Now is the perfect time to reach out to your foster caregivers and see how you are doing as an organization. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, animal shelter and rescue organizations have seen an increase in foster caregiving. All of the additional focus on fostering presents a great opportunity to hone in on what your organization is doing well, and what could use a little tinkering.

The Foster Assessment System Tool, or FAST-15 for short, will help you with this task.  The FAST-15 is a free automated survey tool to assess engagement and satisfaction of current foster volunteers. By surveying your foster volunteers this tool will help you identify your strengths and make recommendations for improvement. 

Learn how your foster volunteers feel about their work with your organization. Look for ways to retain current foster caregivers. Develop stronger customer service for your foster caregivers. FAST-15 helps with all of this.

If it’s been a year since your last survey, you should do it again and see how you are doing.

Organizations with foster volunteers (a minimum of 10 volunteers) are encouraged to apply. Once approved, you will receive a survey link which your Foster Care Manager/Coordinator can send to your foster care volunteers. (Learn more about that process.) 

“Foster volunteers are so critical to our ability to save and better animal lives. Happy and engaged foster volunteers translates to happy and healthy animals,” explains Dr. Steven Rogelberg, PhD and designer of the tool at UNC Charlotte. “Fast-15 is an easy to use tool, built for a busy animal foster program, that allows us to make informed choices on how to improve the volunteer experience.” 

Ready to identify small changes you can make to better your foster volunteer experience? Learn more about FAST-15 and apply today!