Matching workflow between available animals and potential adopters/fosters

Purpose

1.1. Streamline and automate the matchmaking process between available rescued animals and individuals/families willing to adopt or foster, factoring in animal profiles, adopter preferences, home suitability, and urgency of needs.
1.2. Improve speed, accuracy, and personalization in pairing animals with the best-suited human candidates, reducing admin effort and maximizing placement success.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. New animal profile is created/updated in animal database.
2.2. A potential adopter/foster submits or updates an application.
2.3. Staff flags an animal as urgent/priority.
2.4. Scheduled batch matching intervals (e.g., daily at midnight).
2.5. Manual trigger by rescue staff for immediate matching batch.

Platform Variants

3.1. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud
• Feature/Setting: Flow builder, apex triggers on animal or applicant objects to launch matching process.
3.2. Petfinder API
• Feature/Setting: GET /animals endpoint to fetch available animals, match against applicant filter criteria.
3.3. Zoho Creator
• Feature/Setting: Workflow automation on form submission; invoke Deluge script to execute matching logic.
3.4. Airtable
• Feature/Setting: Automation: “When record matches conditions” with script block to pair animals to adopters.
3.5. HubSpot CRM
• Feature/Setting: Workflow triggered by new or updated contact (adopter/foster) tied to animal records.
3.6. Google Sheets
• Feature/Setting: Google Apps Script triggers on edit / form submission to run matching algorithm.
3.7. Microsoft Power Automate
• Feature/Setting: Scheduled cloud flow monitoring SharePoint List or Dataverse to match entries.
3.8. Monday.com
• Feature/Setting: Automation recipe: “When animal added, notify all matching fosters/adopters.”
3.9. Mailchimp
• Feature/Setting: “Add/update contact” triggers custom matching email campaign for suitable applicants.
3.10. Slack
• Feature/Setting: Webhook trigger to post match summaries in #adoptions channel for staff review.
3.11. Twilio SMS
• Feature/Setting: Send SMS to shortlisted adopters via API after matching event.
3.12. SendGrid
• Feature/Setting: Transactional email API; trigger customized match notifications to users.
3.13. Notion
• Feature/Setting: Database integration; automation on new animal or application event to update matches.
3.14. Trello
• Feature/Setting: Butler Power-Up automation to create cards for matched applicant-animal pairs.
3.15. Freshdesk
• Feature/Setting: Workflow automations to open tickets on successful matches for volunteer follow-up.
3.16. Intercom
• Feature/Setting: Event-triggered messaging sequences; notify staff/applicant upon a successful match.
3.17. Typeform
• Feature/Setting: Webhook to send new applicant submission data to matching function/API.
3.18. Zapier
• Feature/Setting: Multi-step Zap connecting new applicant or animal entry to custom matching logic.
3.19. Pipedrive
• Feature/Setting: Automated workflow moves deals (adoption cases) to next stage upon matching.
3.20. DocuSign
• Feature/Setting: API integration to send adoption agreements after match is made.

Benefits

4.1. Reduces staff time spent manually reviewing and pairing animals with fosters/adopters.
4.2. Increases placement rates by providing instant matching and notifications.
4.3. Improves applicant satisfaction by quickly surfacing best-fit animals and clear communication.
4.4. Minimizes animal wait-times and stress with faster foster/adopter assignments.
4.5. Ensures criteria-based, fair, and data-driven placements, improving animal outcomes.