Making the Numbers COUNT! Tanya Hilgendorf Humane Society of Huron - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Making the Numbers COUNT!

Tanya Hilgendorf Humane Society of Huron Valley

Why Numbers Matter— What We Will Cover

• Making Objective Decisions
• Making and Monitoring

Goals/Continuous Improvement

• Making Better Investments
• Justifying Investments (T&A)
• Managing Operations/Problems
• Giving Employees/Volunteers

Sense of Accomplishment

First, three caveats . . .

Each Animal Treated as an Individual

Cat URI Trends

Even when your numbers are right, your conclusions can be wrong Superior Township, Pitbull Intake 2014 Superior Township, Pitbull Intake 2015

Adults Puppies Total Terrier, Jack Russell Total 3 1 4 Terrier, Pit Bull Total 32 8 40 Terrier, Yorkshire Total 3 3 Adults Puppies Total Terrier, Jack Russell Total 1 1 Terrier, Pit Bull Total 11 1 12 Terrier, Yorkshire Total 1 1

Making Objective Decisions

Making a decision without personal bias and emotion is one of the hardest and most important jobs of a leader.

• Emotion highjacks critical thinking
• Emotion creates powerful stories that stick in people’s heads
• Sticking with them helps us deal with fears, gives sense of control
• People short on training, time and data draw their own conclusions
• Need to verify the story or the fact that everyone thinks is true

Animal Welfare is full of emotion, anecdote & folklore

Making and Monitoring Goals/Success

• You can’t run a race without

knowing the start line and the finish line

• Goals need to SMART –

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant & Timely

• Continuous Improvement

Investment of Resources

• All resources are

limited

• Always want to be

investing wisely, on what is most important and what work

• Demonstrating effectiveness to

government leaders, tax payers, donors, volunteers

• “We treated 35 sick dogs with heartworm

that would have otherwise been euthanized”

• “We offered adoption special for kittens and

increased adoptions by 45% compared to last year.”

• 89% of kids who completed the class could

correctly identify fear signals in a dog compared to 19% beforehand

• Critical to Transparency and

Accountability

Justifying Investment of Resources

Managing Operations The Ins and Outs

Managing Operations

In the Middle – Length of Stay

Pit Bull Beagle Puppy Owner/Guardian Surrender Adoption 30 12.4 3.5 Return to Owner 2.2 N/A N/A Euthanasia 30.6 N/A N/A Average LOS 26.4 12.4 3.5 Stray/Seized Adoption 40.9 11.8 9.5 Euthanasia 32.5 N/A N/A Return to Owner 3.6 0.7 2.7 Average LOS 29.6 6.9 7.8

Managing Operations

In the Middle – Flow and Stages

$35 per day times 3000 days = $105,000

Managing Operations

In the Middle – Seasonality

Managing Operations

In the Middle – Contagious Disease Rate

Managing Operations

In the Middle – Dog Adoptions

(RW separated out)

Managing Operations

In the Middle – Results of Specials

Adult dogs adopted during special in 2016 = 23 Adult dogs adopted during same time in 2015 = 23

Managing Operations

Other Numbers to Monitor for Quality of Care…

• Live Release Rate
• Contagious Disease Rate
• Total Days of Care
• Waitlist or Animals Turned Away
• Number of Animals in Care vs. Capacity
• Treatable Animals in Your Care
• Number of Bites
• Died or Lost in Shelter

Making Good Decisions

• Celebrate success with the

external and internal community

• Prevent burnout &

compassion fatigue

• Gives staff and volunteers

feeling a sense of accomplishment

• Keeps their “eyes on the prize”

Results Matter Most

Yahoo! 95% SAVED!!!

95% SAVED!