Volunteer Program Information
Will you choose to change the world for homeless pets?
When you volunteer with Safe Hands Rescue, you make a difference for homeless animals and for the people who love them, too.
Our ability to change lives is directly dependent on the number of volunteers we have. If you want to help save animals while having fun with a group of like-minded people, we hope you’ll join us.
*Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.
Ready to volunteer? Please fill out the application.
Volunteer Opportunities:
We have volunteer roles available in the following areas.
*Please note that we ask for a minimum volunteer commitment of one scheduled volunteer activity per month.
Remote Volunteering
This role monitors the Safe Hands Facebook page and takes direction from the Development Manager to track rescue stories that are in process. The goal is to follow these stories once the foster comes to Minnesota so we can share updates and keep our supporters engaged. This may require you to do a follow-up with the adoptive family.
Do you have a knack for storytelling and a love for animals? Help us tell rescue stories to the Safe Hands Rescue community! Join our content writing team and become part of an amazing group of volunteers who are passionate about sharing transformation stories with our supporters.
This role will help monitor the Safe Hands Volunteer Facebook group to ensure that posts adhere to our established group guidelines. Deleting posts that are inappropriate, turning off commenting on posts and/or directing volunteers to the correct source to get an appropriate response. The time commitment is 1 hour per day or less.
We're looking for another Foster Coordinator to help us find fosters for the new kids coming from Kentucky! This role sends the Fosters Needed emails and coordinates placement. The time commitment is roughly 2-5 hours during the weeks before and following transport. This role is key to what we do, and we really need another person to help with it.
Are you an experienced foster or can no longer foster but want to stay engaged? This is the perfect opportunity for you! We are currently looking for volunteers to contact new foster applicants to share information about our foster program and introduce them to all that is involved in fostering. You will be scheduled on shifts throughout the week. Numbers of calls vary per week but tend to increase the week leading up to a transport, when we solicit more fosters.
This role is responsible for collecting stories and photos from adoptive families once a foster animal has found its home. Materials collected will be shared with the Content Team and Social Media team for use in the Newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, and other marketing materials as deemed appropriate.
This role will review emails that come into the Happy Tails email box and respond/route emails as appropriate based on our established guidelines. You will also forward emails to our Content Manager for use in the newsletter and Facebook posts.
This critical role schedules medical exams, dental exams, special surgeries, and treatments at Forest Lake Animal Hospital, Blue Pearl, or other approved Safe Hands veterinary partners. Communicate appointment details with fosters, collect medical records and invoices, and keep the animal record updated. We are looking for volunteers available roughly 1-2 hours per week during daytime working hours when clinics are open. You do not need to have a medical background. If you have an interest in medicine and want to help our kids get the care they need, this is the position for you!
Do you remember becoming a volunteer with Safe Hands?! Well we are looking for a few volunteers to help us call new volunteer applicants, discuss Safe Hands and talk about what current volunteer opportunities are available. How fun would it be to be part of sharing your own volunteer experience with new volunteers? Pretty cool I think. We will provide training and mentoring.
This role is responsible for communicating via text and/or email to rescue partners, fosters and Intake volunteers with specifics regarding van arrival and updates to arrival times. You also create the Vetting order so fosters know approximately what time they need to pick-up their new foster animal(s), the ability to work in Excel is necessary. You will work closely with the Intake Lead to ensure they are aware of any changes to Intake Volunteers, van arrival or pick-up slots. This is a shared role so you would work one intake per month.
Want to be a vital part of the process of helping foster animals meet their forever families? The Rescue Account Volunteer might be the role for you. You’ll process applications and adoptions approvals that come into rescue account. Respond to questions from applicants and fosters as needed during the application process. Work with Rescue Account Lead on any questions or concerns regarding applications. You would be assigned 1-2 days per week and be available to check the account 2-3 hours per day, spread out throughout the day.
This role addresses emails sent to this box, handling as outlined in the SOP and working with the Volunteer Services Program Manager as needed. The primary focus will be to log, respond to, assign and follow-up on New Volunteer applications and respond to email inquiries from external sites with interested applicants.
Take high-quality video and provide edits as requested for special projects. Videos can be taken during intake, at meet and greets, or at other events. With approval from the Development Manager or ED, submit and share videos with other volunteers so they can be used in social media, fundraising, or in other campaigns as needed.
To maintain the Safe Hands website so that all items are current and relevant. This includes adding/adjusting upcoming events, volunteer roles, Golden Tickets plus other updates as needed. Changes are sent via email primarily from staff, but can come from other volunteers.
In-Person Volunteering
This role will coordinate volunteers and fosters to help once an event is confirmed. Working in coordination with the Volunteer Services Program Manager, they will be responsible for all aspects of onsite event details and ensure the business/venue is kept apprised of all necessary details.
We are looking to expand our ability to hold special Pup-Up events during the week, so if you don't work the typical 9-5 Monday-Friday job, this would be perfect for you! Safe Hands Rescue is pulling together a small team of people who can help us bring puppies to partner organizations, fundraisers, and other opportunities during the week. Duties can include: puppy transportation, setup/teardown, puppy minding, and more!
Participate in community events as a volunteer in one of the following capacities: Information Table, Greeter, or Minder. Community events are often done as employee appreciation events for a business. We bring puppies or dogs (they do not need to be adoptable) for the staff to cuddle and the business makes a donation directly to Safe Hands for us to do this. Must be flexible with role assignments, as these events are small and everyone pitches in where needed.
This role will coordinate volunteers and fosters to help once an event is confirmed, plus lead the event onsite. Working in coordination with the Volunteer Services Program Manager they will be responsible for all aspects of onsite event details and ensure the business/venue is kept apprised of all necessary details.
Assist with transporting foster animals to Crossroads Animal Shelter for their spay/neuter appointments, currently every Tuesday of the month. Drop-off is between 7-8am and pick-up is between 3-4pm. Fosters meet the driver in Golden Valley for pick-up and drop-off at noted times.
We are in need of a new HQ Support Lead to manage and oversee all aspects of headquarters support. Ensure all responsibilities are carried out as expected via Safe Hands Rescue policies and procedures and serve as point of contact if questions. Manage the volunteer schedule, recruit, train, and coach department volunteers. Perform and fill in volunteer roles as needed.
In this role you work alongside our vet team, making notes on the Intake Exam form or filling out the Foster Care Sheet for the foster and making sure the medication bag has everything the foster needs. No medical experience needed! We will train. While you don't get any "hands on" with the animals, you get to see them as they're getting their exams and starting their new lives in Minnesota!
Are you an experienced foster? Do you have experience or knowledge of various medical conditions that fosters may arrive with? If so, the Foster Liaison role may be a good fit for you. We are currently looking for 2-3 volunteers to train as back-ups. You will shadow one of our current volunteers to learn the role and then be on call to cover open intakes.
People working in these roles can do a variety of functions, often cross-trained to fill-in for others when needed. They play a vital role during each Intake; helping to get animals off the van and moved into our staging area, getting animals from the staging area to vetting, recording medical notes during the vet exam, contacting fosters to come pick-up their new foster, loading crates and supplies into vehicles and sending the new kids off to start settling in, plus so much more! This is a great way to interact with other volunteers and help get the new kids off to their foster homes.
Want to help get the new kids coming to town ready for their life in Minnesota by preparing medications for them? You would be working in teams at HQ on Saturday mornings. Shifts are once a month and average 2-4 hours depending on numbers of animals coming to us. This is a great way to help the new animals coming into rescue!
Do you love animals and photography? We need photographers who are willing to make a regular commitment to help at events around the metro including Meet & Greet and Intake. These photos will be used on social media, pet profiles, and other marketing materials. We also need photographers who are willing to go to foster homes or do photoshoots at our headquarters in Minneapolis. Time commitment varies based on the type of shoot you do, but most are 2-3 hours long.
Do you enjoy driving, love animals, and want to volunteer your time to help animals in need? We have a need for drivers to help transport animals to/from the vet, pick-up donations, and various other needs. You volunteer for requests that fit your schedule and should expect each time to be 1-3 hours.
Take high-quality video and provide edits as requested for special projects. Videos can be taken during intake, at meet and greets, or at other events. With approval from the Development Manager or ED, submit and share videos with other volunteers so they can be used in social media, fundraising, or in other campaigns as needed.
We also use and appreciate volunteer support in these areas:
Fundraising, event planning, grant writing, database management, public relations, marketing, social media management and grooming.
Have other skills to offer? Let us know!