RescueGroups.org

We're always looking for ways to make adding and managing your pets easier.  Often, writing a description for new pets can be time consuming and mentally taxing (especially when you haven't met them).

We are looking into creating an automatic animal description builder.  We envision the feature being able to automatically use fields that you have completed for the animal (name, breed, age, sex, color, compatibility and qualities, etc) to build a description.  You'd simply click a button, and the animal's description would be written for you using information you have already entered.

We'd love to get your feedback on how we could make this new feature work for you and your staff!  How do you currently write your descriptions, and how could your RescueGroups.org service make your life easier?

Thank you for your time.  You can contact us using the following link:  Contact Us.

We're wrapping up a large set of updates and changes for our next release of our Management website.  We will be updating the Management website on Monday morning (7/12) between 8-10 AM.  There may be brief times when the website is unavailable.

Below is a list of the updates that have been included in this release.  Many of the improvements and ideas were submitted by our users, and we greatly appreciate your feedback!

Included updates to the Management service:

• Added contacts alphabet links
• Contacts search popup is available for all contacts dropdowns
• Added a background color for non-available animals
• Animal add/edit now has months/days/years birthdate calculator
• Animal dropdown fixed so correct information is shown
• Animal journal template can be added at one time
• Up to 20 animal journal entries can now be added at the same time
• Animal species can be disabled on Animals Options page
• An animal can now be cloned from the view, add or edit pages
• Animal picture crop error with IE8 fixed
• Random animal name fixed
• Completed Forms renamed to Submitted Forms for clarity
• Form PDF button is fixed
• Submit a Form for a Contact is now working
• Reworked the datatable views/filters.  Add/edit views and filters are now popovers.  Filters are now editable.
• Added the current view to the top of the datatable for clarity
• Added a help icon to all datatables
• Added dividers and sorting for menu usability
• Resolved issues with Voice Mail pages
• Added event copy action
• Event attendance can now be added for all animals for just one event (instead of all events at the same time)
• Custom reports can now be unshared, shared and deleted
• Resolved issue with Custom Animal Report fields
• Added a link on the sidebar to the Grant Application
• Added an Export to CSV option for all datatables (read more here)

Please contact us if you have any questions concerning the updates.  And, as always, please let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can improve any of our services.

We're always working on new features and services to help the animal welfare community. One feature we've considered adding for a long time would help organizations coordinate animal transportation across the country. Keeping track of all of the legs in a transport, contact information, schedules, etc is a very complex and daunting task, and we'd like to make it easier for everyone involved.

If you have been involved in transports and have ideas or suggestions on how to make them easier to manage, please contact us! How can we make the process easier? What tools do you need to communicate more effectively? We'd love to hear from you.

Our friends at DogTime are working with Arm & Hammer to giveaway 1,000 free cat tags to adopters of new cats this month. They know that a collar and tag is one of the best ways to help a lost cat find its way back to its happy home, so they are sending out 50 vouchers for a free cat tag to 20 shelters that use the Save a Cat Facebook application. These vouchers can be given to new adopters so they can order their free custom engraved tag.

To request your vouchers send an email to freecattags@dogtime.com. Make sure to include the name of your organization, the address where you would like the vouchers shipped, and a couple sentences on why you think it is important to tag a cat and how valuable you think this program will be to new adopters.

Supplies are limited, so don't delay!

We recently came across the following article online regarding DogTime and their online ranking in the Pets category... and we thought we'd share it with you.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/audience-of-295-million-makes-dogtime-media-1-in-pets-92177439.html

DogTime continues to grow their network of pet enthusiasts and potential adopters at an astounding rate.  The best part is, they are giving back to the rescue and shelter community like no one else.  Their grants and service donations are supporting the volunteers, staff and animals that need it most.

We're excited to be partnered with DogTime and we thank them for their support of RescueGroups.org and the animal welfare community!

The following post was written by Vickie Holt and provided to RescueGroups.org to help animal welfare organizations improve their adoptable animal photographs.

iPhone has recently aired a new commercial in which a fictional family uses their phone to search for a new dog online.    The dog, Bailey, was found amongst hundreds of photos from dozens of shelters and lived happily ever after with her new forever family.   This commercial illustrates the rapidly growing and widespread practice in this country of searching online first, and only going to a shelter after a picture is found that captures the searcher’s heart.  Unfortunately, as Bailey’s photo in the commercial demonstrates, the nation’s shelters have not kept up with the times.

If a shelter animal’s future happiness – and indeed, its life – depends on a single picture standing out amongst the hundreds a searcher might scan while online, then that photo has got to really shine and show the animal in the clearest and best manner possible.  Unfortunately, the photographs found on most adoption websites fail in this respect.  They show animals in cages, from above, with reflecting eyes and in dismal surroundings.  How many animals have been passed over and euthanized when a better online photo may have united them with a loving home?

Most shelters are non-profit and operate on a shoestring budget, and so most would not have the resources to hire a professional photographer.  Most photos are taken by shelter staff with no photography training and no real time to devote to taking photo after photo to get a good one.  Many shelters have not yet recognized just how important good photography is becoming, and so not much effort is made to improve.  Everyone may find, however, that going forward, good photography is going to play an essential and indispensible role in any shelter or rescue organization’s efforts to find homes for their adoptable animals.  Online shopping isn’t the future…it’s right now, and pets are no exception.

My name is Vickie Holt, and I have had absolutely no photography training, yet I started taking photos for the Angels of Assisi adoption website in 2007.  Since that time, the shelter’s adoption rates have skyrocketed, allowing them to not only adopt out their own animals, but to rescue and adopt out animals from other shelters in the eleventh hour before euthanasia, or worse.   They have been able to save more lives than ever before.  We have learned that Southwest Virginia keeps a close eye on the Angels of Assisi website, because applications pour in when new photos are added – depending on the animal, of course.  There have even been comments from many in the public community stating that they view the site weekly, just to see the photos.

With a modest camera and a few common and inexpensive tools, I have managed to create photos like these for almost every animal to come through Angels of Assisi in the last three years.  I operate during the shelter’s normal business hours, amongst staff and visitors without getting in anyone’s way and without being interrupted, myself.  Most photos are achieved within a matter of minutes with only moderate effort.  I have learned a lot by trial and error, and have achieved better and better results through innovation, and now I’d like to share my experience and innovation with shelters across the nation.  It’s my hope that, after learning a few methods and techniques, the staff in other shelters might also create pictures like these for their own websites so that even more little lives can be saved.  Any shelter staff or volunteer can learn the tricks and techniques for easily taking pictures like the ones shown here.  All these were taken inside the shelter, with little effort, and with easily obtained materials.

The first thing to consider when using photography as an adoption tool, of course, is the camera.  Rule of thumb: if it fits in your pocket, don’t use it!  It doesn’t have the features necessary to take these kinds of photographs.  If the budget allows, go ahead and buy a SLR, but it is by no means necessary.  There are many fixed-lens cameras on the market that mimic SLRs, but do not have interchangeable lenses.  What they do have, however, are all the features necessary to take photos of all the different varieties and sizes of animal to be found in a shelter.  Cameras such as the Canon PowerShot, Nikon Coolpix, Kodak EasyShare and the Sony Cybershot are all recommended.  They can be found online, on Ebay or in your local department store for between $100 and $500.  The investment may sound heavy, but when you think of the notoriety it can bring your shelter, and how many animals could be saved, it’s a meager sacrifice.  You’ll also want to get a couple common shop lights, some white fleece from your local fabric store, a 100 gallon or more storage tub and a donated baby’s playpen.  With these basic materials, anyone in any shelter can take photos that will have them lining up outside your door to adopt your animals.

It’s fairly easy to learn about the features on the camera, why they are used and how and when to use them during shelter photography.  You can also learn handling tips for almost every kind of personality of cat, kitten, dog and puppy and what to do each time in order to get the great poses and expressions.    These techniques, together with a little knowledge about lighting, setting and color, can help you to take great adoption photos using the interior and exterior of your shelter facility.

Here’s an example:

This is Lady.  She’s a min-pin I just photographed on April 25, 2010.  She’s a small breed, so I used a little innovation I developed for photographing puppies and small breed dogs.  I keep an old, donated baby’s playpen on hand.  It has to be sturdy in order to withstand the weight and antics of small dogs.  It’s best to find one with a metal frame and wooden bottom that folds away for storage.  I set up the playpen and draped a solid color length of fleece from front to back, covering the bottom.  On the front of the playpen, I clamped three shop lights, each with a 100 watt GE Energy Smart Daylight bulb.  It must be the “daylight” bulb, which creates natural sunlight.  Any other kind of bulb will cast a yellowish light that will ruin the photo.

Once the “studio” is set up, I simply placed Lady in the playpen and encouraged her to lie still and look at me.  I did this by barking harshly at her to convey who was in command, then spoke in sweet tones and nudged her gently into a position lying down.  I then continued to whine at her like a puppy to keep her attention on me while I took the shot (on macro setting) from the rim of the playpen.  Taking the shot from the rim is important because it allows for a more face-on view of the dog, rather than a shot from above of an upturned nose.  The whole thing, from setting up the studio, to finished shot, was about ten minutes.  When compared to the picture of Bailey from the iPhone commercial – or indeed, to any of the shelter photos that can be seen during that commercial – it’s plain to see how Lady’s picture would easily stand out.  A photo that stands out gets noticed, and a noticed shelter animal gets adopted.

The explanation of Lady’s photo is only an abbreviated slice of the methods I have learned and developed in my time at Angels of Assisi, and anyone else can learn to do the same for cats, kittens, small and large breed dogs, as well as that most challenging of all photography models…puppies.

Please join me in taking the next step in a revolution that will help animal shelters and rescue organizations maximize their efforts and save the lives of thousands of animals per year.  The internet is the canvas.  It’s up to us to paint the pictures that will change lives across the nation.

Please contact Vickie at vickieholt@cox.net for more information about learning to take great adoption photos in your own shelter.

See more of Vickie’s great animal photography in her galleries on Facebook.

* The opinions expressed in the blog post above are the views of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of RescueGroups.org.

Service Grants Available Thanks to DogTime

Thanks to donations made by DogTime, including donations from the Save a Dog and Save a Cat Facebook applications, we have a significant number of grants available for new and renewing users for our Data Management, Website, Domain Name and Email services. Each grant covers one year of service.

To apply for the grant, login to the Manage website and go to Admin > Grant Application. To access the Manage website, please go to the following URL and enter your RescueGroups.org user name and password:

https://manage.rescuegroups.org

(If you are unfamiliar with our new Manage website, you can read more about it in this blog post. If you need help, please open a support ticket.)

For existing Partners, apply prior to your services' invoice date in order to have sufficient time for approval before your services renew.

If you are interested in upgrading or adding services, please open a support ticket. You do not need to sign-up again if you are upgrading or adding services to your existing RescueGroups.org account.

New Animal Fields Available

We're excited about adding several new fields to our animal database. The fields are specifically designed to help describe your adoptable pets so that potential adopters can more easily find compatible pets to adopt.

Here are a few examples of the fields we've added:

Shedding Amount
Grooming Needs
Exercise Needs
Requires Home with Fence
Obedience Training
Likes to Vocalize

We've also added dozens of fields we've called "Qualities." Each quality is just a box you can click for each animal to select that quality. Some of the qualities are: Leash trained, crate trained, likes toys, affectionate, goofy, likes to swim, good in a car, etc.

(One field that changed is the Friendly field, which became Reaction to New People. There are several qualities that now reflect the pet's friendliness.)

These new fields and qualities are only available through our Manage website. The new Manage website is available to all of our users.

We're planning to add features to our services that utilize those new fields. Also, those fields will soon be available on Spotapup.com and other websites, as well as the Toolkit and Website services.

I recently came across a financial awards program promising tens of thousands of dollars of cash for animal welfare organizations with good "customer service."  Sounds great, right?

We probably all agree that customer service is critical to successfully engaging the community, and encouraging them to donate, volunteer, foster and adopt.  There's no bigger turn-off when dealing with any organization than to not receive a response to your email or telephone inquiries.

I'm sure everyone that is active in the volunteer animal welfare community also agrees that customer service is very difficult to maintain under the stresses of life -- balancing a full-time job, family responsibilities and then keeping the rescue running in your spare time.

Somewhere in the process of defining good customer service, the coordinators of the give-away I mentioned decided that you'd have to answer the phone when it rings to be recognized as having an acceptable level of customer service.  That criteria might work fine for organizations with a physical shelter and dedicated staff, but did you know that the animal welfare community is mostly made up of home-based foster organizations?

So how can you maintain good customer service even though, realistically, you can't answer the phone when it rings?

The RescueGroups.org Voice Mail service can help you manage those voice mail messages by alerting you via email or page, and even delivering the voice mail recording directly to your email inbox or cell phone.  You can have multiple volunteers responding to messages in nine different mailboxes -- the messages can go straight to the responsible volunteer -- now there's good customer service!

So, ultimately, you shouldn't have to be a super-star organization with a physical location and dedicated staff to answer the phones in order to have stellar customer service.  You only have to find the right tools, and the right partners!  We hope you decide to partner with us.

- Richard

New Adoption Listing Website Coming Soon

We're excited to announce that within the next few weeks, an additional adoption listing website will be using the adoptable pet data from RescueGroups.org!

Spot-A-Pup (currently under construction) is an adoptable dog search website that provides unique search capabilities for potential adopters. Spot-A-Pup will use many of the advanced capabilities of the RescueGroups.org Platform, including pet specific contact and location information, and dozens of new fields that we will be adding in the next couple weeks.

Prior to the launch of the Spot-A-Pup website we will provide an opt-out option through our Manage website. You can enable and disable your exports at any time simply by going to Animals > Exports. If you need help, please open a support ticket.

RescueGroups.org API Mailing List

If you're an application developer you'll want to keep up-to-date with the latest improvements and enhancements to the RescueGroups.org API. The API allows web and application developers to interface with the RescueGroups.org Platform.

Currently, the REST API allows adoption listing websites to retrieve adoptable pet data from us. Soon we will be providing additional API capabilities through a new API. If you are interested in receiving updates from us concerning our APIs, please contact us and we'll add you to our API Users mailing list. We only send a couple messages a month at most, but it will ensure you have the latest information regarding the APIs and how you can provide services and functionality based on our Platform.

Reminder Concerning eBay and other Classifieds Websites

We've received a lot of complaints from our Partner organizations concerning their adoptable pets showing up unexpectedly on the eBay classifieds website.

RescueGroups.org is not responsible for pets appearing on classifieds websites, however we can point you in the right direction if you'd like to learn more or cancel the upload to classifieds websites. If you need help, please contact us.