Community Engagement
Whether you are a government official, senior staff at an animal shelter or a member of the public working to transition your community to No Kill, the very first step to success is engaging others to share your vision. Doing that alone can be difficult, because there are many misconceptions about what No Kill is and isn't. Furthermore, because most people can be naturally resistant to change if they don't understand it, getting buy-in requires a comprehensive dialogue involving many stakeholders; and the dialogue often involves challenging topics about which people often have strong feelings.
Engaging your community in the No Kill discussion early is essential to achieving success.
Town hall meetings engage people in objective and meaningful ways, eliminating much of the emotion of the topic.
Engaging elected officials is crucial.
Engaging your community in the No Kill discussion early is essential to achieving success.
No Kill Learning has a proven and tested approach to conducting these conversations in objective and rational terms that comprehensively explains not only what No Kill is, what each of the components of the No Kill Equation are, but also how they work when implemented in different sorts of shelters in different kinds of communities, in order to begin the discussion in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. The specific approach is tailored to fit the specific audience, and can be adjusted to fit the following kinds of events:
Public Town Hall Meeting - Time Required: 2 - 4 Hours
A public town hall meeting is a constructive, productive and proactive way to engage a community in the No Kill discussion. It begins with a broad overview of No Kill and the No Kill Equation and then dives more deeply into each of the 11 components of the No Kill Equation. Ample opportunity is provided for public input and Q & A during and after the main presentations. This type of event is generally done in-person, but can also be done via video conference projected to one or more large screens at the main venue, thereby eliminating travel expenses. Town hall meetings are very effective at engaging all kinds of stakeholders in the No Kill discussion with maximum effectiveness and least resistance. Additionally, because they can engage all of the stake holders in a community at one time, they are very cost effective.
Estimated Cost: Two days of consultant travel time plus travel expenses (if required).
Organizational Meeting or Board Meeting - Time Required: 1 - 2 Hours
Getting an organization's staff or board constructively engaged in the No Kill discussion is critical to the success of that organization being successful in transitioning to No Kill. A meeting of this kind can generally be done via video conference and requires minimal preparation time, making it an inexpensive way to engage the people within an organization in the No Kill discussion in a planned and organized way.
Estimated Cost: Consultant's actual meeting time plus one hour of preparation time.
Public Hearings
Sometimes the discussion around No Kill involves proposed changes to laws, ordinances or codes that require expert testimony. No Kill learning provides this service at no charge, so long as the proposals conform to the general framework of the Companion Animal Protection Act (CAPA). However, travel expenses are required.
Estimated Cost: Travel expenses.