Airtable 101 for Animal Welfare Organizations
Updated: Jul 23
What It Is, What It Isn't, & Whether Your Organization Needs It
A Note Before We Dive In
If you have spent any time around Built at Midnight, you have probably noticed that I talk about Airtable — a lot. More than any other tool. And I want to be upfront about why.
My expertise is in Airtable. It is the tool I know most deeply, the one I have used to build operational systems for animal welfare organizations, and the one I can speak to with genuine confidence. I am not covering it because it is the only good option or because every organization should use it — I am covering it because it is where I can offer you the most useful, specific, and honest guidance.
There is also a practical reason: animal welfare organizations have the fewest dedicated resources around Airtable. When you search for help with Shelterluv or PetPoint, you find documentation, training, and communities built around those tools. When you search for how to use Airtable to manage your foster program or volunteer database, you mostly find generic business tutorials that were not written with your reality in mind.
That gap is part of what Built at Midnight exists to fill. So before I get into what Airtable actually is — and whether it makes sense for your org — I wanted to name that context explicitly.
So, What Is Airtable
Airtable is a cloud-based database tool that looks like a spreadsheet but works like software.
At its core, it is built around a few key concepts:
A base is your entire database — think of it as a file that holds all the related information for one operational area, like your foster program, your volunteer roster, or your medical tracking.
Tables live inside a base and organize your data by category — one table for animals, one for fosters, one for outcomes.
Records are the individual rows — one record per animal, one per volunteer.
Fields are the columns — but instead of just holding text, they can be checkboxes, dropdowns, dates, file attachments, linked records, formulas, ratings, and more.
What makes Airtable different from a spreadsheet is that you can link records across tables. Your animal record can be directly connected to a foster record, which is connected to vet visit records, which is connected to an adoption outcome. That web of connected data is what makes Airtable genuinely powerful for operations — not just for storing information, but for understanding it.
Airtable is also flexible in how you view your data. The same records can be displayed as:
A grid view — like a spreadsheet
A kanban board — like Trello
A calendar
A gallery view — great for animals, with photos front and center
A form — for intake, applications, and volunteer signups
And a few others depending on what pricing plan you decide to go with.
It has a free plan. It does not require coding. And it runs entirely in your browser.
KEYWORD DEFINITION
Relational Data
"Relational" just means that records in one table can be linked to records in another. Instead of typing a foster parent’s name into every single animal record, you link the animal to the foster — and Airtable keeps that connection live and updated automatically. This is the capability that spreadsheets do not have natively, and it is the foundation of most of what makes Airtable valuable for animal welfare operations.
What Airtable is NOT
Before you get sold on it, a few things worth setting straight.
It is not a replacement for your shelter management software.
If your organization uses Shelterluv, PetPoint, Rescue Groups, or a similar platform, Airtable does not replace that. Those tools handle live intake records, stray holds, licensure integrations, and compliance reporting in ways Airtable is not built for.
Airtable works best alongside those systems — covering the operational gaps they leave behind, like foster coordination, volunteer tracking, event management, or anything you are currently doing in a spreadsheet because your primary software does not handle it well.
It is not just a fancier spreadsheet.
This is the most common misconception. People open Airtable for the first time, see rows and columns, and think: okay, this is Google Sheets with a better interface.
It is not.
The relational linking, the native field types, the multiple views, and the built-in automations are meaningfully different — and that difference is exactly where the operational value lives.
It is not a project management tool.
Can you use Airtable as a project management tool? Yes.
Should you use it as a project management tool? For best practices in managing a project, you should use project management software.
Airtable can flex into some project management use cases, but that is not what it was built for. If you need to manage task lists, assign work to team members, and track campaign timelines, there are tools purpose-built for that. Airtable is fundamentally a data management tool. It is not the other way around.
It is not difficult to learn.
Airtable can look overwhelming because it is capable of a lot. But you do not need to use all of it. Most organizations start with one base, build it out slowly, and add complexity only when there is a specific reason to. If you can manage a spreadsheet, you can use Airtable.
How Airtable Compares to Tools You Already Use
Most animal welfare organizations are already using some combination of the tools below. Here is an honest look at where each one shines — and where Airtable fills a different role.
Tool | What it does well | Where Airtable is different |
|---|---|---|
Excel / Google Sheets | Formulas, calculations, and flat data lists. Universally accessible — most staff already know how to use them. | Airtable handles relational data without complex workarounds — linking animals to fosters, for example. Field types like checkboxes, dropdowns, dates, and attachments are native, not just formatted cells. |
Google Forms | Quick form creation that feeds responses into a Google Sheet. Low friction for both the creator and the person filling it out. | Airtable forms feed directly into your base — no export, no copy-paste. The data is immediately live and connected to the rest of your records. You also have more control over conditional fields and required inputs. |
Trello | Visual kanban-style task and project tracking. Great for simple workflows with clear stages, especially for small teams. | Airtable has a kanban view too, but its real strength is managing structured data, not tasks. If you are using Trello to track animals or volunteers, you are working against the tool. |
Notion | Documentation, SOPs, knowledge bases, and team wikis. Excellent for storing written information in an organized, searchable way. | Notion has database functionality, but it is less powerful for complex relational data. Many organizations use both: Notion for documentation and SOPs, Airtable for operational data. They are not competing for the same job. |
Asana | Project and task management with due dates, assignees, dependencies, and timelines. Solid for managing a specific campaign or cross-functional workflow. | Asana is not designed for data management. If you are using it to track animals, fosters, or medical records, you are fighting the tool. Airtable handles structured, ongoing operational data far better. |
THE HONEST TAKEAWAY
None of these tools are wrong. They were each built for a specific job. The question is whether you are using the right tool for your job. Airtable is purpose-built for managing interconnected, structured operational data — which is exactly what animal welfare organizations generate every single day.
Is Airtable Right for Your Organization?
Airtable is not a universal answer. But it is likely a good fit if any of these sound familiar:
You are managing your foster program, medical records, or volunteer roster in spreadsheets that have become unwieldy or inconsistent.
You are collecting information through Google Forms and then manually copying it somewhere else.
You have data that lives in multiple places with no clean way to connect it — like matching available animals to available fosters.
You want to filter, sort, and view your data in different ways without rebuilding anything from scratch.
You want staff or volunteers entering data into a form, and you want control over exactly what fields they see.
You are a small organization that cannot afford expensive software — and the free plan matters.
It may not be the right fit right now if:
Your shelter management software already covers everything with no meaningful gaps.
Your team has no bandwidth to learn a new tool right now. A half-built system nobody uses is worse than no system at all.
You are primarily looking for task or project management. There are better tools built specifically for that.
Where to Start
If you are curious and have not used Airtable before, do not try to build a comprehensive system on day one. Start with one operational problem you are currently solving in a spreadsheet or with paper forms.
Good first bases for animal welfare organizations:
Foster program tracker — fosters, current placements, capacity, and check-in history
Volunteer database — contact info, availability, skills, and hours logged
Adoption application tracker
Medical records log for animals in your care
Pick one. Build something simple. Airtable’s free plan is genuinely useful — not a crippled version designed to force an upgrade. I always recommend to those that are learning Airtable to go over to Airtable's site for community-created templates, find one that really speaks to you and that you can have fun with, and start playing it. Take it apart, add new fields and tables, and really get to know Airtable in a fun way.
Get comfortable with how the tool works before adding complexity. Most small organizations can run meaningful operations on the free tier indefinitely.