Mission
When pet owners are in crisis (eviction, domestic violence, hospitalization, addiction, etc.), Pawster Nashville places their cat or dog in a loving foster home until the owner is back on their feet and ready to be reunited. This keeps pets out of shelters, and it keeps families together. Pawster Nashville's mission is to end pet homelessness before it begins, by providing short-term respite care for pets as an alternative to surrender, with the goal of reunification with their owners.
Ruling year
2020
Executive Director
Gabe Horton
Main address
239 White Bridge Pike, Unit 13
Nashville, TN 37209 USA
EIN
85-1662354
NTEE code
Animal Protection and Welfare (includes Humane Societies and SPCAs) (D20)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Pawster Nashville's mission is to end pet homelessness before it begins. Shelters and rescues are overflowing with homeless cats and dogs. But how did they become homeless in the first place? Many pets in shelters came from loving homes who felt they had no other choice but to surrender their beloved pet. Temporary crises, like hospitalization, loss of housing, domestic violence, addiction treatment, and others, leave pet owners with few options to care for their pets. Many do not have family or friends who can take their animals for weeks or months at a time. Most cannot afford to pay for boarding or pet-sitting. What can a pet owner do in this sort of crisis? Pawster gives pet owners in crisis another option: Crisis Foster Care. We place their dog or cat in a loving foster home until the owner is back on their feet and ready to be reunited.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Crisis Foster Program
When a pet owner is in crisis, Pawster Nashville places their dog or cat in a foster home until the owner is back on their feet and ready to be reunited. This keeps the pet out of a shelter, and it keeps the family together.
We partner with the local animal control shelter as well as nonprofit organizations for client referrals. We partner with community clinics and the animal control shelter to provide veterinary services, including vaccinations, microchipping and spay/neuter surgeries. All pets accepted into the crisis foster program will be vaccinated, microchipped and spayed/neutered, if not already.
We match each animal with a trained and loving foster home that best fits each pet. When the foster period is over, each pet receives a complimentary grooming session before being returned to their owner.
Pet Fee Assistance
Beginning in 2022, Pawster's board of directors decided to provide direct funding to pet owners of current fosters in order to help them find pet-friendly housing more quickly. These fees include rental pet deposits and fees for Emotional Support Animal letters. For many pet owners, these fees associated with moving into new housing are the last hurdle left before they can reunite with their pets.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Safe Coalition 2022
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of animals vaccinated
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Unemployed people, Veterans, People with diseases and illnesses, Substance abusers
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of animals spayed and neutered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of animals returned to their owner
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Crisis Foster Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Crisis Foster Program
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Average number of dollars received per donor
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of new donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of donations made by board members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of organizational partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
Pawster's mission is to end pet homelessness before it begins. Every pet fostered and reunited with their owner through Pawster Nashville is a pet who does not become homeless. By keeping pets and their people together, we can help end pet homelessness altogether.
Pawster Nashville’s short-term goals (by year-end 2022) include:
1) Foster 130 pets and reunite each pet with its owner.
2) Build 10 new partnerships with client referral organizations.
3) Build 5 ongoing corporate partner relationships to ensure sustainable funding into the future.
4) Reduce pet surrenders in Nashville by 2%.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies are best described in our Sustainability Plan 2021-2022.
In brief, Pawster will focus on 5 key areas to ensure the organization can continue expanding services in Middle Tennessee to keep pets and people together through crisis:
1) Develop partnerships with Human Services Organizations to demonstrate the Proof of Concept: “Crisis foster care for pets helps solve the owner’s problem(s) more efficiently, long-term.”
2) Enhance Volunteer Recruitment and Retention through increased volunteer roles, volunteer recruitment partner organizations, marketing campaigns and volunteer surveys.
3) Cultivate multi-level individual donor engagement, including transitioning to new donor management software and developing a comprehensive fundraising plan.
4) Measure impact of services through data collection, community asset mapping, increased data collection through software, and other measures.
5) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Pawster cannot serve all communities in Nashville if the organization is not representative of all communities in Nashville, from the board of directors to staff, volunteers, donors, and partner organizations. Pawster will hire a paid DEI consultant to advise on immediate and long-term next steps.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Pawster raised enough funds in 2021 to begin 2022 on sound footing. These funds have allowed the board of directors to hire the President, Gabe Horton, as full-time Executive Director. By dedicating a full-time paid staff position to enacting the organization's strategic plans, Pawster is fully capable of meeting its goals.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Pawster has fostered 68 dogs and cats since October, 2020, and has reunited 91% of these pets with their owners so far.
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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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 identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
When we launched Pawster Nashville, we focused on the message of ending pet homelessness. After conducting a survey and speaking with several volunteers and donors, we learned that our constituents were more motivated by our work to keep pets and their people together through crisis. In turn, we have begun to focus on the message of keeping families together, because when you help the pet, you help the person.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for 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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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.
Pawster Nashville
Board of directorsas of 10/03/2022
PJ Cowan
Musicians on Call
Term: 2021 - 2023
Ellen Adams
Educator (Retired)
Nathan Yates
OneOncology
PJ Cowan
Musicians On Call
Allison Ruari
Vine Street Christian Church
Gabe Horton
OPUS Inspection
Chelsey Hedglin
Ascension St. Thomas
Trice Gibbons
The Christian Century
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? Yes -
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? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
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
No data
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/26/2021GuideStar 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 review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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