Petfinder.com forums :: View topic - 6/30-7/6- TNR-Establishment and Management [ ]

For the week of June 30th through July 6th we will have Susan Greene of Petfinder.com here with us to answer your questions on Trap-Neuter-Return programs. Are you looking to establish a program in your community? Do you have a program but are looking for the best way to obtain volunteers, funding, food sources? Are you facing opposition with your community? Please join us starting June 30th and bring your questions to post below, we look forward you seeing you!
Admin

A little about Susan:

Susan Greene, Shelter Outreach Specialist, Petfinder.com

As a member of the Shelter Outreach team, Susan is the first point of contact for shelters and placement groups at Petfinder.com. Susan worked as a humane officer with the Tompkins County (NY) SPCA. She then spent 17 years in an academic setting, first in law enforcement, and then with the Biology department at Ithaca College. From 1990-2004 she ran a wildlife control and rescue business which stressed humane control methods and also handled feral cats. Due to an increasing number of requests for help with cats, the business became a feral cat rescue in 2004, and has successfully managed cat colonies to zero or near zero. She has presented on feral cat issues at national and international conferences. Susan holds a B.A. degree in Philosophy from Ithaca College and is completing an M.S. in Communication. She lives in rural New York State with six purrsonal cats and a cat facility for formerly feral felines who are up for adoption on Petfinder.com!

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:31 am Post subject: Feeding Ferals

In our community we would like to help the ferals: altering them, feeding them taking care of their illnesses and injuries. Are there programs that help a group just starting out get funding? Do you have to be 501C3? Is it possible to become 501C3 even if you are not taking the animals in but rather managing them in their own environment or is it better to establish a new 'home' or environment for them? Thanks!

Susan's Reply
Hi,

Thanks for getting this week's forum off to a great start!

You do not have to have 501(c)(3) status to help feral cats in your community. However, having federal 501(c)(3) status enables your organization to apply for grant opportunities that are only available to non-profit groups. Donors are also more likely support your effort financially if they know their donation will be tax-deductible.

You do not have to have a physical animal shelter to obtain 501(c)(3) status. You do have to be an "action" organization and may not just be involved in lobbying. An organization may obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the IRS for purposes that are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, test for public safety, foster national or international amateur sports competitions, or prevent cruelty to children or animals (quoted from the IRS web site).

You can learn more about the IRS and obtaining your 501(c)(3) at this link:

http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169727,00.html

We hope to have resources on Petfinder with guidance on the 501(c)(3) process in the near future.

Funding resources will vary depending on programs located in your city and state, and how much effort you and your volunteers are able invest in fundraising. Donations may come from adoptors, local citizens, local community groups, or foundations. Your veterinarian(s) may also be willing to provide your group with a discount once she or he sees your dedication to feral cats.

If your group has 501(c)(3) status, grants may be available to you from foundations that support animal welfare and the spay/neuter mission. Concerning general fundraising, please check out the Petco Foundation at http://www.petco.com and click on "Foundation" in the column at the left. You can find good information here: http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/2animal.htm This is a listing of a lot of different sources for funding. There is also a yahoo listserv dedicated to Shelter Fundraising that you could join to look for ideas. If you check their files section, you'll find a lot of work already done for you as well. You can find them at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shelterfundraising/

If you enter "spay" "neuter" and "funding" in a search engine, you'll receive many resources.

There are several great regional and national feral cat advocacy groups whose resources I will be citing quite a bit this week. Concerning fundraising, you may want to visit this page from Alley Cat Allies:

http://www.alleycat.org/resources_care.html#18

Good luck to you!

-Susan

Petfinder.com forums Forum Index -> Public Forums -> Ask the Experts Forum -> 6/30-7/6- TNR-Establishment and Management

	Petfinder.com forums Forum Index -> Public Forums -> Ask the Experts Forum -> 6/30-7/6- TNR-Establishment and Management	All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1