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Best Friends Animal Society’s episode 20, published July 2, 2020, explores how stories can connect people with animal-welfare work and encourage them to act. Its description points to adoption bios, social media, donor engagement and volunteer engagement as uses for storytelling. The episode page does not provide a transcript or evidence measuring whether a particular format increases adoptions or donations.
What the episode is about
“Telling Great Stories to Save Lives” presents storytelling as a way to build awareness and connect a community with animal-welfare work. The episode description says, “Every animal is an individual, and their journeys are as unique as they are.” That is the organization’s framing, not a quotation from one of the guests.
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The listed guests are Elizabeth Doyle, senior writing mentor and style editor at Best Friends; Claudia Perrone, creative content marketing manager at Best Friends; and Susan Russell, attorney, Archimedes co-founder, and author. The episode page does not include a transcript, so it cannot verify more specific advice or quotations from their conversation. Read the episode description and access its audio and video.
Where animal-welfare storytelling can be used
Adoption bios
The episode description says effective adoption bios lead to higher adoption rates, but it gives no study, measurement or estimate to support that claim. The practical point is to present an animal as an individual rather than as a generic profile. A bio can help a prospective adopter understand the animal’s personality and circumstances, but the episode page does not establish how much a bio changes adoption outcomes.
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Social media
The description argues that captivating stories can help organizations stand out amid the volume of social-media posts. It does not compare platforms or formats. For an organization applying the idea, the story should make clear what is happening, why it matters and what a reader can do next, without implying that a single post guarantees a result.
Donor and volunteer engagement
The episode frames storytelling as a way to build interest in giving time or money. Best Friends’ separate fundraising guidance pairs compelling stories with data showing how donations affect animal lifesaving. In practice, a story can make an animal’s or organization’s work understandable; supporting data is needed to substantiate claims about impact. The guidance also names grants, events, digital solicitations and major-donor relationships as possible fundraising approaches. See Best Friends’ fundraising guidance.
A useful way to shape a story
The episode page does not prescribe a specific storytelling formula. As editorial guidance, an animal-welfare organization can check each story against these questions:
- Who is the story about? Give the animal or people involved enough detail to be understood as individuals.
- What does the audience need to know? Include relevant context, while protecting privacy and avoiding claims the organization cannot verify.
- What supports the impact claim? Use appropriate data alongside a story when describing how donations or programs affect outcomes.
- What action is being requested? Make the next step clear, whether it is learning more, volunteering, adopting or donating.
- Where will it appear? Adapt length and presentation to the channel, and make the content accessible to the intended audience.
What the episode page does and does not establish
The page establishes the episode’s subject, publication date, guests and the applications named in its written description. It does not provide quantified results, cited studies, a transcript, or evidence that one story format reliably raises adoption or fundraising outcomes. Treat the claims about effective adoption bios and captivating stories as the episode’s framing, not as independently demonstrated effects.
The page also lists “Rexie Roo – Cat lives his best life on two legs,” “Purrfection – ‘Scentsational’ new fragrance for cats,” and Susan Russell’s book, “Gata Unbound: Klein’s Weird Evening & Archemedes’ Ear.” The listing identifies these as episode resources; it does not establish current availability or present the book as a shelter-marketing guide.
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