Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Does anyone know of any grants that cover payroll?

    Posted 11-28-2022 11:16 AM

    Hello everyone, 

    I am the director of a rural shelter in upstate NY. We are a private facility but have 7 municipal contracts for dog control/humane law enforcement. 

    I am budgeting for the upcoming new year. Looking at payroll specifically. 

    Any advice, grant opportunities, or just general tips  would be much appreciated. 

    Thank you to this amazing community for everything you do.
    #FundraisingandDevelopment

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    Emily Roberts
    Executive Director
    Cortland County SPCA
    she/her
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  • 2.  RE: Does anyone know of any grants that cover payroll?

    Posted 11-28-2022 02:29 PM
    Hi Emily,

    Sorry to hear about your budget shortfall.  The cost increases over the past year have been hitting everyone pretty hard for sure.  

    For grants there's two ways to look at more operations style support.

    There are some grant agencies, most prominently PetCo Love and PetSmart that do offer some direct support for general operations.  Those and other general operating grants tend to be a much more competitive and/or have requirements around social media or in-store adoptions.

    Other grant organizations might apply to direct operating areas but need a little creative placement around finding a way to fit a project or expansion of work into what you're already doing in a way that fits the grant parameters.  For example, if you're doing community spay/neuter you might be able to get a medical grant that helps cover medical supplies cost in exchange for running a pilot program on TNR.

    The most impactful grant that we did recently was a community fundraising / grant supported program to install solar panels on our building.  We not only had great community support, but also solar grant foundation support, animal grant support, and state/utility company rebates and grants that all helped cover all of our costs.  It generates about $1,000 a month for our shelter which is a direct savings to our operating budget and it was much easier to find funders interested in a "brick and mortar" project for the panels.

    You may also have better luck with a local community foundation like https://donorswhocare.org/grant-seekers/grant-seeker-forms/ as they sometimes can be more flexible or are interested in long terms support of local organizations.

    Beyond that, operating grants are really hard to come by and your time and effort may be better spent looking to grow your immediate fundraising, community donor, and online donor programs rather than trying to go in for a very competitive grant you might not get.

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    Jeff Okazaki
    Humane Society of Jefferson County
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  • 3.  RE: Does anyone know of any grants that cover payroll?

    Posted 11-29-2022 08:42 AM
    Friends for Felines, Inc. - dba - Tabby Town is a not for profit organization that relies on a few corporate sponsors and income from adoptions, store purchases, donations, basket raffles, etc.  I've been writing small grants to any animal rescue organization that I can find for support.   Recently, received a small grant where I can offer a discount to veterans and first responders.   I'm finding that many times, some of the larger rescues have the staff and resources to compete with some of the high end grants from larger organizations.  Tabby Town is a volunteer organization and the only salaries go to the cleaning staff.  Nonetheless, costs of vet bills, food bills, utilities, rent, cleaners become pretty steep.  These small grants may only be a drop in the bucket, but any little bit helps.  

    It's important to reach out beyond your core group and I would be interested in any ideas/suggestions/thoughts as well.

    Carol Lelonek
    Board Member - Information Technology
    Tabby Town
    Blasdell, NY

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    Carol Lelonek
    Information Technology
    Friends for Felines, Inc. - Tabby Town
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  • 4.  RE: Does anyone know of any grants that cover payroll?

    Posted 12-05-2022 03:35 AM
    Hello! I have found grantgopher.com to be very helpful in finding all kinds of grant opportunities, and it's only $9/month.  Yes, it's true that the private foundation grants are very competitive, but most of them just require a "Letter of Interest" initially, so it's not too time intensive.  In the past few months, I have sent out 10 -15 LOIs and have gotten only one request to complete the full grant application (so far), but if we get even one grant, it's worth it. Good luck!

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    Kaja Gula-Thomas
    Grants & Special Projects
    START Rescue
    VENTURA CA
    917-655-0545
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  • 5.  RE: Does anyone know of any grants that cover payroll?

    Posted 12-05-2022 10:43 AM
    Hi Emily,

    Our nonprofit uses Instrumentl.com to locate, track, and apply for grants from foundations all across the country.  We've found it to be incredibly helpful and easy to use, and you can drill down to find out more info about foundations and what their funding interests are!

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    Karen Martiny
    Executive Director
    Animal Rescue of the Rockies
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  • 6.  RE: Does anyone know of any grants that cover payroll?

    Posted 12-06-2022 07:16 AM
    Instrumental is great but not in my budget unfortunately.  I did find some useful information during my trial but hopefully sometime in the future i can get that approved in my budget.

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    Dawn Roberts
    Executive Director
    Beesley Animal Foundation
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