M. Saucedo - I understand about paying for all foster costs yourself! Back when I fostered for my municipal shelter, I had to pay for food and litter but eventually for all medical bills. I believe this is one major reason the shelter can't keep fosters.
My group CART only does transport - we pull cats from local rescues and shelters. But my local partners are having the same trouble, so we created a Foster Cat Sponsorship program.
We recruit foster-based rescues in states with greater demand for than supply of adoptable cats, especially in the 'off' season; many times these rescues have foster home capacity but struggle with the costs associated with vetting cats in geographical areas identified as 'vet deserts'. In Arkansas, we are overwhelmed with our supply of cats, and due to low adoption rates, our local partners can not save cats due to limited foster home capacity. Some of our partners can afford to fully vet their cats but can't move them - they are drowning in wonderful, adoptable cats! CART's program pays a $100 sponsorship per cat to participating partners; ownership of the sponsored cats is transferred to that partner. We do not charge pull fees and we do not ask to share in adoption fees. The cats are fully vetted upon arrival. These cats fall into two categories:
- They do not show well in pet stores or can be shy with new people - but thrive in a foster home environment. We want them to stay in that environment for adoption meet-and-greets.
- Occasionally we have cats that need more socialization than local rescues have available fosters. These are not feral cats but they need personal attention to convert them into family pets that feel safe in a home environment. For these situations, we will consider the extension of the sponsorship past an initial 3 month period.
So our sponsorship funding helps our receiving partners cover foster home costs. Our program has just started but we have 2 partners in Minnesota at this point.
This isn't a foster incentive plan but it still helps the fosters when the rescues are short of cash.
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June Thomas
President
Central Arkansas Rescue Transport
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-23-2023 07:46 AM
From: M Saucedo
Subject: Who has a foster incentive program?
I've fostered for several organizations and honestly, I haven't been interested in foster incentives at all. I do it because it's fun and I want to help! The biggest incentive for me is when the organization provides all the supplies I need so I don't have to pay anything out of pocket. I switched from fostering with one group to another for that exact reason. The first group did occasionally have foster incentive events, but it didn't make up for the fact that they expected fosters to pay for all food and treats ourselves. I switched to a group with no incentives or rewards that paid for everything I might need!
You could use that as advertising too. All the fun of having a pet without any of the costs!
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M Saucedo
GIS Analyst
Pets for Life
Original Message:
Sent: 01-18-2023 06:14 PM
From: Christy Fischer
Subject: Who has a foster incentive program?
Hello all! What sort of foster incentive programs does everyone have? We have somewhat of a limited budget but foster appreciation events are not being attended as well as we'd like. Everyone's schedules are just too crazy! Does anyone have any sort of tier program where fosters "earn" items like merch, gift cards, etc depending on how many fosters they take on or how long they are an active foster? Thanks!
#FosterPrograms
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Christy Fischer
Shelter or rescue director
Wichita Animal Action League
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