Help for Homeless Pets: Marketing a continuous uphill battle for shelters

Despite the growing interest the public might have in an “adopt, not shop” philosophy, challenges remain for animal welfare groups and organizations.

Namely, the organizations face a continuous battle to the get the word out to the public about what purposes they exist to serve and how those missions differ from those of other groups.

“There’s so much confusion over who does what and how it gets done,” said Animal Welfare Association Executive Director Maya Richmond. “It sounds like it should be much simpler than it is, but for some reason it’s not.”

Richmond said the group stopped accepting municipal contracts more than a decade ago, and so it works mainly with transporting animals from other shelters and taking on animals that citizens have to surrender.

However, Richmond said the AWA has no official marketing budget to use to get that information out to the public.

“We try our best to get the word out by being out at community events. We still put up paper fliers, we try to do some press releases and public engagements and we try to connect through people with websites,” Richmond said. “Facebook has been good for us as far as the community getting to know a little more about us. It’s hard to market. People don’t always know.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Eric Arpert, public information officer for Burlington County.

Arpert said the Burlington County Animal Shelter, which has to take all animals surrendered to it, also has to constantly work to ensure the community knows what services the shelter provides. And since the BCAS has to take all animals, it’s especially important to the shelter to guide the community there before they look to purchase a pet elsewhere.

“It’s to get the word out that anybody looking for a pet in Burlington County should adopt and not shop,” Arpert said. “Our effort is to be the first stop for anyone in Burlington County looking to find the right pet.”

Like the AWA, the BCAS also uses the tools of the Internet, such as petfinder.com and the Facebook pages of groups such as the Friends of Burlington County Animal Shelter, to help spread that message and detail upcoming events and programs at the shelter.

According to Camden County Animal Shelter Executive Director Vicki Rowland, the CCAS is in a similar position.

“It’s getting the word out there that we exist and we have animals ready,” she explained. “Every day is different for us as to what we get into the facility — breed, size, age, you name it — it’s just up to the adopters to find the right fit.”

In addition to differentiating themselves so the public knows what group to visit for what services, Richmond said the groups also have to work to get more fundraising monies, often at the expense of other groups.

According to the Giving USA 2015 annual report on philanthropy in America, of the $358.38 billion given to charities in 2014, only $10.5 billion, or 3 percent, went to non-profit organizations that deal with animal welfare.

“You want the water to get better for everyone, but in doing that you’re inadvertently competing for less money,” Richmond said. “You all want to go and improve the welfare, but by doing that you’re also competing indirectly or directly, and there’s still confusion. Do you let the confusion stand or do you start building your brand out?”