Planned Pethood

1. Planned Pethood Madison Huff

2. Background information • Sophomore student in Management and Economics • Service learning project for Presidential Honors • Passion for animals, prior experience • Planned Pethood, 501-3C organization based out of BG and Toledo area

3. Inspiration • Pet Pals Club in High School • Family influence • Various articles depicting correlation of economy and stray animals

4. research • Various articles relating the number of stray animals to economic conditions • Main focus on field research • Video you may see later summing up the articles

5. Statement of need • Articles depict a legitimate problem • More animals being euthanized as a result • Strays can endanger the community • Spread disease

6. purpose • Act as a consultant in analyzing the organization through field research • Provide the organization with critical feedback • Solutions to potential or existing issues • Ways of implementation • Help the organization • Have fun with the animals

7. Potential learning outcomes • Power structures in non-profits • First hand consulting experience • Connecting economics with real-world issues • Taking an observational role in an organization • Applying business to service

8. Field research • Attended Planned Pethood sponsored Dog and Cat Adoptions • Saturdays and Sundays at local Petsmart locations • Walked dogs • Cleaned cat crates • Referred interested adopters to appropriate personnel

9. Apparent issues • Communication between volunteers • Disorganization at events • Lack of attire to signify volunteers • Absence of guidance to volunteers • Email set up is too vague • Lack of marketing of the animals • Lack of appreciation • Different coordinators each time • Too small of a location

10. Issues, Cont. • No central location • Phone communication is difficult • Timing of events are always the same • Not many responsibilities for volunteers • Improper use of volunteer time • No obvious leadership structure

11. Possible Solutions • Communication between volunteers • This is the fundamental issue; many different components need to be sought out to assist in this issue • Disorganization at events • Obtain a larger area, or be outdoors when possible, volunteer sign in sheets, and a volunteer liaison/ coordinator • Lack of attire to signify volunteers • Nametags, smocks, t-shirts, buttons, etc. • Absence of guidance to volunteers • Online list of responsibilities, name of coordinator • Email set up is too vague • Implement ListProcs and separate email addresses for each position

12. Solutions, Cont. • Lack of marketing of the animals • Facebook “sharing”, similar to “Gently Used Pets” idea • Twitter tweets available for retweets with pictures and description • Local news, Sentinel Tribune & Toledo Blade animal sponsoring • Lack of appreciation • Send out emails of appreciation to volunteers who sign in at adoption/ fundraising events • Different coordinators each time • Establish a more stable “head volunteer” for each event for contacting and reporting, easy to find • Too small of a location • Research other local stores who would allow something like this, and has a larger floor space. Ideally, a central location.

13. Solutions, cont. • No central location • Seek out other location opportunities • Phone communication is difficult • Separate numbers to call, best times to call • Timing of events are always the same • Diversify times and days of adoptions to allow for different “market segments” • Not many responsibilities for volunteers • Provide a list of things volunteers can be doing, along with who to seek out to find tasks • Improper use of volunteer time • By delegating tasks to volunteers, it relives stress and promotes efficiency • No obvious leadership structure • Set name of who I would be reaching

14. Gained knowledge • Insight to an organization can be better assessed when bias is removed, and fresh eyes can shed light on unseen issues • Persistence is key • Look for warning signs early on • Expectations differ greatly • Power structures hold purpose • Communication is the backbone of organizations

15. What I would do differently • Make it clear to many people in the organization of my intentions • Meet face-to-face with a representative and share this information along the way • To have someone give me feedback • Provide Planned Pethood with this information

16. Why should you care? • Strays are correlated with economic measures • Spread diseases • Danger to the community • Can’t help themselves

17. Video • A video about Stray Animals and the Economy • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76d1tZshLzo&feature=player_embedded

18. Literary Sources • http://www.happensingreece.com/stray-animals-phenomenon-explodes-in-greece-of-the-economic-crisis/ • http://smallhold-pioneerpreppy.blogspot.com/2012/02/stray-animals-as-economic-indicator.html • http://reynoldswriting.hubpages.com/hub/Pets-DownEconomy • http://voices.yahoo.com/the-worse-economy-more-stray-8648923.html • http://www.azcentral.com/pets/articles/2009/05/15/20090515gl-nwvdogs0516.html • http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/545100/Officials--Economy-behind-surge-in-stray-dogs-at-shelters.html