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Why aren’t government animal control agencies eligible for funding?
Why aren’t you funding programs to take care of sick and injured animals?
What are your definitions of healthy, treatable and unhealthy & untreatable?
Why doesn't Maddie's Fund provide money for building new shelters?
In order to get funded, projects have to include animal control. What if animal control doesn’t want to participate?
How can we interest veterinarians in a collaborative partnership?
Does every animal group in the target area have to be in the collaboration?
Who decides which group is in charge of funds and oversees their distribution?
If a group drops out of a collaboration, is the grant taken away?
Can we contact agencies who have already been funded?
Grants require "immediate and measurable" progress. What does that mean?
Are smaller organizations expected to compete with larger group’s accomplishments?
In order to get a community collaborative grant, an agency must be an adoption guarantee organization. What if the agency plans to become an adoption guarantee organization in 2-3 years?
Are there geographical limits to your funding?
Is there an application deadline?
How much money should an organization request?
Baseline is frequently mentioned. What exactly is that?
Q. Why aren’t government animal control agencies eligible for funding?
A. We want to fund agencies who are not dependent on taxpayer priorities but whose sole purpose is to fulfill their humane mission of saving lives. Government animal control agencies are in the business of serving the community needs at large as decided by the elected officials. As a result, animal control tends to put its emphasis on public health and public safety, law enforcement, animal regulation, and licensing.
On a case-by-case basis, Maddie's Fund will consider animal control or a traditional shelter as lead agency for the adoption component of a community collaborative project. In our funded community collaborative projects, beginning in Year Three, animal control and traditional shelters are also eligible to receive funding for above baseline adoptions in any month in which the project achieves an adoption guarantee for healthy dogs and cats.
Q. Why aren’t you funding programs to take care of sick and injured animals?
A. We are. Maddie's Fund wants to help communities achieve no-kill status, whereby all their healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats are guaranteed loving homes within ten years. To achieve this goal, Maddie's Fund intends to financially support community-wide collaborations of adoption guarantee organizations, animal control and traditional shelters, and private practice veterinarians, working together to provide an adoption guarantee for all their healthy shelter dogs and cats by the start of Year Five and to extend that guarantee to include all treatable shelter pets by the end of Year Ten.
Q. What are your definitions of healthy, treatable and unhealthy & untreatable?
A. Healthy: The term "healthy" means and includes all dogs and cats eight weeks of age or older that, at or subsequent to the time the animal is taken into possession, have manifested no signs of a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that could pose a health or safety risk or otherwise make the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet, and have manifested no sign of disease, injury, a congenital or hereditary condition that adversely affects the health of the animal, or that is likely to adversely affect the animal's health in the future.
Treatable: The term "treatable" means and includes all dogs and cats who are "rehabilitatable" and all dogs and cats who are "manageable."
- Rehabilitatable: The term "rehabilitatable" means and includes all dogs and cats who are not "healthy," but who are likely to become "healthy," if given medical, foster, behavioral, or other care equivalent to the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community.
- Manageable: The term "manageable" means and includes all dogs and cats who are not "healthy" and who are not likely to become "healthy," regardless of the care provided; but who would likely maintain a satisfactory quality of life, if given medical, foster, behavioral, or other care, including long-term care, equivalent to the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring owners/guardians in the community; provided, however, that the term "manageable" does not include any dog or cat who is determined to pose a significant risk to human health or safety or to the health or safety of other animals.
Unhealthy and Untreatable: The term "unhealthy and untreatable" means and includes all dogs and cats who, at or subsequent to the time they are taken into possession,
- have a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that poses a health or safety risk or otherwise makes the animal unsuitable for placement as a pet, and are not likely to become "healthy" or "treatable" even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; or
- are suffering from a disease, injury, or congenital or hereditary condition that adversely affects the animal's health or is likely to adversely affect the animal's health in the future, and are not likely to become "healthy" or "treatable" even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community; or
- are under the age of eight weeks and are not likely to become "healthy" or "treatable," even if provided the care typically provided to pets by reasonable and caring pet owners/guardians in the community.
Q. Why doesn’t Maddie's Fund provide financial assistance for building new shelters?
A. Maddie's Fund wants to put its resources into efforts that will save dog and cat lives today. And it's our view that saving lives is more about creative ideas, implementation strategies, and the will to get the job done than bricks and mortar. In our opinion, effective programs need to be built first—four walls can come later.
Q. In order to get funded, projects have to include animal control. What if animal control doesn’t want to participate?
A. If animal control doesn't participate, the project simply won't be funded. Groups can try to persuade animal control to get involved by explaining how this proposed partnership will be in everyone's best interest. Illustrate how the collaboration's efforts will help animal control save lives. Talk about how fewer deaths and reduced shelter volume will cut costs, reduce staff stress and boost morale, improve agency image and increase adoptions. And mention that the combined success of government and nonprofit agencies working together will increase community interest, support and philanthropy for the animals.
Q. How can we interest veterinarians in a collaborative partnership?
A. Collaborating with veterinarians, as with animal control, is about setting up win/win relationships. Don't begin by making demands, or expecting doctors to donate hours and hours of their time and gain nothing in return. As much as they want to contribute, veterinarians have to worry about their own time limitations and economic self-interest. Therefore, in persuading private practice veterinarians to join, it's smart to emphasize the benefits of the collaboration, such as good public relations, an increase in publicity, and the opportunity to expand client base. Proposals that make it easy for the doctors to participate are also a good idea.
Q. Does every animal group in the target area have to be included in the collaboration?
A. Maddie's Fund is trying to build community-wide safety nets of care for the animals who are abandoned in our nation's shelters. Our focus, therefore, is on building broad based coalitions within communities that include private practice veterinarians, animal control agencies, traditional shelters, rescue groups and adoption guarantee organizations. In order to get a grant from Maddie's Fund, some degree of collaboration must be in place, but this will vary from community to community. Collaborations need not be 100% inclusive. For example, if there are 10 animal groups in a given community, all 10 do not have to be working together to get a Maddie's Fund grant. But at a bare minimum, the collaboration must include an adoption guarantee organization (to act as lead agency and ensure over baseline adoptions), animal control and traditional shelters operating in the community, and private practice veterinarians.
Q. Who decides which group is in charge of funds, who oversees the distribution of funds, and on what basis groups will receive funds?
A. The collaboration determines the lead agency. It's the job of the lead agency to take responsibility for all fund administration, including monetary distribution to other groups. The basis on which groups receive funds should be determined by the lead agency in agreement with the partners, or by the group as a whole. Because the lead agency takes on such a large fiscal responsibility, Maddie's Fund carefully scrutinizes the lead agency and requires that it have a proven track record of success in finance, management and shelter operations.
Q. If a group drops out of the process after the grant has been given, what happens to the rest of the groups? Is the grant taken away?
A. If one of the partners drops out, funding continues as scheduled. However, the commitment made by the departing partner continues on as well, and this slack has to then be picked up by the remaining partners. Ultimately, it's the lead agency that's responsible for meeting the goal and the extra burden of a departing partner's goal may ultimately fall on the lead agency's shoulders. If animal control or a traditional shelter is the group that drops out, then the project will end. A Maddie's Fund project will not work without participation from all animal control and traditional shelters.
Q. Can we contact agencies who have already been given grants to see how they’re meeting their goals?
A. Although there is no prohibition against contacting agencies that have already received funding, it's best to first review our web site section, Our Funded Projects. This section contains summary proposals of our funded projects and outlines their strategies and successes in great detail. There are also annual reviews demonstrating how well the different groups are meeting their goals.
Q. The grant requires us to "show immediate and measurable" progress. What exactly does that mean?
A. Immediate and measurable progress means that a plan must be in place so that lives can be saved starting with day one. It simply won't work to figure that the first 3 weeks or even 3 days of the project can be used to gear up—to plan, schedule or figure out strategies. The number of lives that must be saved, the number of surgeries that must be performed are relentless and need to be worked on every day in order to meet the target goals from the very beginning.
Q. Are smaller organizations with less funding and resources expected to compete with larger group’s accomplishments?
A. The goals for each organization should be proportionate to its size, resources, and track record. The goals for each organization will be determined collectively by the group.
Q. In order to get a grant, an agency must be an adoption guarantee organization. What if a traditional shelter plans to become an adoption guarantee organization in 2-3 years? When will it be eligible for a grant?
A. Traditional shelters cannot simply announce a plan to become an adoption guarantee organization someday and expect to be eligible for a Maddie's Fund grant—the agency must actually be in the process of phasing in policies to save all the healthy and treatable dogs and cats in their care. Those who have an animal control contract with just a few months left on it may apply. But Maddie's Fund awards grants to organizations with the best track record. Thus, the likelihood for funding increases with every year the agency can demonstrate successful programs for saving lives.
Q. Are there geographical limitations to your funding?
A. At this time, Maddie's Fund will not award grants to agencies operating outside of the United States.
Q. Is there an application deadline?
A. No. Applications will be accepted throughout the year. However, Maddie's Fund will only review one proposal per organization in any 12-month period. For example, if an application is submitted in March and it's turned down in June, an application cannot be re-submitted until the following March.
Q. How much money should an organization request?
A. Generally, the budget will be calculated by multiplying a dollar amount times the target number of animals to be placed and the target number of spay/neuter surgeries to be performed (see the online application forms). We expect grant requests to be large and multi-year.
Q. Baseline is frequently mentioned in the application. What exactly is that?
A. The baseline quantifies how many spay/neuter surgeries were performed by the practitioners in your community in the year preceding the application, as well as how many adoptions and deaths of dogs and cats took place in the preceding year. These statistics must include data from all participating organizations. The baseline is vital to your proposal, because a grant from Maddie's Fund only supports accomplishments above and beyond the baseline. We provide step-by-step help in calculating the baseline in our online application forms.
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