Pets for Patriots vision and ultimate goal is to end animal homelessness in the United States by facilitating the adoption of at-risk shelter pets with every available, able and willing military veteran. In support of this objective, our goals: - 2,000 honorable adoptions by YE 2018 - Partner networks (shelters, veterinarians) in all 50 states by YE 2020 - Expand our sponsor network to include more nationally-operating brands that provide goods/services to help lower the overall costs of pet ownership for veterans in our program - Fully national volunteer program with a dedicated volunteer manager/coordinator to leverage the passion people express for our mission

- Continue to develop no- and low-cost tools for our adoption and veterinary partners to promote our partnerships with them in the communities where we operate. These channels are among the best ways to reach potential beneficiaries.
- Pursue all channels, online and offline, for sharing our adoption success stories.
- Better communicate all the ways individuals, businesses and others can support our work and mission.
- Continue to educate the public about the many benefits of companion pet adoption for our nation's military veterans and their families.

- Leverage technology to enhance our operational capabilities at the lowest possible cost; we will continue to invest/innovate in this area.
- Develop and pursue partnerships that support our mission and our beneficiaries, including with Flooring America, Petplan and other key partners.
- Unique program focus and expertise in the placement of hard-to-adopt companion animals with veterans.
- Dedicated staff who are each committed to outstanding service to our beneficiaries, partners, sponsors and donors.

We follow various metrics to see how we are progressing towards our goals, including:
- Overall number of approved applicants to our program (patriot, shelter and veterinarian)
- Number of successful adoptions
- Overall number and geographic range of requests to join our program
- Year-over-year growth in donations, both overall and per revenue stream
- Size and influence of our "voice" through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, G+, LinkedIn

Qualitatively:
- Impact on the lives of veterans and their honorably adopted pets, as shared by our "member patriots" through post-adoption follow ups and submission of their stories for our publication.
- Opportunities to collaborate with our various partners (adoption, veterinary and other) to enhance our mission and work.

We have learned that what makes Pets for Patriots unique - open to veterans at any stage of their careers, focus on hard-to-adopt shelter pets, commitment to surrender prevention - resonates with all of our constituents: veterans, shelter/veterinary partners, sponsors, donors, etc. We are still learning how to translate this passion for our mission into consistent and year-round donations; most people still give the most towards the end of Q4.

Our greatest blessing - high demand for our program - is equally our greatest challenge. Like all charities, we can only grow as fast as our resources (people, time, money and technology) allow. Finding the right combination of strategies and tactics to engage like-minded people/businesses over time is essential, as is the ability to find and retain high-value volunteers who are able/willing to take ownership of key aspects of our operations.