Fixing the Future

Making Friends and Influencing People

Nobody likes a know-it-all. So whenever we’ve gone out to talk to others in the community, be they
vets, shelter representatives or those engaged in the hard front-line business of rescue, we’ve been careful to focus more on asking questions than volunteering answers.

Sometimes, though, we’ve found that it’s important to speak up.

We’ve had some interesting encounters as we’ve gone out seeking partners and supporters in the community. We’ve found that most rescue groups are thrilled to hear what we’re doing and anxious for us to open our doors. As proof, more than three dozen already have committed to working with us.

When we have run into resistance, it mostly has been because of concerns that partnering with us would upset existing vet relationships that have been built up over the years.

We certainly can understand that concern, but our response is twofold:
1)    We aren’t out to replace existing providers – there’s nothing to be gained by doing that. Our goal is to be able to provide spay/neuter to large numbers of additional animals, those who otherwise would never be touched.
2)    Most vets in private practice probably would be relieved to know they didn’t have to provide this routine service to rescue groups, that there was a viable alternative that allowed them to devote their time to other (more profitable) facets of animal care.

Of course, we know there will be exceptions. Some vets at least initially may perceive the UCAN clinic as a threat to their livelihoods. Based on the Humane Alliance experience and that of other similar clinics around the country, however, we expect any such resistance to melt quickly once we’re up and running and they see that we are serving a totally different demographic.

Most importantly, we remind the rescue folks that it’s all about supporting the mission of ending pet over-population. That’s what they are buying into, an investment in the future. Vets in private practice who do spay/neuters as favors for rescue groups certainly are helping these groups in tangible, important ways. Yet spaying or neutering a few animals here and there isn’t making a dent in solving the bigger problem. To do so, we need to join together in support of this larger effort.

Animal shelters are a different story entirely. Here, political concerns tend to prevail, which is understandable when dealing with organizations that receive public funding. Alienating local vets obviously is not good politics for shelter managers, so we’ve found that the key here is to emphasize the advantages outlined in #2 above.

Shelters have limited resources, too, so doesn’t it make more sense for them to use their own vets (or local community vets) for more serious health issues, or to treat shelter animals for conditions that may now cause them to be euthanized? It’s all about running a business, and when you can get more bang for your buck by outsourcing a portion of your spay/neuter business, the benefits become apparent.

As we’ve gone out and about in the community, we’ve found that we’ve been able to influence a lot of folks and even change some minds. We’ve cemented a number of relationships and we’ve opened some surprising new doors, which is encouraging for the future of the animals we are all working to save.

Bottom line: When it comes to forming effective community partnerships, we’ve found there’s definitely much to be gained by talking.

Mission + People + Organization = Results

The above formula is easy to write, but very difficult to do --- particularly in a non-profit organization.

Mission
In our case we spent almost all of last year trying to reach a consensus on our Mission, i.e. who we were and where we were going. One might think this would be an easy task; it was not. While we never did achieve a consensus, we did make a decision, i.e. spay/neuter, and more specifically Humane Alliance.

+ People
Late last year, we began recruiting to the Mission. Our criteria were simple, i.e. does the candidate have:

• A commitment to the Mission
• The unique and/or complementary skills we are seeking
• A willingness to serve
• The time to serve

We believed then and we continue to believe that if we cannot convince people to give of their time and talents, we will not be able to convince them to give of their money.

By the end of January, we had successfully recruited the following people: former president of the League for Animal Welfare (the oldest no-kill shelter in Cincinnati), marketing manager from the Cincinnati Zoo, corporate fundraiser, advertising company executive, strategic planning and public relations consultant, VP of Corporate Communications, corporate general counsel, Certified Public Accountant, CFO, VP corporate finance, Price Waterhouse Coopers management consultant, VP of Corporate Information Technology (IT), and small business IT consultant.

By the end of February, as planning for the Clinic intensified, we added a commercial developer, a commercial architect, and a construction/engineering manager.

Our recruitment efforts have led us to the following conclusions:

• Acceptance and respect for people from all walks of life is an absolute requirement
• Quality people attract other quality people

+ Organization
At the end of March at our Annual Meeting, it was time to elect officers. The incumbent president called for a fundamental change in the Presidency: “For this organization, last year was the year of looking inward, of fixing what needed to be fixed, of redefining our Mission, and refocusing our efforts. This will be the year of looking outward, of building a regional coalition, developing an identity and a ‘brand’, and formulating a message that can change hearts and minds and attitudes. We need a different kind of President.”

We answered the call and chose for our new President Carol Sanger, a retired VP of Corporate Communications from Federated Department Stores, a recognized leader in the community, and a recent recipient of a “Lifetime Community Service Award” from the University of Cincinnati. The outgoing president is this year’s vice president and she remains a force for organizational development.

The previous example tells you all you need to know about our approach to building an organization, i.e. put the right people in the right place at the right time and setup the organization in such a way that people can make the maximum contribution.

= Results
Well, the bottom line is we don’t have any results yet --- and won’t for another 6 months. There's a lot of good work being done by a lot of good people, but only results will benefit the animals --- and so we look forward to the day when the marketplace will be able to judge us by our results.

Until then, the readers of this blog will have the opportunity to “look through a peep hole in the construction fence” and watch what we're doing. Hopefully there's something here of value to you in your own efforts. If not, spectators are always welcome.

-steve-

“Spaying pets. Educating people. Saving lives.”

"If you build it, they will come"

This is the most memorable line from the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams". In Dyersville, Iowa, Ray Kinsella is walking through his cornfield when he hears a voice "If you build it, he will come." Ray plows under half his corn crop, builds and lights a baseball stadium, shrugs off the bank's attempts to foreclose --- and waits. In Ray's words "I have built something completely irrational."

But make no mistake, this movie is not about baseball. Baseball is only the metaphor to tell a story about faith and belief, dreams and the courage to pursue them, and the triumph of the human spirit.

This movie could be about us. In fact, it could be the movie for the spay/neuter movement. It's about defying all that seems sane in order to follow something unexplained, yet undeniably real.

Unlike Ray, my guess is that most of us make a point not to listen to any voice coming from a cornstalk. More likely, the voice we listen to comes from within --- or from above. This voice calls to us and we are changed --- a "dream" inspires and motivates and turns passion into purpose, "belief" turns feelings into action and pumps courage through our veins. And so, without experience, without money, without knowing how, and perhaps without knowing exactly why, we decide to act. We take the first step and then the second and then we are in full pursuit. To wit:

Peter Marsh, a New Hampshire lawyer, convinced his state legislature to fund statewide spay/neuter. Barbara Greenstein, former off-Broadway performer and a comfortable retiree in Hilton Head, is starting a clinic. Ruth Steinberger, born and raised in the Bronx, is setting up spay/neuter programs across the poorest counties and Indian reservations in Oklahoma. Frank Hamilton, retired Army general and PhD, just opened the ACT clinic in Tampa with his wife Linda. And then there's Aimee St. Arnaud, Peggy Kaplan, Karla Kamstra and Dr. Nancy Ferguson, Dr. Leslie D. Appel, Betsy Boxer, the founders of Best Friends and No More Homeless Pets, and all the others who have answered the voice and are pursuing a dream.

Which brings us to Humane Alliance. Those of us who are looking to Humane Alliance as our sponsor, mentor, and coach will receive certain tangible things, e.g. a proven medical protocol, design/build assistance, vet recruitment assistance, staff recruitment advice, training, a 290-page training and operations manual, etc.

But underneath it all, we will receive something of far greater value --- the message (and the proof) that dreaming and believing are fundamental and vital --- and possible. Humane Alliance could have been quite comfortable operating a 22,000 surgery spay/neuter clinic in Asheville NC, going to conferences, and telling everyone how they did it. But that was not the choice they made.

They started a national effort that sponsored 8 clinics in 2005, has 22 scheduled for this year, and anticipates 50 next year. They have retrofitted a semi-truck to be a 120-bed spay/neuter clinic for cats that can be driven to troublesome areas like New Orleans and downtown Los Angeles. They have plans for a regional spay/neuter training center in Asheville. Perhaps Jonathan Livingston Seagull best expresses their spirit and their message to us:

When you come to the edge of all the light you have known
And are about to step out into darkness
Faith is knowing that one of two things will happen
There will be something firm to stand on
Or you will be taught to fly

In my own case, there had better be "something firm to stand on" because this body won't fly.

The final message from the movie might be this. People may think you're crazy if you plow up a field for a dream, but plow it up --- or you may spend the rest of your life wondering.

This movie speaks to me --- but then again, for me, suspending reality comes easily and "feel good" is a daily pursuit. And so I say to those "heroes" already in the movement and to those just now joining, "Watch this movie. I think it will speak to you, and in its images you may actually see your own reflection".

-steve-

"Spaying pets. Educating people. Saving lives."