Maddie's Fund^® to Award $50,000 for Good Customer Service

70 Opportunities for Shelters & Rescues to Win

Maddie's Fund is awarding $50,000 in prize money to Petfinder.com member shelters and rescue groups in the U.S. who demonstrate good customer service.

From July 13 through September 18 there will be three ways to win cash awards!

Rescue groups--Check your in-box!
Each week, Petfinder.com will randomly e-mail three member rescue groups with questions about an available dog or cat posted on their website. If they get helpful information about that animal within 24 hours, the rescue group wins $500.
Shelters—Answer the Phone!
Each week, Petfinder.com will randomly call three shelters with questions about an available cat or dog posted on the website. If a live person answers the phone and provides helpful information about that animal (or connects the caller to someone who does), the shelter wins $500.
Be there live with a winning smile!
An “adopter” will randomly visit one selected shelter in a different state each week. If the “adopter” reports that the shelter experience was positive, pleasant and helpful, the shelter will win $2,000.

FAQ’s

Why are you rewarding good customer service with cash prizes?
Maddie’s Fund and Petfinder.com believe that good customer service saves lives. The first step in good customer service is to capitalize on the public’s enthusiasm for adopting by responding right away when initial contact is made. The second step is to make a potential adopter’s experience positive and helpful.

We hope our cash prizes will encourage shelters and rescues to assess their customer service and entice them to improve it if it is lacking.

Why now?
The timing coincides perfectly with The Shelter Pet Project, (www.theshelterpetproject.org) a national three-year Ad Council campaign sponsored by Maddie’s Fund and The Humane Society of the United States in partnership with Petfinder.com and the entire animal welfare movement. Utilizing TV, radio, print, outdoor, and an interactive website created pro bono by Draftfcb Chicago, and with an annual commercial value of tens of millions of dollars, this campaign will encourage millions of people who are looking for a companion animal to make shelter and rescue dogs and cats their first choice for adoption. It is expected that shelters and rescues will be inundated with new adopters once the campaign launches in August 2009. The Shelter Pet Project can be significantly leveraged if shelters and rescues have good customer service programs in place.

Will you post the winners?
Maddie’s Fund and Petfinder.com will post the winning shelters and rescues each week. We will also enumerate how many shelters and rescues we e-mailed, called and visited who missed out on easy money!

When will shelters and rescues get their prizes?
The Petfinder.com Foundation will notify winners immediately and distribute cash awards provided by Maddie’s Fund every week.

How can I learn more about good customer service?
For a list of good customer service resources, click here.

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Foundation in Action

Generator Grants

$1,000,000 in generator grants to over 500 shelters in 2009
Over $300,000 in vaccination grants in 2008 and 2009
Over $1,000,000.00 in Disaster Relief grant awards since 2003
Disaster preparedness grants awarded in 2008:
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Over $150,000 to shelters through our Sponsor a Pet program
Over $350,000 for Hide, Perch & Go boxes for care and feeding in 2008/2009