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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11When an animal shelter is crowded, useful communication does more than announce that kennels are full: it shows what is happening, explains it in plain language, and tells people exactly how they can help. In Best Friends Podcast episode 149, “Capacity Crisis Marketing,” KC Pet Project’s Tori Fugate and Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter’s Misty Valenta share approaches to making that connection between public messaging and day-to-day shelter work.
The episode, published September 28, 2023, records a session from the 2023 Best Friends National Conference. Its central caution is that marketing cannot solve capacity by itself: “We can’t only adopt our way out of this.”
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Explain what “over capacity” means with facts and plain language
People outside animal welfare may not know shelter terminology or understand how a full building affects animals and staff. Start with what is true now, then translate it into practical consequences: how many animals are in care, whether arrivals are outpacing departures, and which animals or services need attention.
The presentation advises shelters to use data to tell the story and to “Report truth, not rumors.” A dashboard can show animals in care, arrivals, departures, and comparisons with previous weeks. Put labels and a short explanation beside the figures so readers can understand what changed and why it matters.
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The episode page describes shelters as having faced a capacity crisis for two years because intakes were rising faster than adoptions. That is the episode’s 2023 framing, not a current national measurement or a quantified finding. Neither the episode page nor the presentation reports measured outcomes showing that a particular marketing tactic increased adoptions or website traffic.
Show the pressure, then give people a next step
Concrete visuals can help community members grasp a situation that a general appeal may leave abstract. The presenters’ examples include kennel photos, facility walkthroughs, graphs paired with explanatory statistics, and dashboards. Choose material that accurately represents current conditions and protects animals’ welfare and privacy.
Every urgent message should tell its audience what to do next. An appeal can direct people to adoption, foster sign-up, a neighborhood meeting, or another specific form of help. Make the action and the route to take it unmistakable; avoid asking the public to solve a problem without explaining what the shelter needs.
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Choose channels for the audiences you need to reach
Capacity communication is not limited to social media. The session describes using press releases and direct reporter outreach, city or county newsletters and communication channels, neighborhood meetings, and social media. The episode description also highlights email and text programs.
- For local residents: use social posts, newsletters, email, and text to share timely needs and direct links to action.
- For media: provide useful statistics and context, explain why animals are arriving, and be candid about the shelter experience.
- For civic and neighborhood audiences: use local communication channels or meetings, with prepared talking points and a clear ask.
- For staff, volunteers, and visitors: make current animal needs and ways to help easy to find.
If the crisis continues, refresh the explanation rather than repeating the same appeal indefinitely. What has changed? Which group of animals most needs placement? Is the priority foster capacity, adoption, help returning lost pets, or support that can keep pets with their families?
Match adoption and foster campaigns to actual needs
A promotion works best when its audience and offer reflect the animals the shelter needs to place. The presentation offers examples such as campaigns for big dogs or adult cats, and organizing appeals by species, weight, age, or length of stay. It also suggests trying weekends or holidays and adjusting hours when appropriate.
Foster appeals need both a clear invitation and a workable response process. The deck recommends having a process ready to match interested foster homes with animals quickly. A simple option—such as a day outing or weekend stay—may give people a manageable way to start, provided it fits the shelter’s policies and animals’ needs.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Before launching an appeal, decide who will respond to inquiries, what information applicants need, and how the shelter will connect a person with the right animal. Generating interest without the capacity to follow up can undermine an otherwise strong message.
Use animal-tracking routines to make outreach specific
The presentation describes two shelters’ internal examples. They are examples of local practice, not universal standards or required procedures.
KC Pet Project’s at-risk list
KC Pet Project’s slide describes an at-risk list for dogs with quality-of-life concerns, harder placements, or a length of stay of 30 days or more. The organization described weekly meetings, weekly capacity-for-care rounds with multiple teams, a spreadsheet, and cross-department accountability for outcomes.
Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter’s tracking
Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter’s slide describes daily rounds, QR codes for raising concerns, weekly meetings and a spreadsheet to track dogs’ needs, and monthly length-of-stay lists shared with staff, volunteers, and visitors.
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These routines connect communication with operational knowledge: teams can identify which animals need attention, keep information visible, and shape appeals around real needs rather than broad assumptions.
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Pair urgent appeals with longer-term prevention
Public communication can invite immediate help, but the session also points to work that may reduce avoidable pressure over time. Recommendations include pet-retention support, examining where animals are coming from, and directing support toward those areas. The deck also identifies staffing or volunteering to help lost pets return home.
Intake-location information can help an organization consider where practical support may be useful to keep pets with their families. These are recommendations in the presentation, not reported evaluations proving a particular intervention’s effect. Shelters should describe such efforts as work they are pursuing, not as guaranteed outcomes.
What the episode does—and does not—establish
The session provides communication ideas and examples of shelter routines, not a controlled comparison of campaigns. It does not give adoption or traffic increases, baselines, time periods, or causal results for the tactics it discusses. It does recommend monitoring adoption numbers and website traffic alongside operational data, so organizations can assess what happens after an appeal without claiming an effect the evidence does not show.
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For the full session context, see Best Friends Podcast Ep. 149: Capacity Crisis Marketing and the linked Capacity Crisis Marketing presentation. The episode page also lists Best Friends training resources, including a free Managed Intake and Admissions online course and training playbooks.
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