South Pacific County Humane Society
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Like most NPOs in small communities, SPCHS struggles to attract and maintain an adequate volunteer workforce. Through annual strategic planning sessions of agency leadership, continued by regular meetings of front-line volunteers, the company culture has been changing and new, quality volunteers have been attracted. SPCHS leadership recognizes that this effort must be continuous to be effective; there is no finish line.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Low or no-cost spay/neuter services
Use grant funds and partnership with local veterinarian to offer low or no-cost spay/neuter services to the pets of low-income and disadvantaged members of the community
Low income pet food program
Use grant funds, cash donations and in-kind donations to provide cat and dog food for pets of low-income and disadvantaged members of the local community
Community Cat Coordination and Support
Provide logistic support and assistance to local Trap, Neuter, and Return advocates
Adoption Services
Find suitable homes for stray, surrendered, and abandoned cats and dogs within our care through social media, community outreach, and networking
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Chamber of Commerce 2018
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 monitored post release
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoption Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The number of cats and dogs who were adopted from our shelter.
Number of animals euthanized
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoption Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of animal adoptions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoption Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of cats and dogs adopted.
Average number of days of shelter stay for animals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoption Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Number of dogs spayed or neutered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Low or no-cost spay/neuter services
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
Adoption Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of pets microchipped
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoption Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
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?
1. Provide compassionate care and placement for homeless pets without the need for euthanasia.
2. Foster positive relationships between animals and people.
3. End pet overpopulation through community outreach, involving the promotion of effective spay/neuter programs, and humane education.
4. Grow an endowment "safety net" to ensure the shelter's ability to operate.
5. Slow and steady growth to expand & improve existing programs and develop new programming such as the addition of a rehabilitation facility.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Continued development of policies and systems by the board, staff, and volunteers, that encourage strength and diversity in key areas of responsibility. People assets are most critical: staff, volunteers, donors, adopters.
2. Educate the community about the humane treatment of animals and ways to engage with them that build relationships. This is accomplished primarily through blog, website, and social media, as well as a weekly column in the newspaper. In addition, shelter staff makes the invitation to groups to utilize the shelter facility in their programming (yoga with cats, kids reading to cats, scouts making toys for dogs, etc.).
3. Apply for grant support of spay/neuter programs, actively seeking out pet owners in the low-income sector of the communities the shelter serves. Provide humane traps and education on "Trap Neuter Return" of neighborhood cats. Support the efforts of those managing community cat colonies in the area.
4. An investment account was created in 2006 with a goal of creating a "safety net" to ensure the shelter's ability to operate. The Board of Directors is challenged with budgeting and spending so these funds can grow to the point that interest payments can augment fundraising efforts.
5. Due to the somewhat isolated location of the shelter, care is taken to respond to community support and grow only as quickly as can be supported long-term. SPCHS' long-term vision includes expanding the facility to serve more pets and adding space for exercise and stimulation activities. SPCHS also envisions the development of medical and behavioral rehabilitation space and programs. Existing programs can be augmented and strengthened, such as adding a monthly spay/neuter bus that travels to neighborhoods. As quality volunteers join the SPCHS team, additional funding can be found, programs can be developed, and staff hired.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The agency mission and vision are at the core of everything done at SPCHS. The ability to develop and energize a company culture with a high value on taking care of pets and the people who work for them defines the agency's capability for existing.
This is a strong time for SPCHS in this regard. The current board, staff, and volunteers are trained, engaged, and talented. More people hours are always needed; the work done by the agency is endless.
Community outreach and education is strong and improving. This seems to be one of the strongest assets of the agency as doing the work also nets donation dollars. When community members visit the shelter or meet volunteers at an event, or read about SPCHS through the newspaper or online media, They encounter a clean, fun, happy place where pets are well-tended. This, in turn, opens wallets.
Our biggest challenge is the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic impacted how we managed staffing, interactions with the public, training volunteers and raising funds. We implemented the recommendations of social distancing and masks. Our staff schedules were arranged to minimize the number of people working in the shelter at the same time. We interacted with the public through a service window. Visitors were only allowed in the shelter after they had a submitted an approved adoption application and only two visitors allowed in the shelter at a time. We changed our monthly volunteer orientations to an on-line application, initial phone call and discussion, scheduled one on one training sessions. Our fundraising activities were canceled. We conducted some successful on-line campaigns and in November conducted an on-line auction. We were able to receive a $10,000 Pacific County Grant Assistance for Small Businesses that helped us to maintain staff critical to the care of the cats and dogs at the shelter. Raising funds for the shelter continues to be a challenge.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 25 years, SPCHS has merged two virtual foster groups to become South Pacific County Humane Society, launched a successful capital campaign, and built a facility. In its first decade-and-a-half, the shelter ran on a shoestring budget using a fiercely loyal cadre of volunteers. When it outgrew the "grass roots" systems for operation, it welcomed a new board of directors with the combined skill sets to take the shelter from the hard-working core to business standards in operations. The agency now enjoys the fruits of the labors of all these kind people, with both facilities and programming expanded and improved.
Most importantly, SPCHS has rehomed more than 12,000 pets since its inception with a significantly below industry standard return rate.
In 2020, our shelter took in 524 cats and dogs, finding forever homes for 430 and returning 76 to their owners with the remaining balance at the shelter waiting for their forever home or transferred to another agency. Our shelter manager and adoption counselors work with potential adopters helping them find the perfect match.
In support of our mission to reduce pet overpopulation through community outreach, SPCHS funded reduced cost spay/neuters for 150 household cats and dogs. Thanks to a grant from the “We Love Our Pets” license plate program many of the household spay/neuters were provided with just a $10 co-pay. Our Community Cat Advocate assisted and educated many community members with the trap, neuter/spay, return (TNR) process for community (feral) cats. With her support, 40 community (feral) cats were altered, vaccinated and returned to their colony or location.
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 inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups
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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?
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.
South Pacific County Humane Society
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Ms. Sandy Clancy
Sandra Clancy
Kathy Condron
Patti Lee
Joyce Lang
Richard Lock
Paul Lee
Robyn Handley
Jim Sherman
Kelly Spall
Daneka Ewert
Greg Holmes
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 ? Yes -
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? Yes
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
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data