Ideas for placing fostered SAFE horses

[gypsygirl]

Hi all, maybe there is another thread that has suggested this, but I thought it would be a good time to start brainstorming on what can be done to help place the fostered SAFE horses, make room for more, and gain exposure.

I have a few ideas, but I am new at all of this. I will throw some out there and feel free to give your constructive critisizm or your yeeha! I think if someone has tried an idea and it failed I would sure like to know about it before I waste my time.

Instead of having one person volunteer to handle a certain horse and put up flyers etc...what about having it broke down into marketing catigories and each person would handle that catigory. For example...One person to post all horses on internet ads, one person to handle correspondence with places that might be interested in the horses, like camps, rehabilitation facilities etc...., one person to go out and take pictures and post on a regular basis, one person to call the foster homes and collect any new information learned and post it, and everyone put up flyers in their area, like at feed stores and tack supply places. That way one horse has coverage all over, not just where that one person resides.

Another idea is to plan a day or two a month and try to all go to the foster homes at once and help with grooming, mucking, handling etc.. and show support to these people that we do think of them and want to help. Maybe we could make those picture days as well

Any other ideas???

[rainydayride]

Thanks for the ideas... I think we also need to figure out which are the best sites to use for advertising.

And we need people to locate willing, capable foster homes. (See the need to find a new foster for Sarah asap since her current foster home is being sold.)

[gypsygirl]

I thought I would make up a flyer for each horse with all its information and contact info plus a picture and email the completed flyers to everyone that volunteers to put them up that way the people that don't have time to sit and put together the flyers can put some up anyway. Unless there is someone out there that is very good with computers and pictures. I have dialup so my system is slow, but it's doable.

I can also volunteer to keep taking updated pictures of the horses that are close to where I live. I am not very familiar with what sites to post on. The only ones I have ever looked at were Dreamhorse, Horsetopia, and equinehits. I see people talking about so many others though. Maybe someone that frequents the sites a lot and knows about them and how to post could volunteer for that catagory?

I feel a bit off planning things and not running it by someone first. Who should I ask?

[diamondindykin]

I think we should create a volunteer position for Advertising and Marketing.

[jaybird]

First off, thank you GypsyGirl for putting forth such great ideas. It's nice to have people like you involved!

As of right now, I am taking care of the Internet ads for all the SAFE horses. I have ads posted on Dreamhorse, Horsetopia, and AcmeHorses. I would prefer to continue to handle this for now, just for continuity. The Adoption Coordinators are of course welcome to edit and update the ads for their horses. And if anyone can suggest any good Internet ad sites that we are not using, please do.

As for flyers, I created a flyer back when we were with CBER, and I can easily create one for SAFE as well. So no need to reinvent the wheel on that one. When they're done, I'll post something to let people know and then if you send me your email address, I can send you a PDF file of the flyer to print out and post in your area.

I love your idea about having one person to handle correspondence with places that might be interested in the horses, like camps, rehabilitation facilities etc. If that is something you'd like to tackle, GypsyGirl, that would be terrific. I'd just recommend that you discuss your placement ideas with the group, as some people have expressed concern about placing horses with rehab groups, as an example. You might want to consider making contact with 4H groups. I'm sure there are lots of places out there we could try.

thanks again, you are certainly on the right track!

[schwung]

We also have ads that myself and Diamondindykin have placed on NorthwestEquestrian.com

[maurina51]

If you are interested, I found a horse classifieds site that will post ads for free for horses needing to be adopted. Ads can include photos.

Link is www.theultimatehorsesource.com