Hooks Home Bound Rescue Inc

Clear The Shelters 2022 FAQ 

 What is Clear The Shelters? 

 Clear the Shelters is a national campaign that encourages people to adopt from their local shelters in an effort to “clear the shelters.” The campaign receives national and local coverage on NBC and each year over 100,000 animals are adopted from shelters and rescues that participate in our initiative. This year’s CTS is a month-long event from August 1st – August 31st and culminates in crescendo events the weekend of August 26th. Additionally, as described below, Clear The Shelters also offers a unique fundraising opportunity for participating shelters. • We encourage you hold in-person adoption events but virtual adoptions are acceptable if your local COVID-19 guidelines prohibit. Please prioritize shelter and adopter safety during the campaign! • It’s flexible: Shelters and stations should work together to determine feasibility of live, on-site adoption days based on shelter situations. We encourage shelters to host a crescendo event the weekend of August 26th. • Our shelter partners will not be asked to waive or reduce adoption fees this year due to the length of the virtual event. However, we encourage them to if they are able. • Our brand message continues to be “ADOPT AND DONATE.” We are providing all shelters with a free, easy fundraising opportunity hosted by our partner The Greater Good Charities, a non- profit group that helps “people, pets and the planet.” See more below.

We are a rescue and don’t have a physical shelter address; can we participate? Yes, we encourage rescues to participate. Rescues in the past have partnered with local pet stores (PetSmart, PetCo, etc.) on the event day to bring their available animals for adoption. Do we have to reduce/ waive our adoption fees for the event? How much do we need to reduce our fees? As mentioned above, due to these unprecedented times we are not asking groups to waive or reduce adoption fees this year due to the length of the virtual event. You are welcome to do so if you are able but it is not required. Do you provide subsidization or reimbursement of waived/ reduced fees? If you DO choose to waive or reduce fees this year, we do not provide any subsidization or reimbursement. We ask for the reduced/ waived fees as a way to entice people to adopt animals and clear those shelters. We encourage you to participate in our Greater Good Charities fundraising opportunity (see below) to help compensate for any reduced fees.

What if the station closest to me isn’t participating? If the station closest to you isn’t participating, you will be included with the next nearest station who is participating. How do I register? If you are a new shelter, you can register via this link: https://bit.ly/ctsnbc22 . If you are a returning shelter, you will be sent an auto-renew email to participate this year. What is the auto-renew registration email? To make things easier for our returning shelters, we are providing the opportunity to auto-renew using the same registration from last year – and also update any information that might have changed since 2021’s event. If you are a returning shelter and you have NOT received an auto- renewal registration email, contact us at [email protected] What happens after I register? Whether you are a new or returning shelter, you will receive an automatic confirmation email regarding your registration; you will also receive regular communications from the Clear the Shelters team about timelines, marketing materials, any CTS updates/action items and reminders about partnership opportunities like participating in our Greater Good Charities donation page and having your pets highlighted in our Clear the Shelters custom web and app pages. Where can I find marketing materials (i.e., posters, flyers)? After registration you will be able to regularly access social and marketing materials from our Tool Kits. What is the Greater Good Charities donation opportunity about? Clear the Shelters has partnered with the non-profit group, Greater Good Charities, to create a CTS donation page that you will be a part of once you register for the initiative. “The Clear the Shelters Fund” will allow people to donate directly to your shelter or to a general CTS fund that shelters can apply to post-initiative. This opportunity is open to all shelters and rescues with no need of a sponsorship. There will be matching grants and other prizing during the donation window, which opens on August 1st and closes on August 31st . We encourage you to participate in this easy, exciting opportunity! This opportunity will be promoted by NBC on-air and on social during the Clear the Shelters campaign. What is the WeRescue app opportunity about? It’s a free mobile iOS app that allows users to quickly search for adoptable pets in their area. During our Clear the Shelters campaign this app features a custom-designed CTS tab and filter that allows adopters to quickly find available animals at participating CTS shelters. The in-app features also allow users to contact you directly and begin the pet adoption process directly through each shelter or rescue. The app features dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, horses, reptiles, barnyard animals and other small animals. This opportunity will be promoted by NBC on-air and on social during the Shelters campaign. What do I have to do to participate? It’s easy! All you have to do is to sign up for the FREE animal management software called RescueGroups.org (https://rescuegroups.org/). This software helps WeRescue highlight your available

shelter pets for Clear the Shelters day. If you use PetFinder you can also login using your PetFinder ID and all of your animal information stored in PetFinder will automatically be transferred into WeRescue so there’s no extra work for you! How do I sign up for RescueGroups.org? You may already be using it as it’s a common software utilized by animal welfare groups. Here’s a link to sign up for the free, basic service: https://rescuegroups.org/sign- up/ What does it cost to be part of the WeRescue app? Nothing! The opportunity is free to you as a Clear the Shelters participant. What if I have more questions about the WeRescue App? If you have very specific questions about the app, how it functions, or any issues with it, direct them to Mark Wade at [email protected] Who can I reach out to if I have more questions about the Clear the Shelters initiative? You can reach out to [email protected]