Atlanta Humane Society, 146 years and counting

Atlanta Humane Society has been a beacon of hope for unwanted animals for more than a century.

So in March 2019 we were delighted when their Alpharetta and Atlanta adoption centers joined our free shelter partner program. And we were delighted once again when in September 2019 their new Duluth campus joined as well.

Atlanta Humane Society’s full-service clinic became a veterinary partner just a few weeks later. They offer veterans in our program a 10 percent discount off of their already affordable pet care prices.

Our partnership is off to a great start, thanks to free tools we make available to every program partner and the shelter’s simple, yet effective marketing.

Scout, Larry, Astro, Bach, Butters, and Shay!

If your organization has ever launched a new program or partnership, you know it can take time to gain traction.

It took only a few weeks for Pets for Patriots to celebrate our first adoption with Atlanta Humane Society.

Jack is a Marine Corps veteran, excited at the prospect of adding a companion cat to his life. He fell in love with nine year-old Bach, who – as an adult pet – met one of our adoption criteria.

Since that first adoption we have worked together to save a special needs dog, a three-legged kitten, and other pets who are often the most overlooked by adopters.

Working with our partners we save lives at both ends of the leash. But there is a human hero for every pet adopted. Veterans whose lives are forever changed with the love of a companion pet. And military families who share that unique joy that only a pet can deliver.

So how did Atlanta Humane Society ring up such early success?

It takes a village

It was no accident that Atlanta Humane Society joined our partner program. In fact, the seeds of the relationship were planted months before they ever applied to Pets for Patriots.

One of the members of the shelter’s leadership team had worked previously at another Pets for Patriots partner organization and helped make that relationship a lifesaving success.

But having a champion is not enough. It takes more than one passionate person for a partnership to work.

So this executive reached out to other members of shelter leadership while we provided supportive presentations to make the case. Once the leadership was all on board, the shelter and subsequently its veterinary clinic joined our partner program.

Sharing online

The shelter’s marketing team created a dedicated web page featuring our partnership. It can be found under the shelter’s ‘Adopt’ navigation, making it easy for potential adopters to find.

We granted specific permission for the use of our logo to help co-brand this important communications tool.

The page provides a clear overview of our program. It tells adopters that they must be pre-approved by Pets for Patriots – and has helpful information, such as our proof of service requirements and pet adoption criteria.

Further, the page outlines the benefits the shelter provides to veterans adopting through our partnership. These include fee-waived adoptions and quality, discounted veterinary care.

Promote, promote, promote!

Every Pets for Patriots partner has access to a range of free print and digital tools to promote our work together. Atlanta Humane Society makes good use of some of our most effective tools, and even created some of their own.

A web badge is one such example. While the shelter did not use one that we provide, they did create a badge that is on-brand. And it links to the dedicated Pets for Patriots page on their site.

This badge stands out because it is the only one on the organization’s website that features a person in military attire. It is prominent and visible on all adoption-related pages of their site.

Because the badge is seen repeatedly when users browse the website it increases the chances that they will learn about our partnership and apply.

Sharing in shelter

While most adopters start their pet search on shelter websites, it is equally important to have information available in the shelter as well.

Atlanta Humane Society once again used ideas from our free asset library to create tools that work best for their shelter environments.

The marketing team at Atlanta Humane Society created a one-page flyer for distribution at their shelter locations. It mirrors information posted on the dedicated Pets for Patriots web page they created, but it designed to be easily shared in shelter. Click here to download their flyer for inspiration.

Pets for Patriots provides every new shelter partner with a set of rubberized, reusable kennel tags. These are placed on the kennels of program-eligible dogs and cats to give them added visibility to potential adopters.

Atlanta Humane Society created printer-friendly kennel cards, seen above, to affix to kennels of dogs and cats available for adoption through our program. They work because they have a simple message, are easy to read, and include a call-to-action to ask a shelter team member for details.

Interested to become an adoption or veterinary partner? Learn more at our website.