Attendees of the Chicago Bring No-Kill Home Summit smiling and holding up signs that say "Support TNVR", "Become a Network Neighbor", etc.

Current Opportunities

Webinars, summits, grant opportunities, challenges, and so much more — and we want you to be a part of it.

Join our upcoming events

2 upcoming events

* = registration required

Oct 7 Wednesday

SPDA and PetPoint Office Hours

2:00pm–3:00pm MT

Join us for a live update on October 7 with experts from PetPoint by 24Pet and SPDA.

Join us for a live update on October 7 with experts from PetPoint by 24Pet and SPDA. We’ll walk through new resources for both platforms and show you how to make the most of your SPDA and PetPoint experience.

Location: Virtual

Oct 8 Thursday

AI Agents and Automations 101: Responsibly Leverage This Tech to Save More Lives

4:00pm–5:00pm ET

AI agents and automations can be highly effective and meaningfully change how lifesaving gets done.

AI agents and automations can be highly effective and meaningfully change how lifesaving gets done. Now it’s your chance to see how shelters are incorporating both light lift (automation) and custom builds (agents) into their work.

This interactive webinar will feature Jess Vibert, Chief of Staff for Furry Friends Humane, an organization that’s found ways to put these tools to use in multiple ways, including by launching a neonatal kitten care app for fosters. Anthony Acquisti, Best Friends’ Senior Consultant, Growth Strategy & Transformation, will introduce participants to the basics of AI agents and automations.

These AI tools can be used to help you build and review reports, reduce time spent on administrative tasks, write first drafts, and otherwise support your work to save cats and dogs. The presentation will also have some kick-starters for you about how to apply these tools thoughtfully, responsibly, and effectively.

Whether you're new to using AI agents and automations, are already using them and looking to do even more, or bring some degree of concern, we invite anyone interested in how best to use this technology for lifesaving to join us for this webinar. Bring your questions for the Q&A. Save your seat and join live!

Location: Virtual

Dog sitting with woman on blue bench against an orange background

Fund Your Lifesaving: Apply for Grants

Network partners are eligible to apply for yearly Rachael Ray No-Kill Excellence grants and Rachael Ray Save Them All grants, to increase lifesaving in their communities through impactful, innovative, and inclusive programming. Organizations can only submit one grant proposal. Learn more about these grants — including upcoming deadlines, and the types of submissions that will be considered.

Explore 2027 grants

New Grants: Binky Incentive Award

We're thrilled to offer grants between $1,000 and $10,000 to help newer Best Friends Network Partners make an even bigger impact thanks to the Binky Incentive Award. If your organization has formed within the last five years and you’ve completed at least one Best Friends Learning Advancement course, this opportunity is for you.

Learn more

Find Us at These Conferences

You’ll find members of the Best Friends team at conferences all across the country throughout the year:

Annual Connecticut Municipal Animal Control Officers Association (CMACOA) Conference | September 18, 2026
Badger State Conference | September 23-24, 2026
Midwest Animal Welfare Conference | October 1-3, 2026
Maine Humane Conference | October 14, 2026
New England Federation of Humane Societies Annual Training Conference | March 15-17, 2027

Want to talk to the team about one of our experts presenting at or attending your conference? Reach out and let’s talk!

Stay Connected with the Best Friends Network

You don’t have to be a Best Friends Network Partner to get our email updates — but wouldn’t you like to join us today?

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Check Out Past Events

> Want to see what we’ve been up to? Take a look at past challenges and webinars. The events themselves may be over, but the materials, tools, data findings, videos, and other resources are still really useful.