Theory of Change Mapping and Visualization

Organizational Profile

One Welfare Corporation -OWC is a non-profit organization that passionately pursues the
ongoing well-being of all forms of life through strategies that reach out to the community,
ecosystems, and animals. OWC has a board of directors composed of its general director,
administrative deputy director, project deputy director, secretary of direction, 12 professionals
who support the two deputy directors, and a team of 40 volunteers among university students
and the community in general who collaborate of field activities.
OWC is a very young corporation that was born in 2018 when a group of professionals from
different areas decided to unite their great experience (from the public and private spheres),
their passion, and initiatives so that the community becomes aware of the value of the
connections between animals, ecosystems and human beings in promoting collective well-
being. OWC has three fundamental work fronts: evaluation and consultancy, project
development and implementation, and design and start-up of centers serving the “One
Welfare” vision.
One of the most representative projects is Adopt without taking home. Its purpose is the
sponsorship of canines that due to their physical condition or age are difficult to adopt. Citizens
who are unable to adopt an animal and keep it with them at home make a monthly
contribution to OWC, to ensure shelter, food, and health for a pet in a shelter supported by the
corporation. Within the program Adopt without taking home are activities such as volunteering
for old animals, the management of the sponsorship platform that includes the call of
interested parties, the management of funds, the distribution of money in the shelters, the
monthly report of sponsored dogs, in addition to the accompaniment (support and supervision)
of the sponsored dogs in the allied shelters.
The mission impact of this program is 4 out of 5, since its inception in February of 2019, and
despite the pandemic, OWC has had 30 permanent volunteers, 225 sponsors who maintain 143
dogs over 8 years old and/or disabled in 12 shelters. With this program, OWC in fulfillment of
its mission "a single welfare for all forms of life", ensures the welfare of animals that otherwise
would not have life options, providing a space to develop a volunteer service in favor of the
most vulnerable animals and a new form of sponsorship for those who are passionate about

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OWC’s Theory of Change Mapping and Visualization

canines, in addition to supporting selected shelters with volunteers, veterinary service and
guidance to keep these dogs with special conditions, with a high quality of life.

The program has been fully supported by individual donors. OWC has negotiated with each
of the shelters a special rate for accommodation per canine in exchange for volunteers and
veterinary services. To date, the program has raised a total of $ 24,286, of which it has invested
$ 17,620 in operating costs for the program, with a profit of $ 6,666, which has been used to
leverage other projects.

Current Theory of Change

Colombians Advisors has developed a Theory of Change so that OWC can visualize how its
mission is reflected in the Adopt program without taking it home. Through this scheme (Table
1.1) the inputs necessary to carry out the program are reflected, the processes composed of
the activities that make up the program and the evidence of its execution (products), the
expected results with the execution of the project and the expected final impact.

Table 1.1 Theory of Change for current Adopt without taking home program
INPUTS PROCESS RESULTS
Resources and Program Activities Outputs Outcomes Ultimate Impact
Assumptions
Volunteering for old # Training Volunteers
Staff animals brochures trained to help This program provides
# Volunteers animals in special a space for
Media conditions responsible help to
dog lovers and ensure
Shelters Sponsorship # Sponsorship Dog lovers the quality of life of
management Amount of helping animals in special
Donors money raised effectively conditions that live in
shelters. In that way,
Volunteers Working with # animals Dogs in special it is promoted One

shelters sponsored per conditions Welfare: human and

shelter effectively animal

helped
OWC’s Theory of Change Mapping and Visualization

Root Causes

According to the latest census by the Bogotá Health Secretariat1, approximately 230,000
canines and felines roam the streets in the city. The District Institute for Animal Protection and
Welfare2 reports that almost 60% of these animals had a home but were abandoned by their
owners, 30% are animals found in the poorest areas of the capital, with a caregiver who feeds
them but they stay on the street all day. Only 10% are born and manage to survive on the street
without any human care.

In the May 2020 publication of the Stray Animal Population Management area of the World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE)3, animals that are taken home from a very young age do
not learn the dangers of the street and when they are abandoned they can be run over by cars,
leaving a large number of severely injured mutilated animals. Under the care of their owners,
animals lose their instincts, cannot defend themselves from other aggressive animals, and,
when abandoned, can easily die or become disabled. In addition, in a home, the animal that
had food available, when abandoned, has difficulties getting food so many die or age in serious
states of malnutrition. Among the most abandoned dogs are puppies under 2 years of age,
possibly due to behavioral problems that affect coexistence, and animals older than 7 years
that require special care. These animals, especially canines, roam the streets, sick and in
excessive pain that due to lack of care end up disabled or die in terrible agony.

For this reason, OWC has developed the innovative intervention program for dogs with
special care (disabled or dogs older than 7 years) that are in shelters with high standards of
well-being, in such a way that through Adopt without taking home they find godparents who
pay for the maintenance of the canines and also getting volunteers (some veterinarians) who
take care of them and provide medical services in the shelters.

1
Bogota, Health Secretariat. Census CODEISA, 2016.
2The District Institute for Animal Protection and Welfare. Animal Abandonment in Bogota. Group of research animals, 2018.
3 Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Stray Animal Population Group. Management area of the World Organization for Animal

Health (OIE), 2020.

While this program provides effective space for animal lovers to help out effectively,
financially supports shelters, and promotes the welfare of animals that could not survive on the
street, the problem of neglect and abuse is not addressed. root. Adopt without taking home
could direct your efforts to try to break the cycle of abandonment, and promote the benefits of
adoption so that the final impact that you hope to achieve is greater.

Environmental Scan

One of the most attractive elements of the Adopt Without Taking Home program is the
canine population that targets disabled dogs and dogs older than 8 years, which are difficult to
adopt and highly vulnerable. This has allowed OWC to move with relative ease in obtaining
resources and in attracting sponsors and volunteers since it makes it a unique program in
Colombia. However, there are international organizations that have similar projects that could
guide One Welfare Corporation (OWC) to take its program to another level of impact.

In the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Aspca)
has a strong donor system for all of its programs. On its web platform, there are more than six
different grant and payment plans that allow donors to participate in various ways with the
Foundation's grant programs. One of the forms of involvement in donating their work so that
through their profession they can help the foundation: there are lawyers, graphic designers,
publicists, etc. who donate their professional resources to the realization of the Aspca
programs. OWC could begin to project its donation platform in this direction to reach more
donors and offer them more alternatives for financial and labor support so that it can capitalize
on the interest that its sponsors have shown in the program.

The National Association Friends of Animals of Spain has a program similar to Adopt without
taking home. Nevertheless, they are well recognized for their educational classrooms against
animal cruelty. They have developed educational workshops to guide future pet owners about
the requirements and needs of a canine to avoid future abandonment. They advise families on
the education of their animals at different stages of life to prevent them from being abandoned
due to behavior problems. And of special importance, they provide support to prepare the
family for the changes that your pet undergoes as she ages (such as the management of her
OWC’s Theory of Change Mapping and Visualization

hygiene habits, her memory loss, of locomotion) which could increase her risk of abandonment.
Education has become a fundamental pillar in discouraging the abandonment of animals, which
could be used by OWC to start working more deeply on the roots of the problem.

Although this association does not have a specific program for old animals, it allows the
godparents to visit the animals, share with them, and also encourages them to have the
godfather take them home and share at least two weekends a year with his family. Among the
results that they report is that through this interaction, the home godparents commit
themselves with their patrons to get them through their networks of friends or to assume
adoption themselves. Adopt without taking home, you could offer this possibility to the
sponsors thus increasing the possibility of adoption of the canines.

The District Institute for Animal Protection and Welfare - IDPYBA - is the entity in charge of
animal care at the level of Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first of its kind in the Country and Latin
America, and its mission is aimed at seeking the welfare of animals through government
money. Since its inception in 2017, it has more than 32 animal protection programs and
manages a budget of more than 6 million dollars annually. Since its inception, this entity has
had an interesting work model with private sector companies and corporations through its Seal
of Zoolidarity. Summons different private companies that want to donate for animals, from
vehicles to veterinary ambulances like Ford Colombia did, food and veterinary medicine or free
distribution of educational brochures to all homes in Bogotá through a very famous mail
company. They have received the Zoolidarity Seal of the Institute and have made them visible
donors for the community. This shows the importance of working with private companies and
turning them into strategic allies, and not just focusing on individual donors.

The Adopt without taking you home program has a very promising emotional and support
component, which through good philanthropic karting could attract more resources and form
part of a national support program specifically for this type of population. It could become an
educational, medical, and social reference in this area and thus increasing its field of influence.
OWC’s Theory of Change Mapping and Visualization

Revised Theory of Chang

Based on the study, analysis, and evaluation of the Adopt without taking the home program,
Colombian Advisor proposes an adjustment in some current elements of the program, the
introduction of some activities, and the development of strategies that have been working. We
consider with a different approach, the program could have a greater impact on the root of the
problem: the abandonment of animals.

Table 1.2 Aspirational Adopt without taking home program Theory of Change for current
INPUTS PROCESS RESULTS
Resources Program Activities Outputs Outcomes Ultimate Impact
and
Assumptions
Donors and helper # Helpers (donors, Dog lovers helping
system volunteers) effectively
Amount of money Adopt without taking
raised home is a benchmark
Staff
in Colombia for the
support of old and
Media
# people reached People aware of disabled canines,
Educative workshop
responsible providing a space for
Shelters
ownership and the public and private
effects of neglect on entities and all dog
Donors
dogs lovers to help

# of shelters discourage
Volunteers Shelters support
supported Shelters receiving abandonment and

and caring for special ensure the quality of

dogs thanks to the life of animals. In this

help of OWC way, One Well-being

Table 1.2 proposes a theory of change for the Adopt without taking home a program in which
some modifications are made to the processes. The program is fed by personnel such as staff,
volunteers, and donors. These last called helpers. Within the processes, some activities were
reorganized according to the objective with which it is expected to work. Helpers (donors and
volunteers), direct work in shelters, and work in special canines were unified, in such a way that
efforts are channeled and actions are better organized. The educational activity is incorporated
to increase the impact on the cause of the problem of abandonment of animals. Finally, this
proposal seeks to position the program as a benchmark in this kind of population, offering a
comprehensive service, from the prevention of abandonment to the possibility of adoption,
which is reflected in the Ultimate Impact.

Below, Colombian Advisors has developed an infographic for the Adopt without taking home
program where it reflects the entire theory of change that houses the spirit of the vision and
mission of One Welfare Corporation.
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Infographic Explanation