Animal Welfare Professionals

Our rescue organization recently bought (with a huge mortgage) property on which to establish a more all-encompassing recue facility, including outdoor space, veterinary and care facilities and public space for adopters. (Our group is foster-based but we hold regular meet-and-greets for possible adopters.) Does anyone know of any viable grants to help us cover our expenses and develop our new facility? We already have structures on the property which will need extensive work to make them viable for the animals. Thanks for any help.
#FundraisingandDevelopment

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J.B. Lee
Writer
Reach Rescue
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HiJ.B. - 
Congratulations! What an exciting time for your rescue. START is hoping to one day take that leap as well. I have had good luck with grantgopher.com, and it is only $9/month.  There are several opportunities listed now that might fund capital projects. Let me know how it goes! As we all know, grant writing is a LONG process.

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Kaja Gula-Thomas
Grants & Special Projects
START Rescue
VENTURA CA
917-655-0545
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-06-2022 07:50 AM
From: J.B. Lee
Subject: Capital grants

Our rescue organization recently bought (with a huge mortgage) property on which to establish a more all-encompassing recue facility, including outdoor space, veterinary and care facilities and public space for adopters. (Our group is foster-based but we hold regular meet-and-greets for possible adopters.) Does anyone know of any viable grants to help us cover our expenses and develop our new facility? We already have structures on the property which will need extensive work to make them viable for the animals. Thanks for any help.
#FundraisingandDevelopment

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J.B. Lee
Writer
Reach Rescue
------------------------------

Hi JB,

Your location matters a lot here as some of the national grant agencies do have region specific programs.  You also may have more luck approaching foundations in your area, even if they're not animal specific, as these more local grant agencies tend to be more interested in brick and mortar construction rather than project and program growth.

PetSmart Foundation also has fairly large grants, but their requirements include adopting more than 100 animals per year through PetSmart and the grants need to show how the funds will help impact your ability to get pets adopted through PetSmart.

PetCo Love Foundation also has fairly large grants available.  Their submission period for shelters begins in July (as of this year, sometimes that can change) and they have a pretty active requirement for you to be involved in participating and promoting them on social media outside of the grant.

Maddie's Fund is one of the largest animal related grant organizations.  They may have some grant opportunities that could help out, but usually their grants are more focused on trending national issues that affect all shelters.

Beyond that, many of the animal funders are looking at projects or construction on a smaller scale than a brand new shelter or a total rehab, so looking at other non-profit funders in general, or building a coalition of funders may be the better way to go.  If you don't have a local grant library, then getting a grant support program like Kaja mentioned may be helpful for your organization.

The other thing to think about is, with any major capital project, unless you're so tiny that it's impossible, most grant funders are going to want to see a significant pledge of funds from your organization to ensure you're committed to a large capital project and have the donor base to support the result going forward.  It may be a good time to have a conversation with your major donors about what you're looking to do and why and see if you can get any commitments for support there to back up your efforts.  A great ask is for matching funds, where your donors match dollar for dollar up to a certain amount to help get other donors and the community engaged in supporting the project.

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Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-06-2022 07:50 AM
From: J.B. Lee
Subject: Capital grants

Our rescue organization recently bought (with a huge mortgage) property on which to establish a more all-encompassing recue facility, including outdoor space, veterinary and care facilities and public space for adopters. (Our group is foster-based but we hold regular meet-and-greets for possible adopters.) Does anyone know of any viable grants to help us cover our expenses and develop our new facility? We already have structures on the property which will need extensive work to make them viable for the animals. Thanks for any help.
#FundraisingandDevelopment

------------------------------
J.B. Lee
Writer
Reach Rescue
------------------------------

Jeff and Kaja, thank you for your responses. We are incredibly lucky to have a major resale shop that devotes all profits to us, which is a huge help (but nowhere near covers everything!). I am on Grant Gopher, and we do keep in contact with local and county organizations, and so far our grand-writing team has been pounding the pavement for viable options. I think we do need to go to major foundations in our area, and that will probably be our focus in the new year.  Thanks for your input! Happy holidays!
Joyce

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J.B. Lee
Writer
Reach Rescue
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-07-2022 07:19 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Capital grants

Hi JB,

Your location matters a lot here as some of the national grant agencies do have region specific programs.  You also may have more luck approaching foundations in your area, even if they're not animal specific, as these more local grant agencies tend to be more interested in brick and mortar construction rather than project and program growth.

PetSmart Foundation also has fairly large grants, but their requirements include adopting more than 100 animals per year through PetSmart and the grants need to show how the funds will help impact your ability to get pets adopted through PetSmart.

PetCo Love Foundation also has fairly large grants available.  Their submission period for shelters begins in July (as of this year, sometimes that can change) and they have a pretty active requirement for you to be involved in participating and promoting them on social media outside of the grant.

Maddie's Fund is one of the largest animal related grant organizations.  They may have some grant opportunities that could help out, but usually their grants are more focused on trending national issues that affect all shelters.

Beyond that, many of the animal funders are looking at projects or construction on a smaller scale than a brand new shelter or a total rehab, so looking at other non-profit funders in general, or building a coalition of funders may be the better way to go.  If you don't have a local grant library, then getting a grant support program like Kaja mentioned may be helpful for your organization.

The other thing to think about is, with any major capital project, unless you're so tiny that it's impossible, most grant funders are going to want to see a significant pledge of funds from your organization to ensure you're committed to a large capital project and have the donor base to support the result going forward.  It may be a good time to have a conversation with your major donors about what you're looking to do and why and see if you can get any commitments for support there to back up your efforts.  A great ask is for matching funds, where your donors match dollar for dollar up to a certain amount to help get other donors and the community engaged in supporting the project.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County

Original Message:
Sent: 12-06-2022 07:50 AM
From: J.B. Lee
Subject: Capital grants

Our rescue organization recently bought (with a huge mortgage) property on which to establish a more all-encompassing recue facility, including outdoor space, veterinary and care facilities and public space for adopters. (Our group is foster-based but we hold regular meet-and-greets for possible adopters.) Does anyone know of any viable grants to help us cover our expenses and develop our new facility? We already have structures on the property which will need extensive work to make them viable for the animals. Thanks for any help.
#FundraisingandDevelopment

------------------------------
J.B. Lee
Writer
Reach Rescue
------------------------------

Particularly when it comes to foundation grants, location makes a difference but, you can start with searching for grants through simple Google searches. However, there are a number of grant specific search pages that can help you locate granting foundations, however some will require paid subscriptions to access their database, these include:

• https://www.guidestar.org/
• https://www.philanthropy.com/grants
• https://cof.org/page/community-foundation-locator

Some foundation funds are managed by banks and can be found and searched for through the bank's platform. Examples of this can be found at:

• https://www.bankofamerica.com/philanthropic/search-for-grants/
• https://www.wellsfargo.com/private-foundations/

So check out the local banks in your area as well to see if they are managing any grants that might work for your organization.

You can also try to find a Funding Information Network location near you (https://candid.org/find-us). From one of their partner locations you can get free access to the Foundation Directory to search for grants that you might be eligible for.

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Kathryn McCloud
Grants Administrator
City of Converse
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-06-2022 07:50 AM
From: J.B. Lee
Subject: Capital grants

Our rescue organization recently bought (with a huge mortgage) property on which to establish a more all-encompassing recue facility, including outdoor space, veterinary and care facilities and public space for adopters. (Our group is foster-based but we hold regular meet-and-greets for possible adopters.) Does anyone know of any viable grants to help us cover our expenses and develop our new facility? We already have structures on the property which will need extensive work to make them viable for the animals. Thanks for any help.
#FundraisingandDevelopment

------------------------------
J.B. Lee
Writer
Reach Rescue
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