Shelter 16 survey

Get the insights you need to improve your organization

close up of a person filling out a shelter adoption form — Photo by Mark Makela/For Humane World for Animals

The Shelter 16 survey is a completely anonymous, online, automated survey tool that will provide shelters and rescues with the insights they need to build strong teams. And, it’s FREE. Organizational culture is critical to helping pets and families. Without engaged staff, consistent training, cross-department collaboration, and strong leadership, shelters can’t achieve all of their short and long-term goals or address the root causes cause pets to enter their organizations in the first place.

The Shelter 16 is an easy and effective way to measure your organization’s strengths and areas to improve. Upon completing the survey, each organization will receive a report and recommendations and the survey can be repeated to measure improvement over time. Learn more and get started at shelter16.com.

Made possible by Humane World for Animals, the Shelter 16 survey was created by graduates and faculty in the Organizational Science doctoral program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

SEEDS and Shelter 16 comparison

Purpose and intended use

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Provides an in-depth survey-based assessment and consultation process designed to support the long-term health and well-being of animal welfare organizations. SeeDS is intended to offer a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of employee attitudes, perceptions, and experiences across multiple dimensions of organizational health. It is designed for organizations seeking a deeper diagnostic tool that supports benchmarking, trend analysis, and prioritized action planning through structured measurement, qualitative insight, and expert consultation.	Provides a fast and efficient survey-based snapshot of organizational health from an employee perspective, focused on core indicators of employee engagement and satisfaction. S16 is designed as a brief, highly accessible pulse-style assessment that can be used as a standalone tool or administered periodically between SeeDS assessments. It is intended for organizations seeking a straightforward way to identify broad strengths and areas for improvement, and support ongoing attention to organizational health.

SEEDS

Shelter 16

Provides an in-depth survey-based assessment and consultation process designed to support the long-term health and well-being of animal welfare organizations. SeeDS is intended to offer a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of employee attitudes, perceptions, and experiences across multiple dimensions of organizational health. It is designed for organizations seeking a deeper diagnostic tool that supports benchmarking, trend analysis, and prioritized action planning through structured measurement, qualitative insight, and expert consultation.

Provides a fast and efficient survey-based snapshot of organizational health from an employee perspective, focused on core indicators of employee engagement and satisfaction. S16 is designed as a brief, highly accessible pulse-style assessment that can be used as a standalone tool or administered periodically between SeeDS assessments. It is intended for organizations seeking a straightforward way to identify broad strengths and areas for improvement, and support ongoing attention to organizational health.

Cost

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Low-cost service with pricing scaled to organization size and optional add-on services. The Association of Animal Welfare Advancement helps subsidize to keep costs down.	Offered at no cost, thanks to sponsor support from Humane World for Animals.

Survey content

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Includes a larger and more comprehensive set of survey items designed to assess a broad range of organizational topics related to employee engagement, health, and well-being. The survey evaluates employee attitudes, perceptions, and opinions across many domains, such as engagement, peer support, supervision and leadership, communication effectiveness, teamwork, stress and burnout, morale, pay and benefits, standard operating procedures, training, and interpersonal climate. Allows for a more detailed and nuanced understanding of organizational functioning.	Includes a smaller, focused set of survey items designed to capture core dimensions of employee engagement and satisfaction. The survey emphasizes key engagement indicators, including pride in the organization, emotional attachment, and commitment, along with select satisfaction-related aspects of the work experience that are most central to overall organizational health.

SEEDS

Shelter 16

Includes a larger and more comprehensive set of survey items designed to assess a broad range of organizational topics related to employee engagement, health, and well-being. The survey evaluates employee attitudes, perceptions, and opinions across many domains, such as engagement, peer support, supervision and leadership, communication effectiveness, teamwork, stress and burnout, morale, pay and benefits, standard operating procedures, training, and interpersonal climate. Allows for a more detailed and nuanced understanding of organizational functioning.

Includes a smaller, focused set of survey items designed to capture core dimensions of employee engagement and satisfaction. The survey emphasizes key engagement indicators, including pride in the organization, emotional attachment, and commitment, along with select satisfaction-related aspects of the work experience that are most central to overall organizational health.

Survey structure

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Consists of approximately 45 quantitative close-ended questions covering a wide range of organizational topics, as well as anywhere from two to five qualitative open-ended questions. The standard survey includes open-ended items addressing organizational strengths and growth opportunities, with additional open-ended questions available for customization. As a result of this broader scope, the survey typically takes between 10 and 20 minutes for employees to complete, depending on the level of detail provided in qualitative responses.	Consists of a small set of 16 quantitative close-ended survey items focused on core engagement and satisfaction dimensions. The survey does not include qualitative or open-ended questions. Due to its streamlined structure, the survey typically takes less than 5 minutes for employees to complete.

SEEDS

Shelter 16

Consists of approximately 45 quantitative close-ended questions covering a wide range of organizational topics, as well as anywhere from two to five qualitative open-ended questions.
The standard survey includes open-ended items addressing organizational strengths and growth opportunities, with additional open-ended questions available for customization.
As a result of this broader scope, the survey typically takes between 10 and 20 minutes for employees to complete, depending on the level of detail provided in qualitative responses.

Consists of a small set of 16 quantitative close-ended survey items focused on core engagement and satisfaction dimensions. The survey does not include qualitative or open-ended questions. Due to its streamlined structure, the survey typically takes less than 5 minutes for employees to complete.

Target audience

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Public and private animal welfare organizations or animal control agencies with at least 10 employees.	Public and private animal welfare organizations or animal control agencies with at least 10 employees, with budgetary constraints and/or that want a broad understanding of employee attitudes. Best suited for organizations seeking a quick, low-burden snapshot of employee perceptions, either as a standalone pulse assessment or as a check-in between more comprehensive engagement surveys.

Survey setup

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Begins with a brief initial call and intake process, followed by survey preparation and planning, with a typical lead time before launch to finalize index groups, open-ended questions, and administration logistics.	Organizations can apply, be approved, and create an account on the webpage in approximately 5 minutes, with the survey created at the click of a button.

Survey administration

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Consultant-supported process, beginning with an initial call, followed by survey setup and online administration, with ongoing communication and response rate updates throughout data collection.	Fully automated online system with immediate access to survey materials, including invitation and reminder email templates and a unique survey link and code.

Data analysis and reporting

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Clients receive a suite of reports that are personally generated and analyzed by SeeDS consultants using both quantitative and qualitative survey data. These reports include detailed quantitative item results (Item Report), qualitative comment summaries (Comment Report), benchmarking against national norms (Norms Comparison Report), trend reports comparing results across prior SeeDS administrations when applicable (Trend Report), and a SeeDS Overview report that synthesizes key strengths, growth areas, and prioritized, evidence-based recommendations. Data are broken down by desired index groups.	Clients receive an automatically generated, aggregated Results Report immediately after the survey closes. The report highlights overall strengths and areas for improvement, includes basic demographic information, and provides summary-level results intended to support high-level interpretation. Data are not broken down by department, team, location, etc. Instead, overall results are provided.

SEEDS

Shelter 16

Clients receive a suite of reports that are personally generated and analyzed by SeeDS consultants using both quantitative and qualitative survey data. These reports include detailed quantitative item results (Item Report), qualitative comment summaries (Comment Report), benchmarking against national norms (Norms Comparison Report), trend reports comparing results across prior SeeDS administrations when applicable (Trend Report), and a SeeDS Overview report that synthesizes key strengths, growth areas, and prioritized, evidence-based recommendations. Data are broken down by desired index groups.

Clients receive an automatically generated, aggregated Results Report immediately after the survey closes. The report highlights overall strengths and areas for improvement, includes basic demographic information, and provides summary-level results intended to support high-level interpretation. Data are not broken down by department, team, location, etc. Instead, overall results are provided.

Recommendations and support

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Results are interpreted and discussed with trained professionals from the University of Utah, who analyze findings, answer questions, and provide tailored, evidence-based recommendations. Reports prioritize action steps for areas most in need of attention, supported by organizational science and sheltering field expertise, and are accompanied by a final consultation call focused on the organization’s specific priorities and next steps.	Results Report includes access to a Best Practices Recommendation Guide with evidence-based suggestions for improving satisfaction and engagement.

SEEDS

Shelter 16

Results are interpreted and discussed with trained professionals from the University of Utah, who analyze findings, answer questions, and provide tailored, evidence-based recommendations. Reports prioritize action steps for areas most in need of attention, supported by organizational science and sheltering field expertise, and are accompanied by a final consultation call focused on the organization’s specific priorities and next steps.

Results Report includes access to a Best Practices Recommendation Guide with evidence-based suggestions for improving satisfaction and engagement.

Intended frequency of use

SEEDS	Shelter 16
Recommended to be administered every 1-2 years, with at least nine months between surveys to allow time for changes to take effect.Best suited for organizations seeking a more detailed and fine-grained understanding of employee engagement and organizational functioning, including deeper measurement, qualitative insight, benchmarking, trend analysis, and consultation to inform action planning.	Recommended to be administered between SeeDS surveys, roughly every 3-6 months, to monitor progress and support ongoing improvement through repeated assessment.