Fostering & Adoption

The following foster and adoption resources provide best practices and philosophies for organizations looking to build these programs from scratch or expand upon their current ones. These resources demonstrate proven lifesaving strategies to help you recruit more fosters, increase adoptions, improve customer service, and more. 

Fostering

Adoption

Fostering 
 

VIDEOS, WEBINARS, ONLINE COURSES, & PODCASTS

• Short-Term Fostering Panel, webinar
• Best Friends Town Halls
  • Expanding your walls: Maximize lifesaving with a community-based foster program
  • The kittens are coming! Preparing your foster program ahead of kitten season
• Online Courses
  • Foster Programming, online course
  • Virtual Adoptions & Curbside Pick-ups, online course
• The Best Friends Podcast
  • Unicorn Foster Squad, Best Friends podcast ep. 68
  • Dogs on Deployment's long-term temporary foster program, Best Friends podcast ep. 134
• Saving America's Pets Vlog
  • Foster Fail? More Like Foster-WIN!
  • How to adopt and foster special needs animals

DOWNLOADABLE PDFs, PLAYBOOKS, & SOPs

• Cat Foster Care Manual
• Creating an Online Orientation for Animal Foster Care Volunteers
• Dog Foster Care Manual
• Foster Programs Playbook
• Kitten Foster Manual
• What to do if a Foster Pet Becomes Lost

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & INFORMATION

• Foster Win Campaign
• Program Spotlights
  • Best Friends experts share more tips on preparing for kitten season
  • Getting the Message Out: How to Overcome Adoption and Foster Challenges in your Community
  • How to Keep New Fosters Engaged Post-Pandemic
  • Tricks of the trade- Best Friends cat expert shares neonatal care tips for foster

Adoption 
 

VIDEOS, WEBINARS, ONLINE COURSES, & PODCASTS

• How to adopt and foster special needs animals, Saving America's Pets vlog ep. 29
• Successfully Marketing and Adopting Hard-to-Place Pets, Best Friends Town Hall
• Online Courses
  • Client Services and Barrier-free Adoption
  • Virtual Adoptions & Curbside Pick-ups
• The Best Friends Podcast
  • "I just trust people" (reduced-fee/adoption promotions)
  • If "nobody's perfect," then Why Do We Expect All Pet Adopters to Be?
  • If "nobody's perfect," then why do we expect all pet adopters to be? (rebroadcast)
  • Consumer Adoption Survey
  • Increasing Adoptions with Effective Marketing
  • One Million Cats and Counting
  • Saving Senior Pets with Vintage Pet Rescue
  • Saving Senior Pets with The Grey Muzzle Organization
  • Telling Great Stories to Save Lives,

DOWNLOADABLE PDFs, PLAYBOOKS, & SOPs

• Adoption Barrier Study
• Adoption Playbook
• Finding Families for Furry Friends
• Reduced Fee Adoptions - Why They work
• Tips on Photographing Animals with Special Needs
• Tips on Photographing Dark-Colored Animals
• Tips on Shooting Videos of Adoptable Animals

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & INFORMATION

• Consumer Adoption Survey
• Marketing and Adoption Toolkits
• Pet Adoption: Barriers and Solutions
• Pet adoption policies: More red carpets, fewer roadblocks, empty animal shelters, Best Friends blog
• Pet Profiles: How to Write Animal Bios to Get Your Adoptables Into Homes
• Editorials
  • Survey sheds light on factors impacting pet acquisition
  • The paradox of adopting out unaltered animals
  • You Asked the Potential Adopter What?
• Program Spotlights
  • A roundup of resources advocating for fee-waived or reduced-cost adoptions
  • Best Friends National Adoption Weekend – Take Two!
  • Municipal shelters share strategies for increased adoptions in 2022
  • Best Friends, network partners team up to deliver most successful adoption weekend yet
  • Experts weigh in on how to plan for the best adoption event ever
  • Getting the Message Out: How to Overcome Adoption and Foster Challenges in your Community
  • Making the leap: How to feel more at ease with reduced-price or fee-waived adoptions 
  • Participants in July’s National Adoption Weekend share some of their happiest tales