Wildlife Rehabilitation & Coexistence Stakeholder Research

We are looking for a volunteer who can conduct a stakeholder research initiative for our organization. The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council is considering expanding our umbrella and the types of memberships we offer beyond wildlife rehabilitators, because there are so many different types of individuals who have a stake and an impact in the protection, capture, and ultimate release of injured and orphaned wildlife. To do this, we need a clear vision of the new stakeholders who we will be trying to engage in our programming, fundraising, and partnership efforts. We are hopeful that intentional research can help us design a new membership structure, prioritize our resources to reach out to the people we can help the most, and ensure that our messaging and member benefits hit all the right marks. This project will include: gathering and analyzing information about target demographics, ideal forms of outreach, and/or what worked well or not during past outreach drives. This research could include digging into what our expected stakeholders are reading, who they’re influenced by, where they live, and demographic details. It might be useful to establish a mock-up of one or more new membership level's ideal target individual.

By synthesizing this information, you will empower our team to make better, data-backed decisions on how to progress toward our mission's goals.

The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council is celebrating its 50th anniversary of supporting wildlife rehabilitators this year! All over the world, wild animals are injured and orphaned because of human activity, and all over the world there are wildlife rehabilitators there to help! But most wildlife rehabilitators are volunteers and are severely under-resourced; our organization's role is to provide education, resources, and connections to improve the welfare of both the animals and the wildlife rehabilitators. Part of that is helping our members to make connections with the people and agencies that care about wildlife, even if they are not themselves performing wildlife rehabilitation! This project will help us take the next step toward bringing these supportive partners into the conversation, helping them connect with wildlife rehabilitators, and facilitating a stronger, more interwoven network for the conservation and protection of wild animals!

To prepare for this project, we have outlined who we believe our current core members are and who our aspirational members/audiences will be. You will have a dedicated team member to work with on this project. We plan to implement the results of this research project by proposing a new, expanded membership structure and marketing initiative to our board.