Promoting your animals

Shelter

An adopted animal is first and foremost an animal that has been shown. The app prepares your shelter's communication materials for you from the information already entered on the profiles: no more redoing a poster by hand or composing every post.

Three tools are brought together here:

the adoption poster, a PDF to print for the kennel, a shop window or the vet's waiting room;
the share card, an image ready to post on social networks;
the annual report, a PDF summarising the shelter's year for the general meeting.

These features are specific to the Shelter app.

Before you start: take care of the animal's profile

The poster and the card automatically reuse the content of the profile. The more complete it is, the more appealing they are.

A nice photo of the animal: it takes up the most space.
Its personality and its description: a few lively sentences are better than a long text, which will be shortened on the poster.
How it gets on with dogs, cats and children (its compatibility), which appears on the poster as coloured dots (Yes, With caution, No). A compatibility left blank is shown as "No": remember to fill in all three.
Its up-to-date status (adoptable, reserved…): the waiting time shown is calculated from the last status change. See Animal statuses.

Tip: the poster and the card link to the animal's page on your public website. Check that the animal is actually shown there, otherwise interested people will find nothing when they scan the QR code. See Public page and website.

The adoption poster

What the poster contains

A large photo of the animal, with the For adoption banner and the shelter's name and logo.
The words Looking for a family, the animal's name, species, breed, sex and age.
The number of days it has been waiting ("Waiting for … days").
Its personality and description, shortened if needed to fit on the page.
How it gets on with other animals and children.
A QR code with "Scan to meet" followed by the animal's name: it opens its page on your public website.
The shelter's contact details: phone, email and website address.

If the animal has no photo, a decorative placeholder replaces it: the poster can still be used, but it will be much less effective.

Printing an animal's poster

Open the animal's profile (Animals button in the bottom bar, then the animal).
In the action bar at the bottom of the screen, tap the … button to open the menu.
Choose Adoption poster.
Select the A4 or A5 format.
Tap Light or Dark depending on the style you want. The poster is generated then opened as a PDF, ready to print or send.

Option	When to use it
A4	A large poster for the kennel, a noticeboard or a shop window.
A5	A smaller format, handy for a counter or a notice board.
Light	A bright background, ink-saving, with colours adapted to the animal's sex.
Dark	A dark background that makes the photo stand out, ideal for a screen or a shop window.

Printing posters for several animals at once

To renew all the posters in a window or prepare an open day:

Open your animal list with the Animals button.
If needed, use the filters to show only the animals you want (one species, one status…).
In the action bar, tap … then Adoption posters.

The app produces a single A5 PDF, light style, with one page per animal. Only the animals shown in the list and marked as available for adoption (Available for adoption box on their profile) are included; deceased animals are left out.

These buttons are only visible to team members who have permission to edit animals.

Not to be confused with the kennel sheet

The same menu also offers QR code, which prints the kennel sheet intended for the team (quick actions, walks, meals). The adoption poster, on the other hand, is aimed at the public. Both can sit side by side on the kennel door.

The share card for social networks

The share card is a vertical image, in the format of social network posts, with a catchy caption already written.

What the card contains

A full-frame photo of the animal (or a coloured background if it has none).
A Looking for a family banner, or Reserved if the animal is already reserved.
Its name, species and age.
A caption: from 30 days of waiting, "For … days, [name] has been waiting for a family. What if it were yours?"; otherwise, its personality.
The shelter's name and the address of the animal's page on your website.

Sharing an animal

Open the animal's profile.
In the action bar, tap … then Share.
The card preview appears with the caption as its title.
Choose how to share it (see below). The caption and the link to the animal's page are attached to the image when the chosen app allows it.

Button	Effect
Share as an Instagram story	On a phone, if the Instagram app is installed: directly opens a story with the card as the background.
Share as a Facebook story	The same for a Facebook story.
Share (or More sharing options)	Opens the phone's share menu: WhatsApp, Messenger, email, Facebook post…
Share or download the image	On a computer: shares the image or saves it, so you can then post it from your browser.

The app never posts anything for you: you always choose where and when the card is shared.

Not forgetting the animals that have been waiting a long time

The app keeps track of each promotion: a share from the profile or generating a poster counts as a promotion.

On the animal's profile, the status block shows the Last promoted date (today, or how many days ago).
On the Homepage, the To process block lists the long-stay animals (adoptable or in a foster family) that have not been promoted for at least 14 days, or ever. Each line shows how long the animal has been waiting and has a Share button that opens its share card directly.

After how long is a stay "long"? 90 days by default. You can change it: side menu, Organization section > Settings, My shelter section > Stays at the shelter, Long stay alert after (days) field, then Save.

Tip: give a volunteer the task of clearing this "to promote" list every week: a few minutes are enough, and it is often the least visible animals that benefit most.

The annual report for the general meeting

Every year, the general meeting asks for a review of the activity. The annual report prepares it from the data entered in the app, with a comparison with the previous year.

Generating the report

Open the side menu, Organization section, then Statistics.
With the date selector at the top of the screen, go to a date in the year you want.
In the Year card, check the key figures compared with the previous year.
Tap Annual report (PDF). The document opens, ready to print or attach to the notice of meeting.

What the report contains

A landscape PDF, one page per theme, with the chosen year and the previous year for each figure:

Key figures

Intakes, adoptions, average length of stay, return rate and animals present at the end of the year.

Intakes and exits

Intakes by origin, exits by type and adoptions by species.

Foster families and volunteering

Foster placements, days spent in foster care, families involved, volunteers and volunteer hours.

Donations, memberships and costs

Donations and memberships, donors, sponsorships, cost of care, average cost per animal and the most costly animals.

The blocks depend on what you use in the app: volunteer hours come from the volunteer schedule (only closed shifts count), donations and memberships from donations and tax receipts, days in foster care from foster families, and costs from your supplier invoices, the pharmacy and surgeries (see Statistics).

The report is written in the language chosen for your organisation's documents.

The annual report and the cost per animal are included in the paid plans. The button is reserved for administrators and members who have access to accounting. See Subscription and Members and permissions.

Going further

Public page and website: the online showcase that posters and cards link to.
Online adoption: receive applications from people who have seen your posters.
Adopter waiting list: notify people waiting for an animal like the one you are promoting.
Donations and tax receipts: collect donations and thank donors.
Statistics: the details of the shelter's figures and of the cost per animal.

Frequently asked questions

I cannot see the Share and Adoption poster buttons.

They only exist in the Shelter app and are only shown if you have permission to edit the animal. Ask an administrator to check your permissions.

The poster for several animals is empty or will not generate.

Check that the animals in the list are ticked Available for adoption on their profile and that your filters are not hiding the ones you want to print.

Can I post automatically to the shelter's Facebook page?

No. The app prepares the image and the text, then opens your phone's sharing options: posting stays in your hands.

The figures in the report do not match my records.

The report uses exactly the figures from the Statistics screen. Statuses that have not been updated or exits that have not been recorded distort intakes, adoptions and lengths of stay: correct the profiles concerned, then generate the report again.