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Tip of the Week: Ring Their Bell (and then some)
May 15, 2024, The Association
How do you celebrate adoptions? Listen to what your colleagues are doing
Inquiring minds in our online member community want to know:
Since adoption is our ultimate goal for every pet, I’d like for us to bring more attention to each one, so I’m looking for examples and inspiration. What does your shelter do to announce adoptions?
Colleagues jumped in with the following responses:
- “At my last shelter we rang a giant cow bell in the lobby whenever a longtimer went home.”
- “We have a bell by the adoption desk and ring it every time there is an adoption. The rest of the staff hears it and claps and cheers. We also post all of the previous week’s adoptions on social media for Tuesday Happy Tails. People look forward to the posts.”
- “Our shelter isn’t big enough to make announcements internally for each adoption, but we take pictures of the new family and post them on our FB page weekly. It’s the most popular post each week, and the adopters and our followers love it. If someone doesn’t want to be in the picture, we just take the photo of the pet with a sign.
Tried any of these? Leave a comment and let us know how your shelter shouts out about adoptions.
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We also have a large bell hanging in the adoption area that we ask adopters to ring. We have a step-and-repeat backdrop with our logo that ask them to stand in front of with their new family member. If it’s a long-timer or staff favorite (we all have them!), we make an announcement over the loudspeaker and invite all staff to come say goodbye. We gather in the lobby and give the animal lots of love, and wish them the best life ever. Everyone in sight of the lobby gets to share in the excitement, and see that the animals are so well loved while in our care.
We have our adoption staff make announcements, for every adoption, over the whole shelter through our phone/intercom system. The customers and the staff love it!
Our organization does a weekly adoption round up on our social media accounts. If a long stay is being adopted, we announce it on the walkies and anyone that wants to say goodbye comes! We also take photos of adopters and their new pets before they leave to go home. I love the idea of a ringing a bell! And would love to get inspiration for families to celebrate their new members before they leave.