Nine Lives Foundation

Nine Lives Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit cat welfare organization that rescues at-risk cats and kittens and finds them loving forever homes. We place our rescued cats in our no-kill facility, providing medical care from onsite veterinary staff. We are also committed to addressing the overpopulation of homeless cats by providing low-cost spay and neuter services for cats in our community.
Our vision is a community where all cats and kittens are spayed or neutered and safeguarded.

Our key goals are:
1. Increase the number of low-cost spay/neuter surgeries we provide year-over-year (target >5% increase in 2022 over 2021)
2. Increase the number of cats and kittens that we intake and place into homes, while optimizing cats’ experiences while at the shelter (target 30% increase in 2022 over 2021)
3. Intake cats that have special medical or surgical needs that could put them at risk in other shelters or homeless situations; provide them with the care they need, and place them in homes
4. Build collaborative relationships with other cat rescue and shelter organizations to contribute to the overall ecosystem of cat welfare across our geographic area (target relationships with at least 8 organizations by the end of 2022)
5. Be a great place to work, with a high-performing and passionate team of medical and administrative people that are committed to Nine Lives and the mission we support (measured through staff feedback, retention, and tracking of specific skills developed by each staff member)
6. Increase our revenue through donations, grants and proceeds from low- cost spay/neuter surgeries (target >10% increase in 2022 over 2021)
7. Continue our commitment to our no-kill mission

Low-cost spay, neuter, and vaccination services for cats and kittens:
o Increase the number of days we offer surgeries
o Optimize our staffing levels and scheduling systems to maximize the number of surgeries we complete per day
o Collaborate with responsible citizens who actively trap, neuter, and return homeless feral cats living outside to managed feral colonies to maximize our support for their work
o Liaise with rescues in our area who do not have veterinarians on staff to provide high-volume, low-costs spay/neuter surgeries for their cats prior to adoption
o Invest in technology to streamline processes and electronify record-keeping

Intake and Adoptions:
o Standardize and streamline our intake processes to maximize the number of cats we can rescue based on our physical and medical care capacity , following best-practice shelter guidelines
o Actively review and manage key metrics including intake versus adoptions, length of stay
o Build out our foster program, in order to be able to accept more kittens that will eventually be made available for adoption
o Introduce best practice policies and processes to improve the experience for every cat at the shelter – including Fear Free Shelter practices, optimized housing, and enrichment programs

Intake of cats with Medical and Surgical needs:
o Target the intake of cats that have medical/surgical needs that Nine Lives veterinarians can treat that may put a cat at-risk elsewhere (while balancing medical intake with overall capacity for care)
o Increase the number of dentals we provide

Collaboration:
o Continue to invest in outreach to other rescues and shelters in the Bay Area and also in the Central Valley – build collaborative relationships and work with under-resourced shelters to transfer cats into Nine Lives to save lives
o Seek out mentorship and advice from other organizations to help us increase our efficiency and effectiveness

Great place to work:
o Invest in our people: implement clear job expectations for each role, frequent feedback, and formal training plans for each role
o Hire a full-time shelter medicine veterinarian
o Continue our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Increase revenues:
o Work with an outside Development Director to implement new strategies and tools to drive fundraising and increase our donor base and retain existing donors
o Seek feedback from constituents (staff, donors, customers, volunteers) on our image and performance, and take action to improve
o Overhaul our website and other customer-facing media

Nine Lives has a 17-year history, during which time many foundational capabilities were built out. During 2021, we focused heavily on upgrading our processes and procedures and facilities to position ourselves for long-term success in the future. Key capabilities we now have in place:
• Dedicated team of professionals including the Executive Director, Veterinarians, RVTs and Assistants, and Administrative support staff, as well as a highly engaged Board of Directors
• Strong financial position with significant reserves to fund investment
• A strong grass-roots donor base
• A committed team of volunteers
• Two fully-equipped physical facilities – a Medical Clinic and Adoption Center – set up to provide surgical and medical care for cats, and to house adoptable cats

During 2021, we focused heavily on upgrading our processes and procedures and facilities to position ourselves for long-term success in the future. Key capabilities we now have in place:
• Dedicated team of professionals including the Executive Director, Veterinarians, RVTs and Assistants, and Administrative support staff, as well as a highly engaged Board of Directors
• Strong financial position with significant reserves to fund investment
• Two physical facilities – a Medical Clinic and Adoption Center, which have been reconfigured to improve the housing and treatment of cats
• A well-equipped surgical suite with critical investments in new equipment (X-Ray machine, dental equipment, lighting, instruments, etc.)
• Standard Operating Procedures documented for most staff positions
• Newly-deployed Shelter Medicine Software (Shelterluv) including electronic medical records for Nine Lives cats

What’s Next – In 2022 Q1/Q2, we plan to:
• Build out development / fundraising infrastructure including implementing a CRM system
• Seek input from constituents (staff, volunteers, customers, donors) on what we are doing well and where we can improve – and implement programs to address learnings
• Continue to deploy technologies to automate and streamline operations
• Overhaul our website, including updates to branding
• Build out the Foster Program, focusing on special-needs adult cats, and litters of kittens
• Engage and train additional volunteers; retain existing volunteers