Volunteer FAQs
Save One Soul Animal Rescue League is a volunteer-based team with limited time and resources with helping the dogs being our top priority. To save our time (and yours), please read through our frequently asked questions and only contact our team if your questions are not covered below. Click the question or plus sign to reveal the answer.
We have a volunteer onboarding process with several components (more or less depending upon how you want to help) so that you are comfortable taking on your volunteer tasks. You can start the process by completing our online Volunteer Application or attending our next New Volunteer Orientation & Open House to learn more. We also always encourage prospective new volunteers to join us at our next adoption event to get a taste of how we do things and start to meet some of our people and dogs.
We want all of our volunteers to feel comfortable and be good at their volunteer duties. As such, we have developed training resources to help bring volunteers up to speed on the information imperative to their tasks. We have written “how-to” guidance documents for every task, have both short and long on-demand videos and also offer shadow training opportunities. All volunteers have access to these resources through our Volunteer Resource Center, an internal website that serves as your go-to resource for all the behavioral and protocol guidance you will need to be successful as an SOSARL volunteer. We also encourage all volunteers to expand their knowledge and competencies by participating in workshops, conferences, additional shadow training experiences, video trainings and more, and often offer sponsorships.
Many of our volunteer tasks require some amount of task-specific knowledge and training, but we do have several opportunities throughout the year for one-day help. Our special annual events like The Crate Escape 5k in October and Funny 4 Fido in the winter months require a small army of volunteers on the day of the events. Please reach out to [email protected] if you are interested in one of these opportunities. A streamlined onboarding process will be followed for one-time volunteers.
We are grateful to be supported by volunteer groups from local colleges and universities, employers, special interest groups and families. We are most easily able to accommodate these volunteer groups at our special events (see above FAQ), but depending upon our needs, we have also been able to identify one-day service projects for specific groups. Please reach out to [email protected] to discuss how your group can help.
Children are our future, and will set the stage for how animals are treated and supported in the coming decades. While we recognize the importance of engaging children in public service and charitable work, we unfortunately do not have the resources to properly supervise minors. We do, however, welcome minors over 12 to volunteer alongside their parent/guardian with SOS once both are onboarded as volunteers. Our Volunteer Coordinator will work with the parent-minor duo to match them with appropriate tasks. To start this process, please join us at our next NVO or start by having the parent/guardian complete our online Volunteer Application, adding a note about the participating minor situation.
Since all of our dogs are living in private foster homes, they are not as easy to access as those living in a group housing situation (like a shelter or adoption facility). Many of our dogs would benefit from extra activities or exercise, though, and the foster home would appreciate the support! We call this type of support ABC ("additional boarding care"). To be an ABC volunteer, we ask for a regular ongoing commitment and will provide you with training and shadow experience so you are comfortable with your task. Once onboarded, we will let you know about specific opportunities (it could be a one-time need, or ongoing support until the dog is adopted) and help you coordinate with the foster home. ABC volunteers typically pick-up and return of the dog to the foster's home, which could be anywhere in RI and sometimes CT.
We are most easily able to accommodate these types of volunteers at our special events (see above FAQ). If you are interested in helping at one of these special events, please reach out to [email protected].
We primarily communicate via a private Facebook Group. Having a Facebook account is a requirement of volunteering with SOS so that you are able to be part of this group and stay up-to-date on SOS happenings. We understand that not everyone likes Facebook, but it provides a way for us to effectively communicate. As volunteer needs arise, we will post and coordinate help in this private group page.
Please reach out to [email protected].