In most cases, fosters love to talk about the animal they are caring for. They want to share pictures, updates, what they’re improving on, and quirks / personality traits they have noticed. While rescues and shelters are always happy to hear these kinds of updates, the people who should really be hearing them are potential adopters.
In this article, we’ll go over how to empower your fosters to become a powerful marketing team.
1. Pictures
The best pictures to generate adoption interest are picture where the dog looks happy and well adjusted. An image where an adopter can really imagine the animal in their home. Where else are you going to get these kinds of photos than at the foster home? Encourage your fosters to take pictures in these scenarios:
- A smiling picture outside in grass on a sunny day
- Sleeping in a goofy positing
- Cuddling on the couch
- Playing with a toy
Take it a step further and make it a game! Give fosters a bingo card with options for photo ops and have them fill out the card for a prize. Note: this works best for animals the are generally stable – do not encourage fosters with nervous animals to push their fosters outside of their comfort zone.
2. Social media templates
If you have fosters that are social media savvy, provide them with templates that include your logo. This also saves time for your marketing team to focus on animals in your physical shelter or with fosters that are not confident in using technology in this way.
A great tool to use for these templates is Canva.
3. Bio writing
Bios is the first impression an animal will make on their future adopter. These words can make or break an adoption. The best bios include specific details about the pet and are enthusiastic. Who better to provide this info than the foster!
Provide fosters with a standardized checklist to identify personality traits and behaviors so your team can write a bio that sounds like they know the pet themselves.
4. Sharing in community networks
One of the biggest benefits of having a large foster network is that their friends are now your friends. When they post on social media, your rescue or shelter is reaching people you never would on your own. Encourage fosters to share their foster animals to their networks including community facebook pages. Provide sample templates of posts they can use or encourage them to create something on their own.
When a foster is engaged in the marketing process, they feel closer to the organization and it gives them an opportunity to feel connected to the home the pet ends up in. These creates a positive experience that they will want to continue!
Happy rescuing!
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