Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Our team sought ways we could provide the Camp Cavy Guinea Pig Rescue with recommendations that will enhance the Rescue’s performance and help these guinea pigs find a good home.

There are many guinea pigs that end up in rescue for various reasons. That means that the rescues need to be prepared for future pigs as well as taking care of current ones. Since the rescue is a nonprofit, it is supported by Angela and any additional donations she receives. Social exposure and building networks can assist the rescue by getting these donations. This means posting on social media, creating events that invite community members to see the guinea pigs, and spreading awareness about the rescue. The community members can offer further resources whether it is collaborating with the rescue, donating money, or volunteering their time. The following explains what we found and why it is beneficial for the rescue.

RECOMMENDATION 1. Participate in social networking

Understanding what social networking is

According to Susan Ward in her What Is Business Networking & What Are the Benefits the definition of networking is:

“Business networking is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and/or customers. The primary purpose of business networking is to tell others about your business and hopefully turn them into customers.”

In order to do so, you need to have a common mindset that you have something that someone else wants, while the other person has something you want. An example would be you connecting with a pet supply company to have a promo code the other people would use to get certain discounts on certain pet supplies. This can be extremely beneficial because some of the profit would go back to your organization and then the pet supplies company would receive more customers.

It is also important to realize that you can effectively network using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Social media is huge and the best way to connect and the network is through sites that everyone is familiar with. Although face to face networking is still the most effective way using social media can allow you to communicate with others without replacing the old fashion face-to-face. According to our research the most popular social media to advocate for a rescue is Facebook, along with 20% using Instagram and Twitter. As shown below, in Chart 1, for many other rescues in a similar situation to you, using Facebook provides the best outcomes and allows the director to efficiently network to possible clients and other organizations.

Chart 1. Types of social media used by non-profits

The benefits of social networking

Social networking upon itself is very beneficial to an organization. To socially network you need to make strong connections with other businesses, that could potentially help lift some of the load off your shoulders to evenly distribute the workload if possible. According to the What Is Business Networking & What Are the Benefits article by Susan Ward the benefits of social networking are as follows:

New contacts and referrals
Visibility
Staying current
Problem-solving
Sharing knowledge and experience
Confidence and morale

According to Susan Ward social networking could allow you to connect with other small nonprofit organizations with animals to potentially connect together and have one huge adoption party. Being in a field that is so small it’s not common to have multiple guinea pig rescues within the same state so you the client needs to be able to reach out to other organizations to make such strong connections. Knowing how to socially network your business to other organizations and on social media can benefit you that way you know how to properly look for the most reliable friends in your business.

Finding common interests

Knowing how to create a social network is very important because you are not going to want to showcase your organization to somebody who will not have any interest in your field at all, making your efforts worthless. According to Kevin Xu, the CEO of MEBO International, “Linking up with a group of like-minded people is an essential part of building a strong network”. You want to be able to pick out potential clients and partnerships so that way you are able to provide for your organization and the animals in need while not taking too much on yourself.

A client is going to work with you if it interests them, and they are able to see that the interactions will benefit both sides. An example of this would be finding another state close enough with another nonprofit guinea pig organization to reach out and potentially give ideas and tips that have worked for each other, and that could help the other person in the long run.

You want to take time to scout out other organizations that are in the same field and have the same common goal so that way when you present them with your organization and what you have to offer is exactly what they need to help them. Being on the same mindset is beneficial so that way you go into the meeting with confidence and really show that you are reliable and ready moving forward to benefit both sides. The graph below shows that when you take the time to plan things out and go over then, you are more prepared, and you are able to present yourself as a very reliable and confident potential partner. Getting in the habit of reposing fast and properly is something you want to have, and if you are able to practice and practice then you won't even have to think about the answer, your body will be able to respond just like it does when you name is called, and you respond.

Creating your self-image

Confidence is really the key to efficiently socially networking. If you were going into the conversation not sure if you have anything to offer you’re not going to be able to connect with the potential partner, they are not going to invest their time and effort to connect and make a strong reliable friend in the business if you have nothing to offer. Carthage Buckely in her article states that there are many benefits that come to a positive self-image which are:

Becoming more committed
Accepting the fact you do not know everything
Not needing approval
Becoming more resilient
Not fearing uncertainty
Accepting new challenges
Accepting disagreement

It’s clear to see that you have many things to offer considering you are running your own nonprofit organization, as the sole provider, but it can be hard to stand your ground and show how much you have to offer if you’re not confident.

Just because you take the time to plan out something before it happens does not mean it has to be a formal business interaction, many times social networking means just making a friend that is reliable and long term so that way when you have a problem that friend could potentially give a solution benefiting both sides. There is no need to only think about business when it comes to networking, especially when one is not comfortable with networking it can be easy to start small and just practice, and possibly creating a long-term connection without even knowing it.

Human resources and non-profit organizations

It is very important to know how beneficial human resources can be to non-profit organizations. Attracting the right people whether it be through customers or through volunteers or wherever the organization deems fit can bring great benefits to the organization. In non-profit organizations, there are not many full-time workers because a majority of volunteers are students or others looking for volunteer work. “If the control mechanisms reporting, training, participation, strategic alignment, and organizational culture are arranged appropriately, this configuration can lead to intrinsic motivation which leads to higher productivity of staff” (Sabert 2014).

Organizations similar to our clients can be the best form of human resources for her because she is given the chance to collaborate with those organizations. Collaborating with other non-profit organizations like hers can give her insight on things she might want to fix or things she might want to implement into her organization as it grows. This type of networking will be beneficial not only to our client but to the organizations she collaborates with as she might be doing something they would love to implement into what they currently do.

Collaborating with similar organizations

Finding different organizations similar to an organization that is almost exclusive can be very difficult especially considering the fact that the organization might not be very broadcasted or known about. For an organization that falls into that category, it is in their best interest to search for organizations like theirs that are closer in distance to them and to reach out to them to build a relationship. That relationship can come in great benefit to them as the relationships they build can get them out of a difficult situation in the future."Business consultant and author Jim Collins has pointed out that "getting the right people on the bus" is key to organizational success. During my time as head of a government agency, I found this to be especially challenging because we had to attract top talent from leading private sector companies"(Al- Dabbagh, 2015). It is very obvious that organizations having a strong relationship with other organizations, especially ones similar to theirs, benefits both sides of the relationship. Both sides could give tips on places the other might need more work in and have events similar to fundraisers where each participates and brings forth different aspects of their business which could also encourage another organization similar to theirs to join them or encourage those with ideas of starting an organization similar to theirs to start-up and join them as time progresses.

Ties between social interactions and human resources

Non-profit organizations engaging in social interactions/ social relations is a good way for them to bring in a great deal of trustworthy human resources. Connecting with organizations with similar structures is what is most beneficial for a small/ startup organization looking to expand. The opportunity of this type of social networking allows the organization to get to know more people and other businesses that could be of great interest/ value to the organization while simultaneously letting the organization be known to other people or businesses that might take interest in the organization. “To do this, I had to sit down with them, listen patiently to their stories and doubts, carefully negotiate payment plans with them, and show them that our company was eager to help them on a level that was amenable to both parties. Leaders of NGOs who are trying to raise funds need to apply these same collaboration and negotiation skills if they want to accelerate their growth and impact” (Al-Dabbagh 2015).

Events planned within these organizations are good ways to attract potential customers. For example, fundraising could be planned within a group of three similar non-profit organizations with shared interests or a shared target audience where different sides of each of the organizations come together and work together in the aspect of sharing the task of ensuring the fundraising goes smoothly so the organizations can benefit from each other's resources.

RECOMMENDATION 2. Create opportunities to receive external help from the community

Why are volunteers necessary for the rescue

After analyzing articles about successful rescues and visiting specific guinea pig rescue websites, we were able to conclude that volunteers are a key component in running a rescue.

There are many tasks that rescue has to complete before providing assistance to the animals. Many of the rescue leaders try to take on several tasks. Although this can benefit the rescue, the leaders can experience burnout or might not be able to get as much done alone. We spoke to our client Angela who is the owner of a guinea pig rescue. She said that she works full time and also manages the rescues by herself. Her rescue also contains over 30 pigs! This may be a lot to handle for one individual even as dedicated as she is. There has to be additional help for these rescues.

Since most of the rescues are non-profit organizations, they tend to look for donations. These donations can be anything from money, resources, or time. People can donate their time by volunteering and assisting the rescue leaders with any activities that need to be done. These activities can include:

Cleaning the rescue
Helping with animal care
Recruiting other volunteers
Creating fundraisers

By recruiting volunteers, rescues can run more efficiently and manage their time better. There are many eager individuals that may like to volunteer, but each rescue is different and it is crucial that organization leaders hire the best volunteers for their specific needs. That is why many rescues have a volunteer application where they can narrow down who is best for their rescue. We analyzed 24 guinea pig rescues to see who had volunteer options and who did not. Many of the organizations that mentioned volunteering also had an application along with other information that the remaining rescues did not. We extrapolated this data to create the following table:

Table 1: Volunteer and Animal Photos Analysis

Table 1 shows data from the website analysis research. The table shows that 70% of the rescue’s websites have opportunities to volunteer and 79% of the rescue’s websites had pictures of the guinea pigs.

We found that most of the organizations that had volunteer opportunities also had additional components to their websites like pictures of the adoptable guinea pigs. Providing additional information helps make the website more attractive for those who are browsing for a guinea pig or are wanting to make donations. This means that the rescue is taking the time to let the public know what is happening in the rescue world and how they can help out. Rescues that are more open to volunteers and additional help tend to receive more help than those who do not.

According to the Best Friends Animal Society, it is important that the rescue stands out so that people will want to reach out and learn more(Best Friends Animal Society, 2019, n.d.). Volunteers can also spread awareness about the rescue which can attract more people. Volunteers can help the rescue in a variety of ways which help rescue leaders like Angela get as much as possible done for the rescue.

The importance of fundraising a non-profit organization

As businesses continue to grow it is important to keep in mind that half of these businesses in the world fall into two categories: nonprofit and profit. Profiters pay an income tax from the government whereas nonprofits pay no income tax from the government. (Top Management Degrees. (n.d.). 2020). In our case, our local piggy rescue was a nonprofit founded by one person. This one person makes all purchases when it comes down to food, water, medicines, cage items, cleaning items, and other necessities for these guinea pigs. Her name is Angela Kuta. So why does this matter? With the help of fundraising, this will help out Angela minimize the costs she needs to be able to provide for these guinea pigs. These guinea pigs need daily care and as she works full time it can be a lot to take care of. But with the help of local donations and fundraising, this can be taken care of in less than 24 hours.

Help non-profits in one click

There are multiple ways for the rescue to get help from the community. We sought the fastest and easiest ways of contributing for the rescue followers. The qualitative analysis showed us that the vast majority of nonprofits insert the quick links on their websites. “Quick '' link can lead to PayPal of the rescue, or it could be a partnership link with a bigger organization like Amazon Smile, Small Pet Select, Petco Foundation. The person clicking the link will place an order, and the organization will donate a certain percent (usually 15%) to the rescue. This is a very tangible way of helping people that do not have spare money or time but want to contribute anyways.

Chart 2. Does the rescue website have the donation/partnership link on it?

The most “quick” links found on the rescue websites are Amazon Smile and PayPal direct donation link. “A user should be able to find your donation button/link within 1 second of the page loading. This button/link needs to be part of the top navigation found in the website’s header. One common best practice is to use a shade of orange or red to highlight this button/link. This choice of color immediately catches the eye” (Berry, 2018) Topnonprofits website talks about the color scheme of the donation link that will catch the eye of a website visitor, and it is hard to overestimate the necessity of good design. We will talk more about how to make the rescue website and social media page more attractive in Part 3 of our analysis.

RECOMMENDATION 3. Communicate with the rescue’s audience more effectively

Organizing and participating in adoption parties

The first question that comes to mind when people hear the words “Guinea pig rescue” is often “Wait, is this even a thing?” The concept of having a rescue for small animals, for exotic animals, is still foreign for a lot of people. Not everyone can tell the guinea pig apart from other small mammals either. However, we can reasonably argue that people are generally kind in nature, and they want to help, they just need a little guidance. We wanted to better understand what can make the general audience interested in hearing more about a guinea pig rescue.

Turns out that the adoption parties are a quite popular concept that a lot of small animal rescues use to attract future piggy parents, foster parents, and volunteers. Smaller rescues often participate in the events in collaboration with other rescues/organizations.

Chart 3. Participation in adoption events.

Although only 45% of the rescue host or participate in adoptions effects, those that do have a higher number of followers in social media.

Social media such as Facebook or Twitter can also help the rescue with the media coverage of the event. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) experts confirm the necessity of using media platforms in the adoption process. "Cute animals are kings on Facebook," says ASPCA Senior Social Media Manager Olivia Melikhov. Armed with that knowledge and some tried-and-true engagement tips, you can capitalize on the social media giant to find homes for your adoptable animals” (Morrison, 2019). Not only is it important to utilize this powerful tool, but it is important to utilize it wisely – follow what has been proven to be successful before, and you will reach your goal.

It might be a hard task for Camp Cavy Rescue to organize an adoption even from scratch since so many factors need to be taken into consideration. But it might be way easier to participate in an event organized by a more experienced non-profit owner, for example, Indiana Fur and Feathers convention. Not only can Camp Cavy introduce themselves to the audience, but they can also gain knowledge, experience, and build connections for future events they can now host.

Personalized messages and descriptions of the adoptable animals

Most of the time people contact Camp Cavy Rescue is to surrender the guinea pigs, not to adopt them. We sought ways to increase the attractiveness of the adoptees. Camp Cavy is doing a good job taking photos of the guinea pigs and staying up-to-date on posting the photos of newly arrived animals. But the description of the pigs is either short (name, age, location) or generic (“good in the house with kids”).

We found that personal and emotionally compelling story can help the animal to get adopted. “While some of these are heart-wrenching, they do a great job of getting awareness out there on some difficult topics. Pulling at the heartstrings is a great way to help people understand the importance of many of these animal welfare related issues” (Caren, 2018) Waggle crowdfunding for pets clarifies that it is hard to go wrong with providing as more information about the animal as possible. “You should also try to find that "hook" for each dog that will grab a reader's attention. For instance, if a dog came into your shelter from an abusive or neglectful home and seems starved for affection, you might say, "Until Shadow came to our shelter, he had never known a kind word or the touch of a loving human." (Morrison, 2019) The detailed description will help the animal find their forever home faster. It will let the potential owners see something very specific about their future pet, but it will also let the guinea pig stand out.

Chart 4. Presence of animal descriptions on the websites

Analysis of the websites of the small animal rescues across the United States helped us understand that most of the websites indeed use the detailed and personalized descriptions of the adoptees. This once again confirms how big of a powerful tool a good writer can be for a rescue.

Finding time to write a compelling story about each animal can be a challenging task, especially for someone like Angela who takes care of the rescue on her own. That brings us back to Part 2 of the analysis where we were talking about the benefits of using the help of volunteers. Students interested in creative writing can become good candidates to volunteer in this project.

A compelling story is not only what makes people adopt, but it is also what makes people donate. Creating a fundraiser on Facebook can simply not be enough without a good reason behind the fundraiser. Here is the example of a fundraiser description that will make everyone reach out to their wallet.

“Soleil was turned into a city shelter as a “stray”. With another boy piggie. In the same cage. People are embarrassed to admit they are turning in their pets. So they say they “found” the piggies. This way they circumvent the questions and the guilt.

But here she is. Petrified, pregnant, malnourished. We are hoping the babies are okay. We have recently seen an increase in preemie (non-viable) births, stillborns, and nutritional or genetic deformities. We are doing our best to help her know she is forever safe. And supporting her nutritionally to help her babies. Fingers crossed.

It’s been a crazy time for many of us volunteers here at the rescue. A lot of personal loss and hardship... in addition to the mad search for hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

Our thoughts go out to all of you across the globe. Across our globe. We are in chaotic, uncertain times. We are fragile. We are strong. We need to lean on each other for support.

Thank you for supporting us in saving these piglets. I will send pictures of “Soleil’s” babies, once they arrive. Hope they are healthy as we can use a bit of good news. Would love for you to post a comment as to where in the world you are to be found.

I’ll start... Los Angeles, by way of Paris, France. I will post a donate button in case you can help a little bit. Thank you. Volunteer Claire.“ (Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue)

This post raised $1000 in a matter of 4-5 hours. Posts written by Claire usually raise more money than the posts written by other volunteers, which proves again how important a compelling story can be. Camp Cavy Rescue is a non-profit organization that heavily relies on the help of fundraisers and sponsoring events. Finding a volunteer that will put the effort into creating such stories will go a long way for Camp Cavy.

Create the Rescue Posters

In order to maintain the rescue, our team decided that it would be most effective if we made rescue posters. That way we can spread the word about Angela's poet rescue. Not that social media does a bad thing for the rescue, but people are most likely to pay attention to a flyer than they do online. Studies show that people retain more information if it is on paper than if it is online. That means for this rescue that more people are willing to spread the word of what they see if it is on paper than if it is online. Starr, R. (2018, May 1). What is Cross Promotion and How Can it Benefit Your Small Business?. In What is Cross Promotion and How Can it Benefit Your Small Business?. Retrieved from https://smallbiztrends.com/2018/05/cross-promotion-small-business.htmlOnline can create problems with technology issues, but with being on paper it won't pose the problem of not having internet or bad connection issues.

This will cause people to grab the poster and share it with their friends or family a lot quicker.

Offering Free Services

Maintaining any pet rescue is not easy. But offering free services can help boost the attraction to clients. For example, a Texas guinea pig rescue offers a small fee to keep your pet healthy and happy. (Texas Rustlers Small Animal Rescue. (2020). In Texas Rustlers Small Animal Rescue. Retrieved from https://www.theguineapigrescue.com/0). By doing this, they have attracted customers to have them do less work in keeping their pets healthy and happy. That way although people will be in charge of taking care of their own pets, they will be able to get some free accommodations for a free charge to help them out. This is something our ten has discussed with our client and might be looking too in the nearby future date.

CONCLUSION

Our team analyzed different aspects of the typical guinea pig rescue to find what would benefit Angela the most. The research that was conducted helped us create resourceful recommendations for Camp Cavy. The information our group found supports our recommendations and explains why these could potentially assist. The major themes our team found was that:

Networking can build stronger relationships for the rescues
Volunteers can help with tasks and create more opportunities for rescues
Further information provided by rescues will attract more people and resources

The analysis provided above concludes that these practices can be used to maximize efficiency for Camp Cavy.

Next, Recommendations