Maddie's Community Conversation on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 11am PT/2pm ET was with @Katie Jordan and @Samantha Alspaugh, both with Tree House Humane Society. Their presentation focuses on how Tree House uses RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) models and Canto's digital asset management system (DAM) to strengthen collaboration, improve efficiency, and support marketing and promotional efforts. Attendees will learn how clearly defined roles and responsibilities, combined with a centralized library of photos, videos, graphics, and other digital assets can streamline workflows and reduce duplication of efforts.
For a certificate of attendance for continuing education credit, please please watch the recording on Maddie's University.
The presentation also highlights how Canto supports marketing and promotions by helping teams quickly find, organize, and distribute on-brand assets for campaigns, social media, events, fundraising, and community outreach. Through practical examples and lessons learned, attendees will gain strategies for connecting people, processes, and technology to create more efficient and effective shelter operations and communications.
Take-aways
• Create clarity and accountability: Use RACI models to define roles, streamline decision-making, and improve collaboration across shelter teams.
• Work smarter with centralized assets: Leverage Canto to organize and easily access photos, videos, graphics, and other digital content, reducing duplication and saving staff time.
• Strengthen marketing and outreach: Equip fosters to create and share photos and videos of their cats through Canto, helping provide the content needed to promote cats for adoption.
This session is ideal for Adoptions and foster staff and volunteers, Behavior staff and volunteers, Grant writers/fundraisers, Marketing and communications staff and anyone who wants to learn more.
It 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.
Please note: Views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie's Fund.
Don't forget! 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.
About the Speakers
Sam Alspaugh is the Intake and Foster Program Manager at Tree House Humane Society, where she oversees intake operations, capacity management, and the organization’s Foster Program. Since stepping into manage the Foster Program in 2023, Sam has focused not just on coordinating placements, but on supporting and engaging foster volunteers, strengthening the vital connection between foster families and the organization.
Tree House is also a familiar home for Sam, as this is her second chapter with the organization. More than a decade ago, she worked at both Tree House’s original location and its current home in West Ridge, primarily supporting the adoption, transfer, and foster programs. Sam’s broader career spans animal welfare and nonprofit work, with experience in program coordination, client relations, event logistics, project management, and data analysis. She holds both a B.A. and B.S. from Loyola University Chicago and, - after growing up in east central Indiana - has happily made Chicago home, where she currently lives with her three cats.
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Alison Gibson
Media Projects Manager
Maddie’s Fund
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