Foster Coordinator - Job Description
Reports to: Community Engagement Manager
Full time, hourly position. Responsible for an on-call phone for at least 1 weeks each month.
Summary: Foster Coordinator is responsible for the general health, wellness, and organization of all animals in the various foster programs; recruiting and providing training, mentorship, and 24-hour on call assistance for all foster volunteers; and managing and maintaining organization of all foster programs and materials.
Specific duties of the Foster Coordinator include, but are not limited to:
Full time, hourly position. Responsible for an on-call phone for at least 1 weeks each month.
Summary: Foster Coordinator is responsible for the general health, wellness, and organization of all animals in the various foster programs; recruiting and providing training, mentorship, and 24-hour on call assistance for all foster volunteers; and managing and maintaining organization of all foster programs and materials.
Specific duties of the Foster Coordinator include, but are not limited to:
- Recruit, train, mentor, and serve as primary contact for foster volunteers
- Facilitate movement of shelter animals into foster care
- Ensure all animals have clear, appropriate photos before entering any foster program
- Monitor health and behavior of animals in foster care and report any important findings/issues to medical personnel or management as appropriate
- Coordinate booster, recheck, and drop off times with foster volunteers, and schedule them on foster calendar
- Ensure foster animals’ follow-up vaccinations, dewormer, and flea/heartworm prevention are given on time (check Tasks list regularly)
- Coordinate with Veterinary Technician to ensure foster animals receive appropriate and timely medical checks and treatments for basic issues
- Coordinate with Medical Director for foster animals to receive more advanced medical checks and treatments
- Manage Foster Recheck Binder
- Manage Dog’s Day Out Binder
- Select and prepare candidates for Dog’s Day Out Program based on feedback/recommendations of other staff, coordinators, and management.
- Counsel/demonstrate the management or solution for basic behavioral issues (with a focus on positive reinforcement techniques)
- Keep all foster materials and programs up to date, and provide appropriate orientation materials, manuals, and handouts to all foster volunteers
- Follow up with long-term fosters regularly to ensure their satisfaction and compliance with our foster programs and services
- Coordinate with Shelter Manager and Transport Coordinator to move foster animals through our transport and/or rescue programs, ensuring they receive all necessary care required for a particular outcome
- Coordinate with Cat Coordinator about kittens in need of foster, about kittens in need of alteration, and about kittens returning from foster to allow time to plan for space offsite/adoption events
- Develop and maintain advanced or specialized foster parent training program to ensure continual growth of foster program
- Carry a cellular phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week when on call to allow for rapid response to foster animal emergencies. When on call, must have a plan in place for quickly and efficiently responding to various foster emergencies. Alternates call with Community Engagement Manager and other approved staff
- Ensure shelter has all necessary items to prepare foster packs, coordinate with social media personnel to make call outs for donations of foster items, and prepare foster packs for outgoing foster animals
- Manage the Southern Pines Foster Network Facebook page and Southern Pines Foster Group
- Keep all staff up to date on changes to foster programs; provide staff training for foster program procedures as needed; ensure that staff are providing accurate information to foster volunteers
- Uphold the shelter’s values and mission statement during interactions with the public and other staff
- Report to Community Engagement Manager about consistent or serious issues with foster programs, foster volunteers, or staff involved with foster programs, and work to devise solutions to these issues.
- Track data on foster programs, and utilize it to create a monthly foster report to be submitted to Community Engagement Manager by the second Wednesday of each month
- Report number of animal care days in foster
- Report number of active fosters (has fostered within the last month); compare to average number of active fosters, and, if necessary, propose methods to reinvigorate and reinvest both active and inactive foster volunteers in the program
- Report number of animals sent into foster in the past month (General, Adoption Ambassador, Slumber Party, Foster to Surrender); compare to average number of animals fostered in a given month; break down types of foster per month
- Key accomplishments of foster program for the past month
- Highlight foster or foster volunteer of the month
- Ensure foster animal locations and foster volunteer information is accurate in Shelterluv
- Manage the foster database using Volgistics software
- Send out a monthly newsletter to all foster volunteers with updates, events, and other pertinent information
- Attend and/or assist Volunteer Coordinator and Adoptions Coordinators in organizing special events pertinent to foster programs
- Perform other duties as assigned by Community Engagement Manager or other members of management
- Working with volunteers
- Remember that volunteers donate their time, talent, and energy and are not compensated monetarily for their contributions
- Make a commitment to train volunteers: orient them to assigned area, assign work, answer questions, and assist with their needs
- Greet all volunteers that you see, and thank them for their help. Make them feel like they’re part of the team
- Be mindful of your communication around volunteers; keep internal conversations internal, and only involve volunteers in the conversation when appropriate
- Build relationships with volunteers. Volunteers with an emotional connection will continue to volunteer with us
- Provide feedback to volunteers when they do something well
- Offer encouragement, training, and constructive correction if you volunteers break protocol. Feedback should be non-confrontational and specific
- Request volunteer assistance when you need it by asking volunteers
- Request volunteer assistance ahead of time by contacting the Volunteer Coordinator
- Engage with volunteers through the Southern Pines Volunteers Facebook group
Top Priorities:
- Recruitment and promotion on Facebook, phone calls, etc.
- Focus on Dogs Day out; make sure lists are updated daily
- Have all animals identified as in need of foster posted within 3 hours of identification
- Have all urgent animals in need of foster posted within 1 hour of arrival (neonates, injured/ill animals, etc.)
