Grants for Animal Shelters and Rescues: Who Funds Them
GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns shows which foundations pay animal shelters and rescues and how much, by state, plus the national grant programs and their windows.
In this article (10)
- Quick Answer: How do I get a grant for an animal shelter?
- Which national groups give grants to animal shelters?
- Which foundations fund animal shelters?
- How much do foundations give animal shelters?
- Which states have the most foundations funding animal shelters?
- Are there federal grants for animal shelters?
- How do I get funding for an animal rescue?
- How to apply for an animal shelter grant
- FAQ
- Find the foundations that fund animal shelters near you
Animal shelters and rescue groups get grants from private family foundations, from national animal welfare organizations and from pet company foundations. GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns found 9,028 private foundations that paid $441 million to shelters, rescues and other animal welfare groups in 25,617 grants in tax years 2022 to 2025, and 2,367 of those foundations list how to apply on their latest return.
Quick Answer: How do I get a grant for an animal shelter?
Track yearly rounds from national funders like Best Friends Animal Society (Save Them All grants up to $50,000, for network members) and the Pedigree Foundation (both read November 2026), and ask local family foundations that fund shelters. In tax years 2022 to 2025, 58% of foundation grants to shelters were under $5,000.
Which national groups give grants to animal shelters?
The main national programs come from animal welfare charities and pet company foundations, and most of them open once a year with eligibility rules of their own.
Best Friends Animal Society
The Rachael Ray Save Them All grants, run by Best Friends Animal Society, fund projects that increase lifesaving of cats and dogs in U.S. shelters: up to $50,000 and no more than 10% of the applicant's operating budget, with a second track, No-Kill Excellence, of up to $60,000 (Best Friends Animal Society, Save Them All grants, read November 2026). Applicants must belong to the Best Friends Network and share shelter data, and the project must involve a shelter whose save rate is below 90%, either the applicant's own or one it works with. Funds must be spent within a year. The 2027 round's letter of interest window has closed, and the page said decisions would be shared in early November 2026; check it for the next letter of interest window.
ASPCA
The ASPCA has given more than $250 million in grants since 2001 to more than 4,000 animal shelters, municipal and government agencies, rescue groups, universities and other organizations (ASPCA, Grants, read November 2026). Its grants pay for local and regional capacity, disaster and cruelty response, pilot programs, best practices and policy work, and current opportunities are listed on its grants pages.
Pedigree Foundation
The Pedigree Foundation's annual grants for dog programs are closed for 2026 (Pedigree Foundation, Shelters Grant, read November 2026): a DOGS RULE grant of $50,000 a year for two years and Program Development grants of $10,000 to $15,000, both aimed at raising adoptions through foster, behavior or transport work. Its disaster relief grants for nonprofit animal welfare groups hit by natural disasters are open year round. It reports more than 6,400 grants to shelters and rescues since 2008.
PetSmart Charities
PetSmart Charities funds nonprofits, municipalities and animal welfare organizations (PetSmart Charities, Grants, read November 2026). It is always accepting new Adoption Partners, and those partners qualify for grants such as Adoption Growth grants, whose 2026 window ran September 8 to October 2. Access to Veterinary Care grants and Disaster Response grants for state or federally declared disasters were listed with an apply link.
Grey Muzzle and BISSELL Pet Foundation
Grey Muzzle funds senior dog programs at U.S. nonprofit animal welfare groups, including Friends of municipal shelter organizations, through Pathways Home and Staying Home grants (Grey Muzzle, Grants, read November 2026). Its main cycle usually opens each February with applications due by mid-March, and the next is expected in early 2027. BISSELL Pet Foundation works through its Partners for Pets program: members can join reduced-fee Empty the Shelters adoption events, which require a physical adoption facility, and private and municipal shelters can ask about Grateful Pet grants for animals whose medical issues keep them from adoption (BISSELL Pet Foundation, Partner Support, read November 2026).
Which foundations fund animal shelters?
Ranked by how many animal groups each one paid, company foundations with employee giving programs lead, followed by a few family foundations that pay groups in dozens of states.
Seven of the 12 foundations that paid the most animal groups run employee giving: JPMorgan Chase Foundation (319 recipients, median $300), Edward Jones Foundation (272, median $200), The Pfizer Foundation (260, median $150), The Cigna Group Foundation (120, median $205), Verizon Foundation (112, median $162), Baird Foundation (93, median $295) and Assurant Foundation (69, median $50). That money follows where employees give or volunteer, and a shelter cannot apply for it. Shell, Citizens, Gallagher, GE Aerospace, Lincoln Financial and Texas Instruments also paid 50 or more animal groups each, with medians of $600 or less.
Leaving those out, these foundations paid the most shelters, rescues and animal welfare groups:
Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2022 to 2025 (most foundations have one or two years on file). "Recipients" counts the different animal welfare organizations paid. "Based in" is the filing address.
Maddie's Fund and Pedigree are the national funders in the table whose latest returns list how to apply. On its returns, Maddie's Fund paid 122 groups in 43 states at a median of $3,000, though two grants to the San Francisco SPCA came to $1.26 million; its website could not be read for this guide, so check its current programs there before you apply. Pedigree paid 92 in 36 states at a median of $10,000, in line with its Program Development grants. The Summerlee Foundation in Dallas, which supports animal protection and Texas history, paid 34 groups in 23 states at a median of $7,000; its animal protection portal was closed when read, and it says future opportunities will be posted there (Summerlee Foundation, home page, read November 2026).
Family foundations give the larger checks. The Leslie L Alexander Foundation paid 406 groups in 37 states at a median of $35,000, and the Marion and Richard Graham Foundation paid 94 in 26 states at a median of $15,000, but both say preselected only. Some stay close to home: Giving With Grace's top recipients are humane groups around Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Fleming Family Foundation in Jacksonville, whose latest return lists how to apply, paid 32 groups in six states at a median of $15,000.
A ranking by dollars misleads here. The largest dollar totals belong to funders whose money mostly went elsewhere: farm animal welfare groups abroad, a $17.1 million grant to a college in Arkansas and $8.3 million passed between two foundations that share a name. One company foundation reported $2.9 million on a single line labeled matching gifts. Across all 9,028 foundations, 74% (6,649) say preselected only on their latest return. The guide to foundations that do not accept unsolicited proposals explains what that means, and who funds organizations like mine shows how to work backward from a peer shelter's funders.
How much do foundations give animal shelters?
Most grants are small: 58% of foundation grants to animal welfare groups were under $5,000, and 87% were under $25,000.
Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2022 to 2025, the latest return on file for each foundation (92% of these grants fall in tax years 2024 and 2025). Recipients matched by name or grant purpose include animal shelters, humane societies, SPCAs, rescue groups, sanctuaries and other animal welfare organizations.
The 48 grants of $1 million or more carried 23% of the dollars. For a local shelter the useful figure is the middle of the table: 60% of grants paid between $1,000 and $25,000.
Purpose lines are usually plain. In a sample of 30 typical grants from the returns, amounts ran from $1,000 to $10,000 with a median of $3,000, and 13 purpose lines say only general, operating or unrestricted support. One of the few that names a project is $8,000 in tax year 2024 to a humane society in Richland Center, Wisconsin, for a fire alarm system.
Which states have the most foundations funding animal shelters?
California has the most foundations paying animal welfare groups, 1,129, followed by Florida (974) and New York (942).
Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2022 to 2025. A row counts the foundations that paid at least one animal welfare group in that state, wherever the foundation is based. Each state links to GrantCue's free list of the foundations whose largest share of grants goes to that state.
Florida has the highest median of the 15, $4,836, and three of the family foundations in the table above file from Florida. The District of Columbia row reflects national organizations based there: 590 foundations paid only 136 recipients. New Jersey (284 foundations), Washington (272) and Arizona (266) come next.
Are there federal grants for animal shelters?
A federal grant with pet shelter in its title, the Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter and Housing Assistance program, pays for housing domestic violence victims with their pets rather than for running an animal shelter, and its 2026 round was by invitation only.
The Office for Victims of Crime ran it as a competition in fiscal year 2025, closing August 20, 2025 (Office for Victims of Crime, FY25 opportunity, read November 2026). The invited FY 2026 round offered $2.2 million for an expected five awards of up to $600,000 and closed September 23, 2026 (Simpler.Grants.gov, FY 2026 listing, read November 2026). The program counts pets, service animals, emotional support animals and horses as companion animals, and aims to let domestic violence shelters house victims together with them.
Disaster money is the other channel for shelters. Pedigree's disaster relief grants are open year round, and PetSmart Charities takes requests after state or federally declared disasters. Open public and private grants are searchable on GrantCue's grants page.
How do I get funding for an animal rescue?
A rescue raises grant money the way a shelter does, from local foundations and national programs, but some programs require a building or a partner shelter, so read each rule before applying.
Best Friends' Save Them All grants accept rescue groups whose project affects a shelter below a 90% save rate. Grey Muzzle's Pathways Home grants support shelters and rescues that move senior dogs into adoptive, foster and hospice homes. BISSELL Pet Foundation's adoption events, by contrast, require a physical adoption facility and are not suited to foster-based rescues.
Funders also want records: Best Friends requires monthly shelter data, and Grey Muzzle advises groups to collect intake and outcome data, program goals and the cost of care throughout the year. A new rescue can start with small local grants and use them to build that record; small local grants to build a track record covers how, and a rescue still waiting on its exemption can read how to find grants without 501(c)(3) status.
How to apply for an animal shelter grant
Apply first to the funders that already pay animal groups in your area, and time each request to that funder's calendar.
- Open your state's free foundation list and the profiles of the foundations near you. A profile shows a foundation's largest grants; a free account opens its full grant list, which you can filter by purpose to find its grants to shelters and rescues.
- Read each one's latest 990-PF: the grant list shows who it paid and how much, and the application section shows whether it takes requests.
- Check each funder's own site; a return can be two years old.
- Ask for a specific amount for a specific use (a transport run, a foster program, a fire alarm), close to that funder's usual grant.
- Keep your numbers ready: intake, live outcomes, foster homes and the cost of care. A sample grant proposal for an animal rescue shows how to lay them out.
- Put the next windows on the calendar.
A free GrantCue account can save these funders, suggest grants that fit the shelter's profile, and track each window as a deadline.
FAQ
Does the ASPCA give grants to animal shelters?
Yes. The ASPCA has given more than $250 million in grants since 2001 to more than 4,000 animal shelters, municipal and government agencies, rescue groups, universities and other organizations. Its grants support local and regional capacity, disaster and cruelty response, pilot programs and policy work. Current opportunities, with their own eligibility rules and dates, are listed on the ASPCA's grants pages, so check there before planning a request.
Can a foster-based rescue get grants?
Yes, though not from every program. Best Friends' Save Them All grants accept rescue groups whose project affects a shelter below a 90% save rate, and Grey Muzzle funds rescues that move senior dogs into adoptive, foster and hospice homes. BISSELL Pet Foundation's Empty the Shelters events require a physical adoption facility. Local family foundations pay rescues too; a foundation's full grant list on GrantCue, open with a free account, shows whether it has paid animal groups in your area.
What is a lifesaving gap in Best Friends grants?
Best Friends counts a community as having no lifesaving gap when every brick-and-mortar shelter in the county has a save rate of 90% or higher. The gap is the number of cats and dogs that would have needed to be saved last year to reach 90%. Its Save Them All grants go to shelters with a gap, or to groups whose project helps a shelter that has one, and Best Friends calculates the reduction from the data the grantee reports.
Are there grants to start an animal rescue?
Local funders are the place to start, because national programs such as Best Friends' grants require network membership and monthly shelter data, and Grey Muzzle asks for intake and outcome data, which a new group does not yet have. A new rescue can begin with small grants from local family foundations and businesses, keep careful records from the first animal, and apply to national programs once it has a year of results.
How much do foundations give animal shelters?
Most grants are small. In GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns for tax years 2022 to 2025, 58% of 25,617 foundation grants to animal welfare groups were under $5,000 and 87% were under $25,000. In a sample of 30 typical grants, the median was $3,000. On their returns, Pedigree Foundation's grants had a median of $10,000 and Maddie's Fund's $3,000. Ask for an amount close to what each funder usually gives.
Find the foundations that fund animal shelters near you
The next step is a short list of the foundations that already pay shelters and rescues in your state, with each one's window on a calendar. Start from the foundations that give in your state on GrantCue's free state lists, then create a free GrantCue account to open each one's full grant list, save the ones that have paid animal groups, track their deadlines and get alerts when new grants open. For the wider search beyond animal programs, the guide to finding grants for nonprofits covers every channel.