Many shelters and animal rescue groups would love to expand their rescue based by including foster families in their programs. It’s a great program to bring those animals who need more attention into a loving home to receive special care or to learn household manners. It makes the animals more adoptable to have lived in a family situation similar to what they’ll have when adopted. The only problem for most groups is finding foster homes for the program. One segment of your population could be the key!

If you’re looking for fosters, have you thought about calling past adopters? These are the people who know about your group, have experienced the good work you do, have already been approved as an adoptive home by your group, and they feel a connection to your animals. A popular notion in sales is that it’s easier to retain a customer than it is to create a new one. Reach out to your past adopters and ask them for assistance. This will take just 10 minutes a night to call one person, which is something you can make time for at night. The best times to catch people are between 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm, but don’t call after 9:00pm. If you have time earlier in the day to review a few volunteer notes, then you’ll have a good idea as to who you’ll be talking to that night. Aim for contacting 4 or 5 past adopters (or past volunteers) a night. You can split this up with a few other volunteers, so no one person is left calling dozens of people.

Stuck on what to say? Try this…

“Hi, Tracy, this is Shannon from SuperRescue in OurTown. Do you have a minute to talk?….. Great. I wanted to call to let you know that SuperRescue is expanding our foster parent program, and I thought your family would be interested in helping foster one of our young dogs. We have a sweet 1 year old terrier named Honey who has the same playful personality as Trooper, who you adopted from us. Do you think Trooper would like to have a playmate for a few weeks while we get Honey ready for adoption?”

“Ummm.. maybe. What do we have to do?” Tracy replies.

(Keep in mind that a ‘maybe’ answer is a yes, but they need more enthusiasm. A ‘no’ answer is really an answer of ‘I don’t know enough yet.’)

You say, “You’ll be helping SuperRescue by providing a home and lots of love for Honey, and getting her used to a home environment. She will be so much more adoptable if she is able to live in a happy home instead of a shelter run. Super Rescue will provide all the medical care, including her shots, heartworm preventative medicines and her spay. We can also provide one bag of dog food a month, depending on our donations. Our foster parents will bring the dog back to the shelter for adoption interviews, or to Petsmart on Saturdays. If you’re not able to make it on Saturday, we can pick her up. Do you think you have room in your hearts and home for Honey?”

If your potential foster is sold, then great. If not….

Tracy asks, “How long would she be with us? What’s the usual amount of time for a foster dog?”

You can answer, “Typically, foster dogs spend anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months in a foster home while SuperRescue spends time finding the best family for Honey.”

Hopefully, you’ll be comfortable in your conversation by this point, and will be able to speak from the heart about something you truly believe in. I was a foster parent for 2 years for heartworm positive dogs while they went through their treatment, and it is very rewarding! Many times, the people you meet at Petsmart/ Petco adoption days are only there to buy food and toys for their current animals, and aren’t interested in adopting. BUT- fostering may be a great option for them to help an animal without making a lifelong commitment to it!

The same thing can be done for other volunteer jobs. Again, you need to contact people directly to ask them which of these two volunteer jobs would be best for them. “Mary, SuperRescue is having our annual Chocolate Tasting in February, and we need help manning the event. Would you prefer working the ticket booth that night, or working in the kitchen prep area?…. Great! Would you prefer the 6pm to 7pm shift, or 7pm to 8pm? … Great! Thanks so much for your help! I’ll call you up the week before the event to give you more details.” It may sound uncomfortable for you to call people, but then again, so is the thought of euthanasia, which is always a strong motivator for animal rescue people! Step out of your comfort zone and make things happen for your animals. They are counting on you to make a few phone calls. Use the scripts to make it easier!