Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 16 days ago

    On Wednesday, September 2, 2026 we looked at insightful findings from the 2024 National Dog and Cat Foster Survey. We were joined by @Audris Campbell, Founder and Principal at Research Gurus and @Kelly Duer, Senior Shelter Solutions Specialist at Maddie's Fund.

    For a certificate of attendance, please watch the recording Maddie's University.

    The 2024 National Dog and Cat Foster Survey provides a national look at foster care programs for dogs and cats across the United States. This presentation will share key findings from the survey, including trends in foster care programs and active foster caregivers, as well as findings related to foster onboarding, application processes, and social media engagement. The findings provide insight into factors associated with foster program outcomes and the evolving foster care landscape.

    This webcast is intended for adoptions and foster staff and volunteers, return to home and intake prevention staff, grant writers/fundraisers, marketing and communications staff - but all are welcome!

    Key Takeaways

    • Explore factors associated with stronger foster program outcomes

    • Examine the role of foster onboarding, application processes, and social media in today's foster programs

    This webcast has been approved for CAWA and NACA continuing education credit. All registrants will receive an email a day after the webcast with information on on how to access a certificate of attendance. 

    Also, Maddie's Fund will be awarding up to $10,000 in grants each month! Each time you attend a call or watch the recording on demand during the month, take a moment to complete this monthly grant awards entry form.

    Please note: Views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie's Fund.



    About Our Speakers

    Audris Campbell seated in a white chair


    Audris Campbell
    is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Research Gurus, where she helps mission-driven organizations use research and evaluation to answer important questions and make better decisions. With more than a decade of experience in survey research, program evaluation, and data-driven strategy, she has worked with organizations ranging from nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies, including Google and Gallup. Audris is passionate about turning research into practical insights that improve programs and drive meaningful impact.

    Kelly Duer crouching next to a happy dog on a city walkway


    Kelly Duer 
    is a Senior Shelter Solutions Specialist, Maddie's Fund. Her focus is on helping shelters and rescue organizations increase lifesaving through the implementation of robust foster care programs. Her role includes consulting with shelters, creating and providing training for organizations and their foster coordinators, writing and assisting with research on foster care.

    Kelly previously coordinated a foster program that brought orphaned children to the United States in order to find them permanent adoptive homes, worked as the Foster Expansion Coordinator for a national study of foster care, and assisted with the behavioral foster study that was conducted at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Her work with foster care and social media has been featured in many national publications, websites and networks, including Animal Sheltering magazine, the Huffington Post, Best Friends magazine, BarkPost, iheartdogs.com, HuffPost Live and Fox News.

     


    #EducationandTraining
    #FosterPrograms

    ------------------------------
    Alison Gibson
    Media Projects Manager
    Maddie's Fund
    ------------------------------



  • 2.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 4 days ago

    Audris & Kelly, 

    What a real pleasure to have co-hosted this session filled with great data and insight.

    Thank you both for your input and time!



    ------------------------------
    Jay Garza
    BIPOC in Animal Well-Being Collective
    TX
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 4 days ago
      |   view attached

    Jay, Audris and Kelly,

    Such an excellent webcast with so much great info - we are happy to see that foster caregiving is on the upswing.

    For those of you who missed the presentation, a copy of Audris' slides is attached here and the recording will be posted as soon as it's ready.

    Here are links to additional resources that were mentioned:

    2025 Foster 50 Challenge Winner: Santa Barbara County Animal Services 

    Are short-term foster programs for shelter cats beneficial or problematic? (Blog post)

    Evidence Supporting a Home-Based Approach to Pet Sheltering (Fostering Shelter Pets)

    Foster Plea Survey Report

    Foster Resources Collection on Maddie's University



    ------------------------------
    Alison Gibson
    Media Projects Manager
    Maddie's Fund
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 4.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 3 days ago

    You mentioned that going forward you wanted to tease out how organizational size affected this, and I wondered if you would also look at all-volunteer organizations vs. those with paid staffs?

    Thanks!



    ------------------------------
    April King
    Volunteer and Board Member
    Kotor Kitties
    +1 206 407 5336
    http://www.kotorkitties.org
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 2 days ago

    Great question! Yes, I think that would be an interesting distinction to explore. In addition to examining organizational size, comparing all-volunteer organizations with those that have paid staff could help us better understand whether staffing capacity is related to the patterns we're seeing. Thanks for the suggestion!



    ------------------------------
    Audris Campbell
    Researcher
    The Research Gurus
    GA
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 2 days ago

    Thank you, Jay! I truly enjoyed joining you all this week!



    ------------------------------
    Audris Campbell
    Researcher
    The Research Gurus
    GA
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 2 days ago

    As promised during the webinar, here are the median weekly social media posting frequencies from the 2024 National Foster Survey:

    Physical Shelters (PS)

    • Facebook: 10 posts/week

    • Instagram: 7 posts/week

    Foster-Based Organizations (FBO)

    • Facebook: 7 posts/week

    • Instagram: 5 posts/week

    For posts specifically mentioning foster care:

    PS: Facebook 2 | Instagram 1
    FBO: Facebook 4.5 | Instagram 3

    These are medians, representing the typical posting frequency among respondents.



    ------------------------------
    Audris Campbell
    Researcher
    The Research Gurus
    GA
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Community Conversations - 09/02/2026 - Outcomes and Ideas from the National Foster Survey Results

    Posted 2 days ago

    We (The Sensible Dog Project) are a new, all-volunteer 501(c)(3) created to prevent dogs from being surrendered by helping families through times of hardship. We provide practical support such as pet food assistance, veterinary support, training/behavior resources, and basic supplies to help keep dogs safely at home.

    Do most of you have a designated staff member or volunteer who manages your social media? What are your best hacks for consistently coming up with content, keeping a content calendar, and actually getting posts scheduled?

    I'd also love to hear what tools or systems you use to keep track of everything. We're small and volunteer-run, so I'm looking for something simple and sustainable-not another full-time job! 

    What works for you?



    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Geiger
    President
    The Sensible Dog Project
    AL
    ------------------------------