Animal Welfare Professionals

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I have recently taken over as president for an organization that has been operating dysfunctionally for quite a long time, trying to do too much and not prioritizing the right things. I'm working on focusing everyone in to accomplish the necessary tasks to get the organization to run effectively. Even with some attitude adjustments, focus, and taking some projects off our plate, the work is just too much for an all-volunteer group. I would love for us to hire an administrative director that the board oversees. This person would answer phone calls and emails, keep data, schedule clinic appointments, and post on social media. We can absolutely afford this, and the ROI for the cats we would help would be tremendous. I know this is something the group has never considered and will be resistant to. Has anyone else been in this situation and successfully convinced the board to bring on hired help?  And did it pay off as you hoped?
#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

Yes we did this. The first person we hired wasn’t successful and felt too overwhelmed by the role. The person that is in the role currently, we narrowed the position to try to make it more successful, but we aren’t seeing the ROI we need.

We are going to try a few more things, but we might end up hiring a few contractors to do small tasks or project based work that focuses on results.

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Michelle Miele
Treasurer
Detroit Community Cat Rescue
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I've been volunteering for a fairly young animal welfare non-profit that recently hired one of their hard working Board Members as their first paid employee. As the only one who drives all over Kingdom Come to pick up sick, hurt and diseased dogs or cats at the drop of a hat, coordinates all medical appointments with local veterinarians, keeps and cares for the immediate emergency dogs and cats in her own rented studio apartment, organizes and works tirelessly at spay & neuter events, communicates and works with volunteer fosters, responds quickly to foster volunteer needs, transports dogs and cats in her temperature controlled E-car, writes grants and does probably any and all other tasks that arise, this paid employee is most likely headed for burn out which concerns me greatly. She did all these things out of her compassionate heart for free before she was given the paid position.  She figured out how to build a cattery on her modest balcony so she could take in more cats. I just hope that once a first employee is hired the other Board Member volunteers don't sit back expecting this much. A grassroots non-profit needs to create strategic goals and sustainable plans that include Board Membership evolution that expands beyond the kind and generous hearted and compassionate folks who sat around a kitchen one day with the idea to create the non-profit. I want them to succeed but, they are in the constant state of treading water with this dedicated employee running around putting out fires (metaphorically speaking of course). If their first paid employee does suffer burn out I worry that will be their end and there is no other safety net for these suffering dogs and cats.

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Our all-volunteer organization was forced to hire some paid people to ensure there was animal care coverage (both dogs and cats), and it has had its ups and downs. When it was initially done, some of the foundation volunteers quit on principle (they are back). Communication is a key factor. Our board did not communicate quickly enough to the volunteers the what's and why's of it. The situation is still a bit fractious as our paid people are doing the same task as our volunteers and this has lead to the paid people giving off an air of superiority and the volunteers who used to be willing to put in extra time and effort are no longer willing to do that - "let the paid person do it" kind of attitude. They tried hiring a "manager" of sorts but he was so overwhelmed with tasks that he burned out. So….my advice is communicate thoroughly, have a written job description available to everyone, have a plan in place so that person doesn't get overwhelmed, and be very careful who you select for the position. BTW - I am not on our Board, still a volunteer and to be honest, our group couldn't afford to pay me for the number of hours I put in doing computer works, phone work, emails, social media, etc.

Our organization is also preparing to hire our first paid employee.  I think one critical step that will help the board and the larger team see the value in this move is to have a clearly defined job description.  I'm working on that right now.  The job description will also set the new employee up for success.  Everyone deserves to know what is expected of them.  Rescue is different every day and we all know things "pop up" non-stop.  The job description should help keep us all focused.  I will be following along on your thread.  Maybe we can help each other.

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Tracy Robinson
President/Founder
Greyhounds in Motion
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