Animal Welfare Professionals

Looking to make an informed decision about starting one. Also, does anyone have any resources for this they could pass on?

I am interested in folks' reply on this one - this idea has been met with resistance in my Org. 

We have a volunteer group where we post events that we ask for volunteer help, store some files that volunteers can download if they need them (home visit forms, home visit guidelines, printable application if they need one, tips for taking good foster dog pics, tips on writing a good pet profile, etc. We also share updates to this group as well. We do have a google group where we share a LOT of info on various things but not all volunteers want to be on that because of all the emails.

We have another group that we started this year that is for adopters to join so that they can post any issues they may have with their new dog and others can post what has helped them. They can share updates (photos/write ups). Our program is a little unique because we have a prison dog program where every 10 weeks a group of 14 dogs enter prison to be trained every by 2 inmates. In prison, the dogs are with their handlers 24/7 so some of the dogs show signs of seperation anxiety when they come out and it helps for adopters to share tips that have worked for them as they get use to a new routine were the family isn't there 24/7. We print out the updates that adopters share and bring them into the handlers because they LIVE for updates on dogs they trained.

Are you starting one as a rescue/shelter or as a foster/volunteer?

We had a volunteer/staff/foster Facebook group that was moderated by staff but we actually just archived it and created a volunteer group here. There are definitely pros and cons to both but I think this is a better option than Facebook. We had posting guidelines and would remove inappropriate posts/comments and would shut down threads if needed. I feel like Facebook can be a really useful tool, but there needs to be very clear expectations for what the page is used for from the very beginning and staff needs to be able to moderate the group to make sure people are following those expectations.

Facebook was a very useful tool for sharing pictures and videos of animals that were up for adoption and for conversations about what volunteer needs we had. Volunteers really found it useful because they would get pretty quick answers from staff or other volunteers and it was a really quick way for us to push out updates that didn't warrant an email through Volgistics. However, we had 3 major issues. Our group was very large (700+ members), which may have contributed to some of these issues.

1. As a municipal shelter, stuff in that group could be considered public record since staff was in there talking about work related things. Facebook, as a platform, isn't great for what we needed for records retention.

2. There was a lot of negativity within the group, which was hard on staff and new volunteers. I think it is partially that when a group is on Facebook, you utilize it like you do the rest of Facebook, which meant that sometimes people would comment or speak in ways they probably wouldn't in person or even on another platform. We tried moderating things and steering the conversations in positive ways, but responses on Facebook tend to be much more impulsive than they are on other platforms. Things sometimes to spiraled quickly and it could be difficult to moderate.

3. The reason that volunteers found the Facebook to be such an efficient method of communication was because it was very difficult for staff to separate themselves from the group. Posts would pop up on our timelines and volunteers would tag us in posts in the group. Sometimes it was beneficial, sometimes it could be overwhelming. It did make it very difficult to truly get time away from work; on your days off and after hours, logging into your Facebook for personal use could pull you back into work issues. Some staff did make work accounts but most ended up not checking those accounts very often, which rendered them pointless.

I do like using Maddie's for the volunteer group but it has been very slow to get started. A lot of our volunteers aren't terribly tech savvy and the forum isn't great for mobile use (which is what a lot of volunteers prefer). It is more difficult to share updates about the pets and marketing posts, but we have alternative, non-moderated groups on FB that people can post those in. It is really nice to be able to easily encourage volunteers to check out other parts of the forum for additional information they may need and it is good that we can just avoid the forum when we're off if we feel like we need to take a breather.

This is super helpful and an option I hadn't even realized existed! Thank you!!

Hi Jane! Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or need some guidance on creating a group here on Maddie's Pet Forum for volunteers. I'm happy to help show you the ropes! 

our rescue  set up a volunteer/foster group 3 months ago and it has been great.  ours started out as a small rescue a few years ago but it  has been growing till we now have about 90 volunteers and communication was rather hit or miss except for the occasional e mails with does or don'ts.   With this group coordinator can post when we need to fill volunteer slots.  Volunteers can share information on cats personalities,   if they seem to be off there food,  if certain cats don't get along etc.  They post cute pictures of cats   in shelter, foster care or their own.. as well as an occasional cat joke.  We get to know each other better as well as the cats and can can provide better care and better help find them the perfect family. Group is administered by volunteer director and another volunteer.  It has been a hit with everyone

by the way I notice some of the responses were from groups with staff as well as volunteers.  Ours is an all volunteer rescue.  We haven't had any negative posts,  perhaps because we all want to be there for the animals so we want to work together.  Perhaps because we may have to face each other in the supermarket.

We have a Facebook group for our foster parents. It is moderated by our foster coordinator and I also am on the group. We have had to close comments on two topics, and delete one for being inappropriate and that is all in our first year. Mostly, it has been very valuable for our foster parents. Our seasoned folks are very good about offering advice, making sure people are referencing the rules that are in place, and are saying things like, "I would ask the foster coordinator" when they think it should be elevated. We have a social media policy everyone has to follow, and we also have a workplace agreement for staff and volunteers that everyone follows as well. I was hesitant at first, but now I think it is definitely worth trying.

So helpful-- thank you!