Animal Welfare Professionals

Looking to see how everyone reaches their current foster group.  We use Facebook groups but not everyone is on FB and people don't always see the posts when we are in need of a foster home.  I could do emails but I feel like most people will ignore emails.  I have been looking into a texting program but I am not very tech savvy.   Software we use is Google Docs, Jotform, and Petstablished.  Any ideas are appreciated!

#FosterPrograms

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Michelle Beston
Director
Ho-Bo Care Boxer Rescue
CO
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We've had good luck using Trello to update fosters about available animals, resources, manuals and updates.  

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Amy Burnup
Assistant Administrator of Animal Services and Protection
Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter
Newport News VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-19-2026 08:37 PM
From: Brittany Vanderstine (She/Her)
Subject: How to reach current approved fosters

Hi there! 

We utilize Facebook messenger for our fosters. We send in an animal and their info, and people can say yes or no to their availability to foster. This chat also serves as a resource for everyone. All fosters reach into the chat when they have questions, when they need extra supplies from another local foster, etc. 

We do occasionally run into the same problem of not all fosters having FB / FB Messenger. That is thankfully far and few in between. For those fosters, we just text them individually, as needed. 

- Brittany V, Wild Exotics Director

Wild Exotics Animal Refuge A NJ Non-Profit

wearsaves.org

EIN: 99-197-6023

We use Google Voice! It's a free calling and texting app that's linked to a Gmail account but gives you a separate phone number. We have it set up on all of our computers, and a few staff members also have the app on their phones so they can use the same shelter number to call or text fosters.

We've had a lot of luck with it, especially for on-call hours on nights and weekends. It lets multiple people access the same number without anyone having to give out their personal phone number, which has been really helpful for us.

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Rebecca sheffield
Office Manager
People for Pets MVHS inc.
ID
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Hi Michelle, 

It's not super recent, but in 2022 we did a nationwide foster plea survey to see what everyone is using for this on a large scale- here's a link to the report, where you can see what's being used on a large scale. The survey report concluded that high-volume foster programs are sending more pleas to their foster caregivers, using multiple methods, with more frequency. 

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Kelly Duer
Senior Shelter Solutions Specialist
Maddie's Fund
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Hi Michelle,

The pattern in this thread is the one I kept running into too. The tools are general purpose, so whether a foster sees a plea depends on whether they happen to open the app that day, or check email before end of day, which does not work for bottle babies.

I built Pawsitive Foster for exactly this. Each foster chooses how they want to be reached: push notification, SMS, or email. You send the ask once and it goes out the way each person already prefers. They answer yes or no on the specific animal, so responses land in one place instead of a comment thread or email chain you have to reconcile against a spreadsheet. It works on the web and as a native app, for coordinators and fosters both.

It is free for small rescues: unlimited fosters, unlimited animals, one staff account. Start here: https://www.pawsitivefoster.com/demo

Lissette
Founder, Pawsitive Foster
pawsitivefoster.com

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Lissette Arias
Founder & Foster
Pawsitive Foster
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