a Great Space
To accommodate many animals, staff, volunteers, and potential adopters, event organizers agree that the physical area needs to contain a few essential components.
This implies that the space should have the following:
- Lots of unpaid parking
- Access to the internet, electricity, and running water
- Enough space to properly separate cats and dogs
- Separate spaces/rooms for introductions
- A break area with food and drinks available. This is a much-needed break, according to Donna Kincer, director of development at the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society in Lewiston, Maine, “for when staff and volunteers are feeling overwhelmed.”
3. Look for Easy Access
Make it simple for people to find and reach you because foot traffic is one of the most important aspects to consider at a big event.
Misty Valenta, the community programs coordinator for Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter in Georgetown, Texas, cautions against approving your event’s location at a company just because they show interest in working with you.
The company might depend on you to drive customers in rather than vice versa. Valenta says, “We are most effective at events or locations where there is already a noticeable level of foot traffic.”
After verifying that a company or group can provide for the event’s physical requirements, Experts advise considering the value it may add to marketing.
Foot traffic will also improve if the company or group has a sizable social media following and is ready to invest in advertising for your event.
4. Choosing a Landmark Venue
Numerous shelters pick sites near prominent landmarks. Choosing a place that “everyone knows or can find easily on any cell phone map app” is what experts advise.
For maximizing numbers, accessibility to crucial roadways is also critical. And since some people—including your volunteers—might require that choice, it is essential to consider the location’s accessibility to public transportation.
5. Consider Multiple Locations
While other shelters believe that having the event at numerous places distributes resources too thin, some shelters find that having the event at multiple locations boosts visibility and accessibility.
According to experts, “It comes down to available funding, resources, and manpower.” “Multiple locations may make sense if your organization serves a huge area or population where it would be inconvenient for residents to drive to just one location from where they live.”
Experts advise “setting up each location as its event with specific people dedicated to each location” if you have numerous venues.
Shrodes underlines the significance of informing the public which animals will be in which area so that neighborhood members know where to find the desired animals. This will help prevent disgruntled adopters.
6. Factor in Safety & Timing
Experts emphasize the importance of ensuring suitable housing, temperatures, and noise levels for the animals at the event to keep them safe and secure.
They, therefore, suggest declining a place with high exposure and foot traffic if it may jeopardize the safety and security of the animals.
That is precisely what they did when they were asked to bring her animal shelter to a festival where the animals would have been kept close to a loud stage at adopt a pet Florida.
Even a superb location cannot compensate for poor timing. Before organizing your event, take the time to consider the season (temperature and holidays), nearby construction, and competing events such as adopt a pet Florida.
7. Best 3 Tips On Pet Adoption Events
1. Make It Easy
Organizers at OK Humane vouch for their “Pet Adoption Events Near Me Concierge” service.
Each adopter receives a volunteer concierge who assists them in selecting a dog or cat and then accompanies them to the cash register.
According to Shrodes, this not only makes the procedure considerably smoother but also “allows time for better matches to be made” and creates a calmer environment for both the pets and the staff.
Greater Androscoggin Humane Society (GAHS) in Lewiston, Maine, development director Donna Kincer also suggests accommodating adopters by providing numerous computer or iPad checkout stations to facilitate quicker paperwork processing.
2. Offer Bargains
According to Susan Cosby, executive director of the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, adoption pricing promotions are the critical component of all the organization’s pet adoption events near me.
She claims that out of all the marketing strategies her organization has employed, free and reduced adoption fees have generated the most attention from the media and attendees.
Cosby argues that with the wealth of studies demonstrating the life-saving advantages of reduced-cost or free pet adoption events near me, institutions cannot ignore the issue.
The manager of community programs at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter in Georgetown, Texas, Misty Valenta, concurs that fee-reduced and fee-waived adoptions are crucial.
Many of the employees and volunteers at her agency first felt anxious about conducting fee-waived adoptions.
She continues, “However, they were converted once they saw who showed up to the event – a long line of supporters who wanted to rescue and give a good life to animals in need.”
3. Empower (& Feed) Volunteers
Volunteers for your event should be trained to match prospective adopters with available pets.
According to experts, having these volunteers not only enables the shelter to offer better customer service but also makes the volunteers feel proud and happy when they say, “I got someone adopted today.”
According to experts, it is crucial to provide a break area so that employees and volunteers may escape the commotion and people accompanying a significant event such as adopt a pet Florida.
Whatever we think will keep them going is available in the agency’s break room, including granola bars, fruit, coffee, soda, water, and energy drinks. Experts also provide lunch and dinner for the crew on long adoption days.
Ways to Plan Pet Adoption Events Near Me…
Adoption fairs are occasionally the only places where dogs and cats in foster care can interact with prospective adopters.
The objective is to provide a positive, enjoyable environment for both volunteers and possibly adopt a pet Florida while ensuring that the animals present are not at any physical risk or suffering.
