Kick Off the Year With Open Arms and $420,000 in Grant Prizes

Pilot new approaches that open doors to new adopters and volunteers…and get a grant for doing it! Along with 21 national organizations, California for All Animals is inviting you to kick off the new year by joining the 2023 Open Arms Challenge. This Challenge is all about spending the month of April introducing more accessible, equitable, and inclusive policies, marketing, partnerships and customer service. PLUS, there’s $420,000 in grant prizes available, and your shelter could qualify for a grant of up to $10,000.

What could your organization do in just 30 days? What could we all do together in 30 days? The possibilities are endless, and the impacts are measurable—and powerful. These month-long pilots prove you can start small to achieve big wins for pets and people in your community, as 2022 Open Arms Challengers like Animal Rescue League of Berks County can attest.

The Challenge gave ARL the perfect opportunity to explore new ways to connect more potential adopters to animals waiting for homes. They teamed up with their local Penn State University branch Spanish classes to bust language barriers and translate shelter communications, including newsletters and adoption-related materials.

The result? More languages led to more love for animals who needed homes and for the families who adopted them. With the spark of a single partnership, ARL created a more welcoming and inclusive culture, enhanced customer service and customer success, and made their adoption process more inviting and equitable.

“The bilingual signage incorporated around our building, the accessible website information, and our bilingual adoption paperwork made it possible for Spanish speakers such as Rafaela to have a smooth adoption experience,” notes Gen, ARL Adoption Counselor. “Upon arriving at our shelter, she was able to easily check-in online, complete an adoption profile, meet the animals she was interested in, and finally, adopt a dog, all in her native language. She was overjoyed to get to take her new companion home without feeling uncomfortable due to language barriers and can look back on her experience with a positive perspective.”

The approach will be different for every organization, but the spirit and goals are the same: increase inclusivity and provide a welcoming environment for all staff (paid and unpaid) and community members; and keep pets in the arms of the people who love them when possible. Challenge activities can be as simple as returning voicemails in a timely manner, providing literature in multiple languages or completely rewriting or doing away with the adoption application, to undertaking bias training or choosing new neighborhoods for adoption events. Read about other Challengers’ translation transformations.

Get ready, California! Register January 23–30 to join organizations across the country in this 30-day challenge.