Kennel To Couch Inc
Saving Pit Bulls, One Wet Nose at a Time
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
“Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes average about 33% of shelter intakes nationally, but in large cities this is as high as 65%. Close to 75% of municipal shelters euthanize pit bulls immediately upon intake, without them ever having any chance at adoption. Those that are offered for adoption are usually the first chosen for euthanasia when overcrowding forces the shelter’s hand to make decisions. Studies estimate that up to 1 million Pit Bulls are euthanized per year, or 2,800 per day. Some estimates are double that number. A study by the organization Animal People reports a 93% euthanasia rate for Pit Bulls and only 1 in 600 will ever find a home.”
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Soul - K2C Shelter Sponsorship
Shelter Partnership – Our Flagship Program is our Shelter Partnership. We team with shelters to identify Pit Bulls that have been in the shelter longest. We sponsor these dogs and launch robust social media campaigns to let the surrounding public know that this dog needs a home. When someone adopts a dog we sponsor, they receive our “Pibble Package” filled with goodies and resources.
Mind - Education
Education – We believe that education is the key to dispelling the false myths that have been created about the Pit Bull breed. Equally as important is educating dog owners on various subjects such as training, dog health, and topics useful to any dog owner. We constantly publish content through our “Pibble Press” blog, training videos, and resource library to keep our community updated and informed.
Body - Physical Challenges
Physical Challenges – Kennel to Couch strives to promote a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and our dogs by promoting activities that get people and their pups active together. These activates are not only physically healthy, but they strengthen the bond between dog and owner. We host several physical challenges per year that push people to get out and get active. These challenges are a great way to spread awareness of our mission, promote a healthy lifestyle, and allow the public to observe thousands of positive breed ambassadors walking their local neighborhoods.
Where we work
Awards
Best In America 2022
Americas Best Charities
Top Rated 2022
Great Non-Profits
Platinum 2022
Guide Star - CANDID
Affiliations & memberships
Americas Best Local Charities 2022
Local Animal Charities of America 2022
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of animal clinics/shelters improved as a direct result of the nonprofit's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Soul - K2C Shelter Sponsorship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our Shelter Sponsorship Program launched on 29 May 2019
Number of animal adoptions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Soul - K2C Shelter Sponsorship
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our Shelter Sponsorship Program launched on 29 May 2019
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Mind - Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric shows the growing awareness of our mission and programs.
Number of adults engaging in regular physical activity
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Body - Physical Challenges
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Physical Challenges – Kennel to Couch strives to promote a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and our dogs by promoting activities that get people and their pups active together.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
K2C’s core program has a two-fold objective:
First, to reduce the amount of Pit Bulls being euthanized due to shelter overcrowding.
K2C focuses on the shelter’s hardest problems. With limited capacity, just one dog at a shelter for a year effectively locks down the percentage of real estate that they occupy for that amount of time. When this happens, it brings the shelters turnover to a grinding halt. When a shelter’s throughput is slowed, it also slows the shelters ability to generate revenue from adoption fees and hinders their ability to help additional dogs which may have been adopted faster. When shelters are full, it increases euthanasia rates and the risk is most critical for any dog that has occupied a kennel for too long.
K2C partner shelters commit to not euthanizing our sponsored Pit Bulls due to overcrowding, giving our Pit Bulls the time needed to get adopted. The K2C quantitative approach to sponsorship selection facilitates maximum volume for the shelter year-round, constantly promoting the adoption of the Pit Bull that will have the greatest effect on throughput, creating optimum turnover of the kennels. This approach has a compounding effect on the shelters ability to generate revenue from adoption fees and ensures that they can help as many dogs as possible because of consistently available kennel space. This system also dramatically lowers the dwell time of any one Pit Bull at the shelter, greatly reducing the mental and emotional impact of prolonged shelter life on the dog and risk of euthanasia.
Second, to break through stereotypes associated with Pit Bulls.
By teaming with nationally recognized training partners and providing the K2C Pibble Package to adopting families, K2C ensures that each Pit Bull adopted through us receives the support necessary to become a well-behaved ambassador for the breed. The trained Pit Bulls will ultimately change hearts and minds through their daily interaction with the public.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategy for achieving our goal is through the implementation of our K2C Shelter Sponsorship which focuses on five focus areas:
1. Changing Hearts – K2C believes that one of the best ways to educate the public and change minds about the Pit Bulls is to simply get more Pit Bulls out of the shelters, properly trained (dogs and owners), creating public ambassadors for the breed. As more Pit Bulls are observed as loving family dogs, the more normalized the idea will become. K2C strives to see more and more people saying, “my neighbor has a pit bull and it is the sweetest thing”.
2. Changing Minds - Our website, blogging efforts, and social media presence not only focus on getting our sponsored pit bulls adopted, it serves as a platform to advocate for pit bulls and change people’s minds about the breed through educational posts and debunking pit bull myths. Our SEO and Domain Authority Strategy will ensure maximum outreach.
3. Maximizing Shelter Throughput - Our program takes a quantitative approach to maximizing our partner shelters’ turnover rates by focusing on Pit Bulls who have been there longest, and incentivizing families to adopt those Pit Bulls. This reduces dwell time for dogs in shelters, reduces the possibility of euthanasia, and creates space for other dogs that may be adopted more quickly.
4. Adoption Retention - The American Humane Society did a comprehensive study to understand how to maximize retention of adopted pets, ensuring they are not returned to the shelter. The study offered eight key findings related to dogs. By offering training and veterinary support at the point of adoption and in the immediate time following as the core of our sponsorship package, K2C addresses six key findings:
a. Offering support at the point of acquisition.
b. Reducing the barrier of ownership with veterinary/general expenses support.
c. Understanding that preparatory work (training) completed before adoption does not have a large effect on retention (K2C training is after adoption to enhance bond with new owner).
d. Implementing an intervention strategy within the first, critical weeks of adoption with professional help with our nationally certified training partners.
e. Providing behavioral support that focuses on solidifying the human-animal bond.
f. Providing an innovative strategy by implementing a post-adoption program that facilitates veterinary visits and cultivates a supportive relationship between adopters, shelter facilities, and the community partners that support us.
5. Engaging the Community – K2C partners with businesses and the community to provide our K2C Pibble Package which is constantly expanding. We are rapidly networking within Maryland to bring several corporate partners, board members, sponsors, and additional capabilities on board all in the spirit of Pit Bull advocacy. The larger the K2C operation grows, the more entrenched our mission becomes within the community that fosters it.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
K2C is very active on social media with an aggressive content release schedule. The K2C website contains information on Pit Bull myths and facts and produces blog content to educate the public about the breed. These efforts serve to promote Pit Bulls in a positive light. K2C has a professionally implemented digital marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy which is rapidly advancing K2C’s domain authority. This strategy ensures that K2C’s educational and stigma breaking efforts reach a maximum audience.
Using K2C social media platforms to run paid advertisements for our adoptable Pit Bulls serves a triple utility for K2C.
1. Reaching potential adopters
2. Raising awareness of the organization (driving donations, volunteer efforts, outreach)
3. Driving traffic to the website where we address breed stigma and educational information
Simply put, the quicker we can add additional shelters to our program, the faster we can expand our geographical footprint, and increase the amount of Pit Bull we sponsor. These additional sponsorships will allow us to increase the amount awareness and education initiatives in our community.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In our first few months of operations since the launch of our website on 29 May 2019, Kennel to Couch has achieved the following:
Developed and launched www.kenneltocouch.org with our partners at FifteenFOUR Studios (Baltimore)
Partnered with the Humane Society of Harford County, MD as our first sponsored Kennel
Solidified and partnered with the following community partners to provide "Pibble Package" benefits:
Sit Means Sit Baltimore - Free training assessment
Sit Means Sit Baltimore - Initial training
Sit Means Sit Baltimore - Training Equipment (if necessary)
Banfield Pet Hospital - Free exam and consultation
Embrace Pet Insurance - 5% stacking discount
Engaged in a very aggressive Social Media Strategy via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin with over 6000 combined followers
Created and manages a growing Facebook community to assist dogs and people that are outside of the K2C network
Successfully obtained and engaged in a dynamic Google Ads campaign provided by the Google Grant
Began a campaign to add funds that will sustain expansions into additional shelters
MOST IMPORTANTLY - We have gotten our first dogs that we have sponsored adopted!
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We act as a force multiplier for rescue shelters by assisting them in getting their long term and hard to place Pit Bulls adopted. We mainly serve the shelters by incentivizing potential adopters to select the dog we are sponsoring. We also advertise these specific dogs through or website and social media channels. To help shelters with the adoption process, and encourage adoptions, we offer a premium package of dog-care essentials like training support, a free vet visit, discounted pet insurance, coupons, and more which is all offered free of charge from Kennel to Couch. We do this at zero charge to the shelters, but we work closely with them to identify the dogs and ensure they are happy with our support and also to continuously tailor our program in increase effectiveness.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
In our partnership outreach efforts, we ran across several organizations who were not supportive of the training company we were previously using to provide support to the adopting families. We did not know there was an issue with these training methods when we began our organization. We conducted many interviews with partners and did a very deep dive analysis into perceptions, effectiveness, and canine well-being associated with multiple training methods. We then spent an entire year completely overhauling our training platform moving away from our previous training provider and building our own, in-house, training portal that only promotes certified force free, fear free training. This included several training and informational videos, new partners, and a free resource library.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Kennel To Couch Inc
Board of directorsas of 03/27/2023
Thomas Bohne
Kennel to Couch INC
Amber Baum
Kennel to Couch INC
Matthew Dykes
Kennel to Couch INC
Arlo Clauser
Kennel to Couch INC
Rusheeda Cornelius
Kennel to Couch INC
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/12/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.