How do I find funders for a grassroots animals nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots animals organizations, currently Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, The Dozier Family Foundation Inc, The Quinn Foundation. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.

What counts as a grassroots organization here?

Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is its NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File.

How much grant money goes to grassroots animals organizations?

$910M reached 8,774 grassroots animals organizations from 8,044 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Causes · Animals · grassroots

Who funds grassroots animals organizations

The funders that back grassroots animals organizations are specialists, not generalists: Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance gives them 169.7× the national rate, with 66% of its grants going here. These are the small organizations the big-institution funders usually miss, so the funders that show up here are the ones worth a small animals nonprofit's time.

$910M

granted

8,774

organizations

8,044

funders

The short version

8,044 funders gave $910M to 8,774 grassroots animals organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, giving 169.7× the national rate to grassroots animals organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Leslie L Alexander Foundation Inc, at $24M.
The grassroots animals organization drawing the most is Wild Love Preserve, at $6M.

Funders most focused on grassroots animals organizations

Not the biggest checks, the most committed: each gives this size and cause an outsized share of its budget against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank.

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance169.7×$6M · 66% of its giving The Dozier Family Foundation Inc132.6×$2M · 100% of its giving The Quinn Foundation114.4×$3M · 56% of its giving Leslie L Alexander Foundation Inc110×$24M · 34% of its giving The Marion & Maximilian Hoffman106.9×$2M · 85% of its giving Wings of Rescue Inc106.7×$1M · 94% of its giving Karuna Foundation103×$4M · 40% of its giving Mary Jo and Hank Greenberg Animal102.8×$3M · 42% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

Real grantmakers giving the most to grassroots animals organizations (donor-advised and mega-funds excluded).

1Leslie L Alexander Foundation Inc$24M 2Petsmart Charities Inc$21M 3Petco Love$15M 4Best Friends Animal Society$9M 5Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance$6M 6Greater Houston Community Foundation$5M 7Colorado Gives Foundation$5M 8National Fish and Wildlife Foundation$4M

Grassroots animals organizations that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

8,764 other grassroots animals organizations$881M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots animals nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots animals organizations, currently Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, The Dozier Family Foundation Inc, The Quinn Foundation. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.
What counts as a grassroots organization here?: Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is its NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File.
How much grant money goes to grassroots animals organizations?: $910M reached 8,774 grassroots animals organizations from 8,044 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars pass through an intermediary

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

Strange bedfellows

the named clusters of US funding

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

By state

where grant money is based, and what stays home

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Size is median total revenue; cause is the recipient's NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File. Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML across recent fiscal years, among (c)(3) funders and recipients resolved by EIN, with the regranting layer netted out. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.