Member Teleseminars

We've had teleseminars with a lot of amazing people who are doing great things for animals. Here's a description of some of our recent teleseminars. The recordings are available to members for download at their convenience.

Volunteers Run Amok: Barbara Bouchet, MEd talks about what to do when "Volunteers Run Amok." Although volunteers can be the lifeblood of an organization, "problem volunteers" can make your life miserable. Barbara is a licensed counselor, with degrees in Psychology, Sociology, and Educational Psychology and discusses how to recognize problems and deal with them before they get out of control.

Meet Your Match: Dr. Emily Weiss, Ph.D. CAAB, ASPCA Director of Shelter Behavior Programs talks about the Meet Your Match program. The Feline-ality and Canine-ality programs are designed to increase adoptions and reduce returns with assessment tools that help match up the right cat or dog with the right owner.

Grant Readiness: Lorna McLeod, the author of the Grant Readiness Workbook and an upcoming book called the Grant Readiness Guide: A Guide for Nonprofits to Heighten the Success of Your Organization talks about (not surprisingly) what you need to do before you start applying for grants.

HSUS Shelter Programs: Kim Intino, CAWA, Director of Animal Sheltering Issues at the The Humane Society of the United States talks about some of the many programs HSUS has available to help rescues and shelters. A lot of them don't cost anything or very little!

Surviving and Thriving: Faith Maloney, one of the founders of Best Friends Animal Society gives us tips for avoiding burnout and compassion fatigue based on her 20+ years working with animals and experiencing the growth of Best Friends from a small 25-person operation to the large organization it is today.

Five Keys to Writing a Successful Grant Proposal: Grant-writer Ron Flavin who has helped clients raise more than $50 million in grants explains the five keys to writing a successful grant proposal." His particular area of expertise is working with organizations that may have difficulty getting funded for one reason or another. So if you've ever thought "I could never get a grant," listen in; maybe you CAN!

"Win-Win" Fundraising Partnerships: Roy MacNaughton explains how you can set up joint ventures with businesses in your area to raise more funds for your organization. He'll also talk about how you can create and implement a marketing plan using his "Underground Umbrella System" techniques, which help you remember the steps you need to follow to create a plan that works. Roy's creativity and 30-years of business and marketing experience really shine through, so this teleseminar is like a mini Marketing 101

Setting Up a Medical Fund: Jennifer Webb is the Founder and Executive Director of the Shakespeare Animal Fund (SAF). She will talk about how you can set up a veterinary medical fund similar to the SAF. The Shakespeare Animal Fund is a non-profit charity that was founded in memory of a cocker spaniel named Shakespeare who died after a costly illness. The Shakespeare Animal Fund helps pets and people in need. Often people will actually do without their own medicine or food to care for their animal's veterinary medical needs. The Shakespeare Animal Fund has a crisis hot line and they partner with local veterinarians to help the animals. Although the group is new (since January 2004), since the beginning of 2008 they have paid out more than $100,000 to vets. Their goal is to make sure no animal is suffering.

Understanding Feline Behavior: Pam Johnson-Bennet, Certified Animal Behavior Consultant and the author of Psycho Kitty: Tips for Solving Your Cat's "Crazy" Behavior and several other cat books talks about some common feline behavior problems. As wel all know, cats are often relinquished to shelters and rescue groups because of behavior problems and Pam offers solutions to common issues, such as litter box problems, scratching, and redirection aggression. She focuses on solving problems by trying to understand what is going on from the cat's point of view, so owners can take positive steps toward change.

How Shelters Can Respond to the Special Needs of Cats: Becky Robinson, the President and co-founder of Alley Cat Allies will be talking about feral cats and how we can work together to educate communities on the best practices for outdoor cats. With Trap-Neuter-Return, cats are humanely trapped, taken to a veterinarian for spay or neuter, vaccinated for rabies, eartipped and returned to their colony where volunteers provide food, water, and shelter. With understanding of best practices for feral cats and Trap-Neuter-Return, we can offer more feline-friendly shelter practices and help others understand the benefits of more humane policies regarding ferals.

Solving Canine Behavior Problems and Reducing Returns: Dog training expert Jennifer McCarthy talks about how you can educate adopters about difficult behavior problems, such as aggression, barking, digging and more. She discusses her philosophy on canine behavior and why sometimes it really is necessary and important to say "no." Her methods emphasize consistency and leadership, which reduce problems with both human and canine members of the household.

Working Together and Establishing Coalitions: Holly Sizemore of No More Homeless Pets Utah discusses the challenges and rewards of bringing together groups with often differing goals and agendas. Holly's background includes working in many different animal welfare arenas ranging from very small grassroots to large-scale public/private partnership efforts. She has seen a tremendous shift in the way local governments and shelters react to trap-neuter-release (TNR) in Utah, and has secured over $200,000 from a number of municipalities in order to fund TNR.

Low-Cost Ways to Increase the Visibility of Your Organization: Mary Kurek talks about how rescues and humane groups can use online visibility techniques to boost marketing success. For more than 30 years, Mary has helped people create the kind of visibility that results in meeting significant (and often public) goals. She has worked as a government press staff member and has been involved in gubernatorial and Senate campaigns, along with being a Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.