How to recruit more foster homes for your rescue
Updated · 7 min read · By the Second Tail team
Ask the people already around your rescue (adopters, volunteers, donors, followers and your current fosters' friends), make every ask specific to one animal and a set length of time, offer short-term options, make the application one link that takes minutes on a phone, and reply within a day or two. Then support new fosters well. Happy fosters stay, take more animals and recruit the next ones.
Where new fosters actually come from
- Your current fosters' friends. A foster posting about their animal, with your link, reaches exactly the right people. Ask them to.
- Adopters. People who just adopted from you trust you and know the process. Ask a few weeks after adoption, not on the day.
- Volunteers, donors and followers. Many would foster if asked directly and told it can be short.
- Local places. Vet offices, groomers, pet stores, workplaces, colleges and community groups. A flyer with a QR code to your application works.
Make the ask specific
“We need fosters!” is easy to scroll past. One animal, one photo, a length of time and what you cover is easy to say yes to. A post you can adapt:
Rosie needs a place to land for 3 weeks. She's 2, house-trained, good with other dogs, and recovering from a spay. She mostly wants a quiet couch and someone to say good morning. We cover food, supplies and every vet visit. You get a coordinator who answers your texts. Apply in 3 minutes: [your link]
Lower the bar to say yes
Many people who would never commit to “until adoption” will happily take an animal for a weekend. Offer options with clear lengths:
- Weekend or sleepover fosters, to give animals a break or cover travel.
- Short stints of two to four weeks, like recovery after surgery.
- Emergency fosters on call for urgent intakes.
- Specialty fosters for bottle babies, seniors or medical cases, for people who want that.
Short-term fosters often become long-term fosters once they have done it once and felt supported.
Make applying quick, and reply quickly
Use one link you can put everywhere: your bio, your website, every post, every flyer. Keep the form short and phone-friendly, and save the detailed questions for a call. Then reply within a day or two, even just to say what happens next. The longer the silence, the more applicants you lose. Our guide on onboarding new fosters covers the steps after the application.
Retention is recruitment
Every foster who quits takes a home out of your program, and every happy foster is your best recruiter. The things that keep fosters are simple: a written care sheet, supplies that arrive without chasing, quick answers, thank-yous, and news when their animal is adopted. The things that lose them are silence, confusion and feeling like a free kennel.
Track what works
Keep a simple count of where each applicant heard about you and how many go on to foster. After a few months you will know which posts, places and people actually bring fosters in, and can do more of those.
Where Second Tail fits
Every rescue on Second Tail gets a branded public application page for fosters, one link for your bio, posts and flyers. New applications show up on your home page with how long they have been waiting, and so do approved fosters who don't have an animal yet, so nobody falls through the cracks.
Fosters sign your foster agreement from a link with no account, then use a free app on their phone for updates with photos, supply requests and messages, which is a big part of keeping them. Rescues on Second Tail can also be listed on our public page for people looking for a rescue to foster with.
Common questions
Where do rescues find new foster homes?
Mostly from people already close to the rescue: adopters, volunteers, donors, social media followers and friends of current fosters. Current fosters asking people they know is often the single best source. Local events, vet offices, workplaces and community groups bring in the rest.
How can a rescue get more people to foster?
Make a specific ask (this animal, this long, this is what we cover), offer short and flexible options like weekends or two-week stints, make applying take a few minutes on a phone, reply within a day or two, and support new fosters well enough that they stay and recruit their friends.
What should a foster recruitment post say?
Name one animal and show a good photo, say how long the foster is needed, say what the rescue covers (food, supplies, vet care) and what support the foster gets, and end with one link to apply. Specific asks get far more replies than general calls for fosters.
Why do foster applicants drop out before fostering?
Usually because the process is slow or unclear: a long form, no reply for a week, or no idea what happens next. Some drop out because no match comes up that fits their home. Telling applicants what happens next, and offering a first placement soon, keeps most of them.
Do fosters have to pay for anything?
Most rescues cover food, supplies and vet care for animals in foster, and say so up front. Fosters give their home, time and care. Being clear about this in recruitment removes one of the biggest worries people have.