Follow up with the adopter after 2 days, 10 days, and 1ВЅ months. Whether or not an adopter gets to meet an animal face-to-face before bringing them home, there are bound to be some bumps in the road during the transition phase. For equines, have the contact information for various equine transporters available to share with adopters. Many companies will accept small caged pets as long as you call ahead and provide all the information. Be mindful of the adopterвЂ™s schedule, and for smaller animals, consider offering to deliver the animal to them with a paid rideshare if needed.Email a copy of the contract to the adopters and offer an online or phone payment option.Have your adoption contract ready to go and utilize a digital signing tool like DocuSign.Put the link to your adoption application prominently in the animalвЂ™s online bio and be sure to include it any social media promotion or virtual adoption events.Virtual adoptions can be more complex than typical in-person adoptions, so make your application and adoption processes as easy as possible.

Be sure to offer your foster volunteer the opportunity to have a staff member from your organization on the call, too. In addition to having them share all the animalвЂ™s great attributes, make sure they include details about the animalвЂ™s transition to the home and any habits that may be beneficial for a potential adopter to know. Make sure the foster volunteer is prepared for the call, and ask them to prioritize being open, honest, and transparent about the animal. Virtual meet-and-greets via Zoom or another video conferencing platform are a great way for potential adopters to see what a dog,В cat, or horseВ is really like in a home environment.

Incorporate all the great content from your fosters in your promotions.

For more challenging animals who may not be as easy to adopt, be sure to include them prominently on your websiteвЂ™s adoptable animalsВ page.

For example, you could host a virtual event featuring animals with Disney names, animals with orange fur, or horses who have all been trained in a certain style. Get creative and come up with an exciting theme that allows you to group animals in a fun way.

Virtual adoption events-where multiple animals are showcased in tandem on your organizationвЂ™s social media pages-have worked well for the ASPCA.

Be Strategic with Your PromotionДЄll animals have their own personalities and quirks, so think carefully about which promotional tools would highlight a specific animal best. Encourage foster volunteers to post their fosters on their social media channels, and train them to become an Adoption Ambassador, a special role that allows them to find and approve potential adopters and complete the adoption process. They should also write a few sentences about what their foster animal likes and dislikes, what makes them unique, and what type of home may be the best fit.

Ask foster volunteers to promote their fosters by taking lots of enticing photos that show off theirВ true personality. No one knows a foster animalВ better than their foster family. Here are five tips for working with foster families to place animals using technology and social distancing. With the COVID-19 pandemic, animal shelters have employed innovative techniques, including virtual adoptions, to continue moving dogs, cats, and horses out of the shelter and into foster and adoptive homes.

Adopt your own virtual horse