7 29 23 Meeting Notes with Danielle (Baja Pet Rescue)

• They have a minimum of 2 weeks to get all their vaccinations
• Close the website and put them up for adoption when they’re ready
• Social media posts re “you can no apply for such-and-such dog”
• Instagram, FB Messenger, Email inquire re specific animal
• Usually an older person, need to walk them through
  • Go through, create account, fill out your profile
  • Note re: add as much detail as possible
• Process:
  • People apply through website
  • fill out application/profile
  • choose the dog they want to apply for
    • You can apply for multiple dogs
  • Admin steers people toward different dogs if a particular dog has too many applications
  • Depending on how popular the dog is, I’ll reach out to the adopter
  • If fewer applications, reach out to Adopter first
    • Ask extra q’s to make sure ok to approve
    • Let them know they’re approved
      • Next steps:
        • Finding transport for the dog — flight, drive dog to airport, getting crate, etc
        • Adopter Pays the adoption fee
        • Adopter has to drive to airport
• Baja Foster-based organization, so, number of dogs depends on how many Fosters we have available
  • Can’t take as many dogs like we could in the winter when we had 35 dogs
  • Getting Fosters in the U.S. so fully-vaxxed
  • Adopter pays a higher fee to cover vaxes, etc
    • 75 + transport fee
    • U.S. dogs 00 adoption fee
• Foster-protocols are less strict bc we’re in a very small community (la vitana outside of Cabo)
  • Someone will reach out over fb or instagram and say they want to foster and I go and meet w them
    • Make sure fenced yard
    • Make sure they know what they’re committed to
    • Don’t ask ppl to commit for xyzzy amount of time
• Doesn’t have to be an “application”, but if ppl could express interest in Fostering
  • Application for people in the U.S. to Foster would be really helpful. There are 2 ppl I know personally.
    • Scary to do it this way bc there’s not a lot of backup
• Volunteers/Staff review applications and Adopter Profiles — what are the roles at your org?
  • At the moment, everything is falling on (me)
  • I’m in Canada but got ppl to run the program
  • I still vet all the applications and all the Fosters in the U.S.
  • Having a larger org where ppl can handle all the local Fosters, someone else who handles international Fosters
  • I’ll keep Adoption Coordinator Role
• Interactions with other orgs?
  • I have a few rescues I’ve worked with in the U.S.
    • Don’t have a partnership per se, tho
  • Tend to steer clear of working with other rescues
    • Transferring dog to another org costs fees that can’t get recouped
• Do y’all use a shared email?
  • All emails go to my inbox, and I’m the only one with access
  • If they inquire about a specific dog, I move that convo to iMessage or WhatsApp
  • If it seems sure they’re going to adopt, I do move them to direct comms w the Foster
    • Need to set guidelines around what they can/can’t promise
    • Fostering ppl can take liberties
    • Encouraging comms between them while helping ppl not let their emotions get in the way
• Followups?
  • Check in within first week
  • Check in at end of first month
  • Adopters often share updates voluntarily
  • Sometimes Adopter sending updates to Fosters years past, which helps w Foster retention
• Bulk Chat for Volunteers & Fosters
• Individual chats
  • Share pics, share updates
• Things imp to track:
  • Vet appointments
  • Vaccination records
• Call to Action
• Ability for Fosters to express interest via application is great
• Matchmaking idea is great re breeds
• Add q to form re size
  • people are restrictive on size of dog (esp w puppies, mellow vs rambunctious, but they’re not noticing how big this dog is going to get)
• Track litters?
• Questions
  • Strictness — sounds like more
  • Do you have a “checklist” you use when you are reviewing Applicants?
  • Post-adoption or Post-foster, are there lists of things the person needs to do? (6-month worm checkup, etc)
  • Add social media accounts and preferences to Profile
• Materials going to share:
  • Spreadsheet of all the different volunteer roles