How to do it in Rescuely.

Most shelters verify automatically the moment they sign up.

⏱ 2 minutes, usually automatic Needs the Owner role (or higher)

1. Sign up. Create your account with your organization’s name and address. There is no card to enter.
2. Wait a moment. Rescuely checks your details against the IRS tax-exempt list, state charity and kennel registries, adoption listing sites, and Shelter Animals Count membership. One clean match verifies you.
3. If nothing matched. Go to Settings → Verification. It shows exactly what was checked and what did not match, and lets you try again or add your EIN.
4. Ask someone else to finish it. If the registration details belong to your finance department, open Settings → Verification and send them a request by email. It provisions them their own account with the Finance role, scoped to exactly what they need to fill in.

Worth knowing: You do not have to wait. A provisional account can do everything that runs the shelter day to day - only publishing to listing sites, bulk email, and card payments wait on verification.

Build the real hierarchy your building actually has, once.

⏱ 15–30 minutes Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Open Locations. Add each physical site your organization uses - a shelter building, a satellite adoption center.
2. Add units under a location. Buildings, rooms, kennels and runs nest under each other. Match your actual layout - a kennel inside a room inside a building - rather than a flat list.
3. Give a kennel a capacity. Optional, but worth it: the kennel board flags a kennel holding more than its stated capacity.

Worth knowing: This is what makes the kennel board and an accurate in-shelter-versus-in-foster count possible. Skipping it means every animal shows up with no kennel, which the board will show you plainly rather than hide.

Give someone the access their job needs, and no more.

⏱ 2 minutes Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Open Settings → Users. Enter their email and pick a role.
2. Choose a role that matches what they do. Staff for day-to-day work, Volunteer for someone who should only view animals and log care, Foster Coordinator for whoever runs the foster program, Medical for clinic staff, Adoption Counselor for whoever handles applications and fees.
3. They sign in with the link you send. No separate approval step - the role you picked is what they get.

Worth knowing: A person can hold more than one role if their job genuinely spans two of these.

A three-step wizard: the animal, how it arrived, and its condition.

⏱ 3–5 minutes Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Start an intake. From the Intake screen, choose whether this is a new animal or one already in your system returning.
2. Describe the animal. Name (or leave it for later), species, breed, sex, approximate age and photo if you have one.
3. Say how it arrived. Stray, owner surrender, transfer in, born in your care, seized, or a return. If it is a transfer, name the agency it came from.
4. Record condition and any details. What you observed on arrival. This is what a later report reads back, so a specific note here is worth more than “fine”.

Worth knowing: The intake type you choose here is what feeds Shelter Animals Count reporting later - it is worth getting right the first time rather than fixing it in a spreadsheet at year end.

Adoption, return to owner, transfer, or the outcomes nobody enjoys recording.

⏱ 2–5 minutes Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open the animal’s record. From the Animals list or by scanning its kennel QR sticker.
2. Choose Outcome. Say what happened - adoption, return to owner, transfer out, return to field, or a died/lost/euthanasia outcome with its own reason.
3. Add the details the outcome needs. A transfer asks which agency; a euthanasia or died-in-care outcome asks for the category your Asilomar reporting groups it under.

Worth knowing: An adoption outcome is created for you automatically once an adoption record is marked complete - you do not fill this out twice for the same animal.

See who is where, and move them - with a mouse, a finger, or a keyboard.

⏱ Ongoing, seconds per move Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open Kennel Board. Every animal in your care appears in the kennel it is currently in, grouped by location.
2. To move an animal, click Move on its card. The board then shows a Put here button on every kennel.
3. Click Put here on the destination. The move is recorded immediately, with a real timestamp - this is not just a label change, it is a movement your census reads.
4. To take an animal out of every kennel. Click Move, then use the Take out of every kennel option instead of picking a destination.

Worth knowing: Animals in your care with no kennel assigned get their own section at the top, rather than being hidden - that is usually the first thing worth fixing on a busy day.

Scan the kennel door, tap a button, done - even with no signal.

⏱ Seconds Needs the Volunteer role (or higher)

1. Scan the QR sticker on the kennel. It opens that specific animal’s care screen. Sign in first if you are not already.
2. Tap the entry you are logging. Feeding, water, medication, walk, nail trim, weight, behavior, or Issue if something needs attention.
3. Fill in the short form and submit. Each one is one screen with only the fields that entry type needs.

Worth knowing: No signal in the kennel aisle is fine - the entry queues on your phone and sends itself the moment you have a connection again. A weight or medication logged here lands in the animal’s real history automatically; you never enter it twice.

One sticker sheet, printed once, calibrated to your printer.

⏱ 10 minutes, once Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Open Kennel Labels. Choose the animals or kennels you want stickers for.
2. Print the calibration sheet first. Every printer margins slightly differently. The calibration page shows you which adjustment to use before you print a real sheet of labels.
3. Print your labels and place them. One sticker per kennel door, at a height someone can scan without crouching.

An owner reports a loss, or you report an animal handed in - either way, matching starts by itself.

⏱ 5 minutes Anyone signed in can do this

1. Open Lost & Found. Choose Report Lost if you are the owner, or Report Found if you are recording an animal someone brought in or you picked up in the field.
2. Describe the animal. Species, breed, color, and microchip number if you know it. The more you enter, the better the matcher can score against it.
3. Say where and when. The last-seen or found location and date - this is what the matcher compares for distance and timing, not just description.
4. Submit the report. Rescuely scores it against every open report on the other side immediately - you do not have to ask it to look.

See why the matcher thinks two reports are the same animal, then say yes or no.

⏱ 2 minutes per match Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open the lost or found report. Its Matches tab lists every candidate, highest score first, with the species, breed, color and microchip agreement that produced the score.
2. Confirm a real match. Contact the person on the other side of it using the details on their report.
3. Dismiss a wrong one. It does not affect the report itself - the matcher keeps comparing against everything else still open.
4. Close the report once it is resolved. Whether that is a reunion, or the owner finding their pet without Rescuely’s help.

Worth knowing: You can also ask the matcher to run again by hand from the report’s page, on top of the scoring that already happens automatically when it is filed - useful right after you add a detail like a microchip number.

Separate from your regular animal intake, built around what a wild animal actually arrives with.

⏱ 5 minutes Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open Wildlife Intake. Species, circumstance found, and the injury or condition observed.
2. Link a rehabilitator. Pick from your list of licensed rehabilitators, or add one if this is the first time you have worked with them.
3. Record the disposition when the case ends. Released, transferred to another rehabilitator or facility, or did not survive - with the date.

From the call coming in to the citation, if one is issued.

⏱ 5–10 minutes Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open Incidents and start a new one. What was reported, the location, and any animals already known to be involved.
2. Assign it on the Dispatch board. It shows every open incident, so whoever is answering calls can see what is out there before picking up the radio.
3. Open a case if it needs one. A case groups the incidents, animals and people involved in one situation - use it once a single call becomes an ongoing matter.
4. Add a citation if one is issued. Recorded against the case, so the paperwork and the incident it came from are the same record.

Rescuely assigns the license number so nobody keeps a separate list to avoid a duplicate.

⏱ 2 minutes Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open Licenses and choose Issue. Pick the animal and its owner.
2. The license number is assigned for you. It is the next number in your shelter’s own sequence - you never type one in.
3. Renew or update status later. From the same license record, rather than issuing a new one each year.

Capacity, preferences and a home check, then a real movement.

⏱ 5 minutes to add a home, 2 minutes per placement Needs the Foster Coordinator role (or higher)

1. Add the foster home. Under Foster, add the person, their capacity, and any preferences - species, size, medical comfort level.
2. Record the home check. Once you have done one, mark the date - it shows on the home’s record for anyone reviewing it later.
3. Start a placement. From the animal’s record or the foster home’s page, start a placement and pick the animal and home.
4. End it when the animal returns. Say why - a return home, an adoption from foster, or a move to another placement.

Worth knowing: A placement is a real movement, the same kind the kennel board uses, so an animal in foster shows up as genuinely in foster in your census rather than a note that someone has to remember.

Ask what you actually ask - the form is yours to define.

⏱ 20–40 minutes, once Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Open Settings → Forms. Start a new Adoption form.
2. Add your questions in the order you ask them. Every field you add becomes a column of data you can review and search later - questions are not free text unless you make them so.
3. Publish it. It becomes the form applicants fill out; a previous version stays attached to any application already submitted against it.

A board grouped by status, from Submitted to a decision.

⏱ 5–15 minutes per application Needs the Adoption Counselor role (or higher)

1. Open Applications. They arrive as Submitted and move through Under Review, and Reference Check if you use one.
2. Ask for more information if you need it. Move it to Needs Information; the applicant sees that, not silence.
3. Approve, approve conditionally, or deny. Add a note against the decision - it stays with the application for anyone reviewing it later.
4. Start the adoption. An approved application is where you start the adoption record and, from there, the contract.

Your own words, versioned - a change never rewrites what was already signed.

⏱ 15–30 minutes Needs the Product Administrator role (or higher)

1. Open Settings → Document Templates. Choose Adoption Contract.
2. Write the body. Plain paragraphs and headings; use the field list shown next to the editor to drop in the animal’s name, the adopter’s name, the fee, and similar details - they fill in automatically when a contract is generated.
3. Save it as the current version. The switch is on by default when you save. Turning it off saves a draft without putting it into use yet.

Worth knowing: Saving never edits what is already there - it adds the next version. A contract someone already signed keeps meaning exactly what it meant when they signed it, even after you update the wording.

Generate it, review it together, sign on the same screen.

⏱ 5 minutes Needs the Adoption Counselor role (or higher)

1. Open the adoption’s contract screen. From the adoption record, choose Generate Contract. This fills in your current template with this adoption’s own details.
2. Review it with the adopter. The document appears right on the screen - hand the device to the adopter to read it.
3. Sign it. Draw a signature with a finger or mouse, or use Type Instead to sign with a typed name in a script font - both are treated as a real signature.
4. It is done. The signed copy replaces the preview immediately, with the signer’s name and the date shown on screen.

Worth knowing: The signed PDF is stored with the signer’s name, the time, their IP address and a checksum, so what was signed is provable later if it is ever questioned.

What an animal eats, how much, and when - turned into the tasks staff actually do.

⏱ 5 minutes per animal Needs the Staff role (or higher)

1. Open the animal’s Diet tab. From its record - a new tab next to Medical and Notes.
2. Add a diet plan. Food, amount and how often, separate from your kennel’s general feeding routine if this animal needs something different.
3. Set a feeding schedule. It turns the plan into individual feeding tasks at the times you pick, rather than staff working from memory.

Worth knowing: A scheduled feeding task shows up right on the animal’s existing QR care screen - the sticker on the kennel door still works exactly as it did before, it just now includes what is actually due.

Know what you have, and keep a record of what you paid for it.

⏱ 10 minutes to set up an item, 2 minutes per order Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Add the item under Inventory. Food, medical supplies, cleaning products - anything you keep a stock level on.
2. Add your vendor. Their contact details, so you are not retyping them every time you order.
3. Create a purchase order. Which items, how many, and from which vendor.
4. Receive it when it arrives. Stock goes up automatically; using or wasting an item brings it back down.

Cash, check, waived, or a card - recording is always free.

⏱ 1 minute Needs the Adoption Counselor role (or higher)

1. Open the payment screen for the adoption. From the adoption record.
2. For cash, check or a terminal. Enter the amount and how it was taken. This is recorded immediately - no card processing is involved.
3. To waive the fee. Mark it waived instead of entering an amount - it is recorded as a decision, not left blank.
4. For a card payment. Only available once your organization has turned on card payments (see the next guide) - choose Checkout and hand the adopter the card reader or link.

Your own Stripe account, switched on once your shelter is verified.

⏱ 10 minutes Needs the Owner role (or higher)

1. Open Settings → Payments. You will need your own Stripe account - Rescuely never holds the money itself.
2. Enter your Stripe keys. The secret key and the webhook signing secret from your Stripe dashboard.
3. Turn the switch on. It refuses to turn on without both keys saved, and it stays off until your organization is verified.

Worth knowing: Card processing costs 1.5% on top of whatever Stripe itself charges. Recording cash, check or a waived fee is free and always will be.

Registration details often sit with a different department - hand it to them directly.

⏱ 2 minutes Needs the Product Administrator role (or higher)

1. Open Settings → Verification. If your EIN or registration number belongs to your finance office, choose to delegate it.
2. Enter their name and email. They get an email with a link.
3. They finish it themselves. The link provisions them their own account with the Finance role, scoped to registration and payment details - not your whole shelter’s records.

Every gift tied to a fund, and a campaign to track what it adds up to.

⏱ 10 minutes to set up a campaign, 1 minute per donation Needs the Finance role (or higher)

1. Add a fund. What the money is for - general operating, a spay/neuter program, a building project.
2. Start a campaign against that fund. Give it a goal and a date range if it is time-boxed, like a giving-day drive.
3. Record a donation. Amount, the fund or campaign it counts toward, and the donor. If it is in someone’s honor or memory, add a soft credit for that person too.

Worth knowing: A campaign’s progress adds up from the donations recorded against it automatically - nobody totals a spreadsheet by hand.

A gift that repeats, a commitment paid over time, or support tied to one animal.

⏱ 5 minutes Needs the Finance role (or higher)

1. For a recurring gift. Start it against the donor and the fund or campaign; it bills through your Stripe account on the schedule you set, and each charge is recorded here automatically.
2. For a pledge. Record the total committed and how it is broken into installments, then record each installment as it comes in.
3. For a sponsorship. Link the donor to the specific animal they are supporting.

Worth knowing: Cancelling a recurring gift here also cancels the Stripe subscription behind it, so the donor’s card stops being charged - there is nothing separate to do in Stripe.

An adoption day, an open house, a fundraiser - people register themselves.

⏱ 10 minutes Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Open Events and create one. Name, date, location, and how many people it can hold if you want a limit.
2. Publish it. People register themselves rather than you keeping a list by hand.
3. Check the registration list as it fills. From the event’s page, any time before it happens.

Volunteers pick the shifts that work for them; hours add up for the record you need later.

⏱ 5 minutes to post a shift Needs the Manager role (or higher)

1. Open Shifts and post one. What needs doing, when, and how many volunteers it needs.
2. Volunteers sign up themselves. From their own account - nobody calls down a phone list.
3. Log hours after the shift. Against the volunteer’s profile, whether it was a scheduled shift or an off-schedule task.

Worth knowing: The hours log is what most shelters actually need for grant reporting or a year-end thank-you letter with a real number in it.

One switch, no explanation needed, nothing else changes.

⏱ 30 seconds Needs the Owner role (or higher)

1. Open Settings → Research. It shows exactly what participating means and what never happens either way.
2. Turn the switch off. Your animal records are left out of every pooled figure from that moment on.

Worth knowing: People are never part of this, on or off - only animal records, and never named to a shelter, ever. Turning it off changes nothing else about your account.

Off by default for every shelter - a platform decision, then yours.

⏱ 5 minutes, once enabled Needs the Product Administrator role (or higher)

1. Ask Rescuely to enable webhooks for your shelter. This is a platform-level switch, off for every shelter until turned on for yours - it is not something you flip on yourself the first time.
2. Open Settings → Webhooks. Add a subscription: the URL you want events sent to, and which events you want.
3. Save your signing secret. Shown once, when you create the subscription. Use it to verify a delivery really came from Rescuely.

Worth knowing: Turning on an event that carries a person’s details - an adoption or an application - shows an explicit warning first, naming what is included. This is a developer-facing feature: most shelters never need it, and nothing it does affects the animals in your care.