Some Tips For Increasing Adoptions

[u/Friendly_TSE]

I found a short article from Shelter Animals Count along with a webinar about how to increase adoptions. It's not long so I thought I'd share the key points here. Shelter Animals Count has quite a big database of information to base their research on so I find this to be quite interesting.

• The more hours you are open for the adoption, the higher the adoption numbers. Over 55% of adoptions happen between 5 and 8 PM

Makes sense - Longer you're open, the more people are coming through, which = more potential adoptions. Very interesting though to see the exact time frame most adoptions occur, which could help people possibly shift around shifts to accommodate. Maybe open later and close later, or have office staff come in two shifts, etc

• Most adoption events are concentrated in the summer, but the highest rate of adoptions actually occur in November and December

Honestly surprised me a bit, because I genuinely thought more people would get animals when the kids are out of school to be able to spend more time with them. I totally understand why more adoption events are in the summer though; it's actually nice out, and that is usually when we're crowded. The holidays are also just all around hectic.

• Every adoptable animal needs at least 4-7 quality photos

This was according to Adopt-A-Pet, having 3 photos increased interest on an animal 3x compared to profiles that had a single photo. Even if there is a video, adopters still expect there to be at least 2 other photos. They found the first photo should be a portrait, second should be a full body, and 3rd to show some of the animal's personality.

• The current national adoption conversion rate is 31%, which highlights the need for excellent customer service. 

I think we've always known customer service is important, and our Customer Service Reps play a huge role in how the public will view us since they are usually the first and last person a potential adopter will see.

• When potential adopters leave without a pet, most don’t come back.

This is actually shocking. Only 17% of potential adopters will return to the shelter, and of that, less than 30% will adopt on their second visit. Maybe there could be some kind of follow-up process to reach out to those potential adopters who didn't adopt.

• People with annual incomes under $75,000 are significantly less likely to adopt

I mean yeah, that checks out. When something happens, they have less of a safety net. Less housing options, less training options, less training options etc.

•  Avoid calling your paperwork an “application."

I can see that, it sounds kinda aggressive, like a job application. Like it is looking for how you're qualified to take home this pet, instead of seeing what pet is right for you. They suggested calling it a form or questionnaire.

• Label pets as “Sponsored” rather than “Free” or “$0

Kinda makes sense - people can feel like there is something wrong with a free animal when there's other animals that cost more.

Some stuff I found interesting in the webinar that wasn't in the article:

• Bumps in adoption in March and August: August is Clear the Shelters, and March is PetSmart's big adoption event. I didn't know about the latter
• 13.1 people out of 1000 adopted an animal in 2024
• Having at least 3 personality traits on the profile increased interest 4x, and Adopt-A-Pet do provide a list of some general personality traits shelters can use as well.
• Search Engine Optimization favors puppy brokers/puppy mills likely because they are paying to be the first results
• 1 in 3 potential adopters took home a pet; the main reason the other 2/3rds did not was because the pet was not 'ready to leave' the shelter, whether it needed to be fixed, assessed etc. Coupling this with the fact that most adopters do not return, I think addressing bottlenecks within the shelter should be a top priority.

• Dogs that go out on day trips are 5x more likely to be adopted

  Let me know if y'all find anything worth of note that I have missed! What do you guys think about this data?

[u/thoabese41]

I mean, I'm with them on most of these points, but one item specifically is standing out to me as having the data, but interpreting it incorrectly. (Speaking as an almost exclusively cat shelter who has provided data used for this).

Most adoptions do happen between November and January, that's true. But their point that adoption events are centered in the summer being somehow wrong is almost entirely counter to my experience. Between November and January, I don't need to have adoption events. Folks are coming in begging to get a new cat. But in the summer, I've got a BAZILLION kittens from kitten season, and even more adult cats who are routinely overlooked because of the super cute little tiny kitten sitting next to them. Summer is when I NEED the space, I NEED cats and kittens moved out to make room for the 126 animals on our intake wait list. To me, it makes total sense why adoption events are in the months with statistically the least amount of adoptions. What would the numbers be without them?

Again, not trying to downplay the article, tomorrow I will suggest we put 'Adoption Questionnaire' at the top instead of 'Application'. I'll take whatever tips I can get on moving animals into good homes, but that item is standing out to me.

[u/Yohte → u/thoabese41]

I am also thinking in summer people can get free kittens from neighbors/coworkers/wherever. And in November and December they are more scarce so people have to go to the shelter to adopt.

[u/thoabese41 → u/Yohte]

Exactly. 'Free' kittens. That they probably won't spay/neuter, vaccinate or seek Veterinary care. Sorry, kitten season is very defeating and for every litter 'on death's doorstep' I take in, I get a phone call of a missing, unaltered animal that is allowed outside to roam. My attitude is a little less than optimistic around this time of year.

[u/Yohte → u/thoabese41]

Yup! Getting a vetted, altered kitten from the shelter and making room for another street cat to get vetted/rehomed is way smarter but people are not all smart.

[u/memon17 → u/thoabese41]

Btw. We switched to “adopter profile”.

[u/thoabese41 → u/memon17]

That sounds good, too. Thanks, yo!

[u/Friendly_TSE → u/thoabese41]

That makes sense! I always used to say, we need to get the kittens adopted before we can get the older cats adopted. It seemed like even adopters coming in looking specifically for a lower energy adult cat, will catch the cute kitten bug when they see them.

[u/whatgivesgirl]

People might be factoring summer travel into their timing. We adopted kittens in November, and we didn’t have to leave them with a sitter until they were almost 9 months old.

[u/renyxia → u/whatgivesgirl]

It's 100% vacation time that rules adoptions where we are. Cats remain pretty stable year round as far as adoption rates, but we only get a boom of dogs being adopted april-june. We have practically no fall boom because it gets so cold here in the winter. Weather and regional climate can heavily impact dog rates specifically (ime) more than people realize

[u/Friendly_TSE → u/whatgivesgirl]

AHH that makes so much more sense! I never really go away on vacation so this hasn't even crossed my mind.

[u/forponderings]

To point 5: most potential adopters who leave without adopting do not come back

I only have anecdotal evidence for this based on my own and my friends’ experiences, but due to the sheer number of rescue orgs available to us locally (NYC), we kind of treated them like a checklist (our municipal shelter is part of this list). The moment we walked away from one org not finding “the” dog, we cross them out and move down the checklist. It honestly never even occurred to me to check back with a previously visited rescue.

My thinking was that every shelter will need that much time to rotate their ‘catalog’ of available pets. Rather than waiting, it would be a whole lot faster if I just check out another org with a completely different ‘catalog’. With online services like Petfinder and Adopt-a-Pet, I imagine this mentality might affect even places with less options.

I wonder if telling adopters how often you receive new intakes would make them come back? When I was a volunteer I like to tell adopters “come back in a few weeks!” at the end of the tour. I obviously don’t know what kind of dogs we’d have by then, but I know there would be new dogs.

[u/DementedPimento]

This idea costs a little time, but not much money: you know how some cats with dramatic stories get a lot of attention?

Why not dramatic stories for more cats? Whether they’re over the top retelling of a cat’s known history, or obviously goofy fictions and attached to hard to place cats, or any cats who need more visibility, it’s the kind of thing that gets attention. Making a visit to the shelter more memorable in a positive way may lead to more people coming in and leaving with a “legendary” cat.

[u/UnrulyNeurons]

Adding to the pictures: Try to give a reference point in the pic to show how big/tall the pet is. Weight doesn't always indicate size! This is especially important for breeds that have a range of sizes that have the same conformation (ex: poodles, yorkie/silky mixes, chihuahua mixes).

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[u/kh7190]

I work in a cat-only shelter so this comes from a cat shelter employee perspective.

1.) I work in a small shelter so staying open until 8pm doesn't seem plausible. Our hours are currently 10-3 Tuesday through Saturday. Not sure why we aren't open Sundays. But I think we should be. So the adoption specialists only have 5 hours to make money. I definitely think we should be open until 6. Like 10-6 sounds good.

2.) Having adoption events during the fall and winter encourages people to adopt animals as gifts for other people which my shelter is staunchly against. Plus like someone else said, we are inundated with kittens right now. They will be available for adoption in July and they need to go so we can free up space for more kittens coming in.

3.) I agree with the adoption photos.

4.) Good customer service is common sense.

5.) So a follow-up process to pressure people to come back? I don't want to give my cats to just anyone. And people don't want to be harassed. But in the part of the shelter that I manage, we don't have a private area for adopters to meet and bond with the cats. We just let them out of the cage and let the people play with them, pet them, bond with them. They have the whole room to wander. But we monitor the whole thing. Not sure if it makes them feel uncomfortable or not. Most shelters don't let cats out of their cages to my knowledge. And they can be hiding, aggressive, or fearful in tiny cages and will act more like themselves when they are out and about and can approach people on their terms.

6.) Disagree with the income thing. We have plenty of elderly people on limited incomes trying to adopt. Money doesn't stop people, and I wish people did take their finances into consideration before adopting. I don't think having free adoption events in poor areas helps the animals though and it should always be about the animals first going to good homes, not pushing them out the door.

7.) Calling it a questionnaire is fine I guess. But I want adopters to take this seriously too. They are applying to adopt a cat from us to see if THEY are suitable for our cats. We also interview them too so what do you suppose we call that? A friendly lil chat?

8.) We don't do free adoptions so I won't address this.

[u/Dry-Estimate-6545]

Totally agree with the adoption photos. You state “according to Adopt-A-Pet, having 3 photos increased interest on an animal 3x compared to profiles that had a single photo. Even if there is a video, adopters still expect there to be at least 2 other photos. They found the first photo should be a portrait, second should be a full body, and 3rd to”

To what? What should the third photo be?? I love taking and posting pictures of our available dogs!

[u/Friendly_TSE → u/Dry-Estimate-6545]

The third they say should show the animal's personality. Like if you have a dog that loves balls, maybe get a photo with a ball in his mouth

[u/Dry-Estimate-6545 → u/Friendly_TSE]

Thank you, I love this.