When Ezra Varley joined Pasado’s Safe Haven as a communications specialist, he was stepping into a role where every hour would count: managing social media, email newsletters, print materials, and performance reporting—all while supporting a mission that never slows down.
Then the reporting reality set in.
As part of a small marketing team at Pasado’s Safe Haven, a Washington-based animal sanctuary and advocacy non-profit organization, Ezra spent half a day, twice a month, manually pulling analytics and building reports for leadership.
“It usually takes me half a day to pull information, analyze click-throughs, and measure supporters’ engagement each month,” Ezra explained.
That’s time taken away from supporting the mission to end animal cruelty.
A mission that demands efficiency
Founded in 1997 after a landmark animal cruelty case, Pasado’s Safe Haven has grown into one of the largest animal sanctuaries in the Pacific Northwest. Today, it provides refuge to approximately 200 rescued animals on an 85-acre sanctuary in Monroe, Washington.
Beyond sanctuary care, Pasado’s Safe Haven investigates animal cruelty cases, advocates for stronger state laws, provides low-cost spay and neuter services, runs animal welfare educational programs in schools, and operates a community pet food bank. During Washington state’s legislative sessions, they are a major voice for animal welfare policy, working with legislators, tracking bills, and mobilizing community action.
For a lean team driving this level of impact, every hour matters. And for Ezra, Bitly is central to how they measure and manage that impact—tracking everything from adoption interest to legislative engagement.
Manual reporting in a fast-paced environment
With so many mission-critical programs to manage, Ezra handles a high volume of digital communications. To keep everything measurable, Bitly sits at the center of his workflow, tracking engagement for events, adoptions, legislative action, and rescue operations.
Previously, Ezra set up two Bitly Analytics dashboards: one for all trackable links and another focused on adoption-related links for more detailed stakeholder reporting. But pulling the data was time-consuming. It meant opening dashboards, adjusting date ranges, exporting CSVs, and manually logging daily engagement into spreadsheets.
When stakeholders asked follow-up questions, like “What day had the most traffic?” or “How many total clicks did adoption links get this month?” the tedious and manual process would start over again.
Bringing Bitly Assist into everyday workflows
Ezra first noticed Bitly Assist—Bitly’s AI-powered chat that answers questions about your link and QR Code performance in plain language—on the homepage and decided to try it for monthly reporting.
“If I need to get information to people same-day, and I’ve got a million other things going on, I definitely use [Bitly Assist].”
Bitly Assist fit naturally into Ezra’s existing workflow. Instead of navigating through his manual dashboard settings, date pickers, and CSV export functions, he now simply asks reporting questions and gets clear, instant answers.
From manual reporting to instant answers
For monthly reporting, Ezra asks Bitly Assist questions like, “How many clicks did I get in January on adoption links?” Instead of digging through dashboards or compiling spreadsheets, the answer comes back in seconds.
“It happens in an instant,” Ezra said, compared to the hours it used to take. “It is really intuitive—pretty direct, which is really nice.”
That speed changes how he approaches reporting altogether. When new questions come up, he doesn’t need to restart the process or rebuild anything. He can simply ask follow-ups like “What day had the most engagement?” and continue exploring from there. The conversational format makes it easy to move from high-level metrics to more specific insights in just a few steps.
Bitly Assist is especially powerful when analyzing different types of links. Ezra points to the ability to group and analyze links on the fly as one of its biggest advantages. Instead of recreating filters or rebuilding dashboards, Ezra can quickly compare performance across campaigns, such as advocacy versus adoption, just by asking.
“If I need data about advocacy links, I can just ask, ‘How much engagement did I get in January?’ Then I can do the same for adoptions without rebuilding my dashboard every time.”
While Bitly Assist now handles most of the heavy lifting, Ezra still uses the Bitly Analytics dashboard when it’s time to present findings to stakeholders. The organization’s board and executive director prefer visual charts that show trends over time, while Ezra focuses on getting to the numbers quickly and accurately. For day-to-day work and same-day requests, Bitly Assist has become his default.
“Speed, accuracy, and convenience are the biggest reasons I use it.”
Together, Bitly Assist and Analytics give Ezra both fast, on-demand answers when he’s working, and clear visuals when it’s time to communicate results.
Hours reclaimed for mission-critical work
The time savings are significant. What used to take half a day now happens in minutes. Ezra runs reports multiple times a month alongside ongoing, ad-hoc requests from stakeholders, so that time adds up quickly.
With faster access to data, Ezra spends less time compiling reports and more time using insights to guide decisions. That includes shaping social and email strategies based on what’s resonating with Pasado’s audience.
Understanding link performance helps the team decide when clearer, more descriptive links improve trust and engagement.
Turning insights into advocacy impact
This shift doesn’t just save time, it directly supports Pasado’s advocacy work. As a leading voice in Washington state animal welfare policy, the team relies on performance data to understand what’s resonating and where to focus their efforts during legislative sessions.
“We’ve seen our click-throughs on advocacy content increase over time because we can see where engagement is coming from across platforms,” Ezra explained. “We use that to decide where to focus, especially when we’re trying to move a bill through the State House or Senate.”
The data helps the team quickly assess whether messaging is gaining traction and adjust in real time. In one case, Pasado’s Safe Haven tracked engagement for a specific bill across Washington and saw participation from nearly every county. They could pinpoint which cities were driving action and map that back to regional impact. That’s insight that helps stakeholders understand reach and momentum.
“All the stakeholders involved in our advocacy really like to know information like that. It’s now really quick and easy to pull.”
With Bitly Assist making data easier to access and share, Ezra can respond faster to time-sensitive questions and provide insights when they matter most, which is critical when working to influence legislation that protects animals across the state.
More time for what matters most
For nearly three decades, Pasado’s Safe Haven has been working to end animal cruelty by helping pass landmark legislation, rescuing thousands of animals, and supporting communities by providing critical services and education.
With Bitly Assist, data is easier to access and act on. Ezra can now spend less time compiling data and more time supporting Pasado’s mission. For organizations like Pasado’s, that time matters. It means more focus on advocacy, more support for communities, and more progress toward ending animal cruelty. Ready to streamline your reporting? Get started with Bitly and see how Bitly Assist helps you get answers—and get time back.
