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Foundation Dossiers

California · Private foundation

Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$410k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
21
Grants FY2025
18
Organizations funded FY2024
22%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$20,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$50,000
Organizations funded a year
16 to 23
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
2
Total assets, FY2025
$7.9M
Applications
Takes unsolicited applications
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 22% of the organizations Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals funded were first-time grantees, receiving 12% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsHuman ServicesArts & CultureFood & NutritionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving21$410k24%
FY202418$442k22%
FY202319$356k16%
FY202216$286k25%
FY202117$314k24%
FY202017$278k29%
FY201916$275k38%
FY201823$407k48%
99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Animals$2.7MEnvironment$171kHealth$145kScience & Tech$55kHousing & Shelter$20kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
The Marine Mammal Center$375,00081%
Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe$180,00073%
International Bird Rescue$180,00052%
Cat Town$180,00073%
Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo$150,00022%
Humane Society of Sonoma County$150,00041%
San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium$145,00070%
Pets Lifeline Inc$110,00042%
Muttville$105,00040%
Fix Our Ferals$105,00053%
Show all 52 grantees
All grantees of Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
The Marine Mammal Center$375,00081%
Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe$180,00073%
International Bird Rescue$180,00052%
Cat Town$180,00073%
Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo$150,00022%
Humane Society of Sonoma County$150,00041%
San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium$145,00070%
Pets Lifeline Inc$110,00042%
Muttville$105,00040%
Fix Our Ferals$105,00053%
Tri County Wildlife Care Inc$95,534320%
East Bay Spca$90,00060%
Gold Country Wildlife Rescue Inc$85,00072%
The Placer County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SPCA$85,00031%
Earth Island Institute Inc$80,00090%
Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc$80,00040%
Pepperwood Foundation$63,00041%
Vets in Vans Inc$60,00022%
Curiodyssey$55,00061%
The Bird Rescue Center$52,00031%
Point Reyes Bird Observatory$50,00030%
Lindsay Wildlife Museum$40,00031%
Wildcare Eastern Sierra$36,00057%
Town Cats of Morgan Hill$35,00052%
Compassion Without Borders$30,00021%
Pasadena Humane$25,0001n/a
Contra Costa Humane Society$25,00051%
Friends of Oakland Animal Services$25,00011%
Nine Lives Foundation$20,00020%
Humboldt Spayneuter Network$17,00031%
Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter$15,00010%
FieldHaven Feline Center$15,00012%
Valley Humane SocietyInc$15,00011%
Silicon Valley Pet Project$13,00025%
Animals in Need Fund$12,50027%
Wildcare$10,00010%
Sierra Wildlife Rescue$10,00024%
Pacific Wildlife Care$10,0001n/a
Oscar's Place Adoption Center & Sanctuary$10,00010%
High Plateau Humane Society$10,00019%
Conservation Earth Inc$10,00011%
Spay Neuter Imperative Project California$10,00011%
Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley$10,00012%
Sammies Friends$5,0001n/a
Butte Humane Society$5,00010%
Animal Refugee Response$5,00013%
Trinity Animal Shelter Auxilary Tasa$5,00015%
Jellys Place$5,00011%
Bandits Buddies Inc$5,00016%
Pets In Need$2,50010%
Planet Bee Foundation$2,50012%
Paws In Need$2,00021%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 7 recipients with no EIN on record ($139k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Marine Mammal Center: $375,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetHumane Society of Truckee-Tahoe: $180,000 over 7y, 2.8% of budgetInternational Bird Rescue: $180,000 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetCat Town: $180,000 over 7y, 3.1% of budgetFriends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo: $150,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetHumane Society of Sonoma County: $150,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetSan Francisco Community Clinic Consortium: $145,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetPets Lifeline Inc: $110,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetMuttville: $105,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFix Our Ferals: $105,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetTri County Wildlife Care Inc: $95,534 over 3y, 20% of budgetEast Bay Spca: $90,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetGold Country Wildlife Rescue Inc: $85,000 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetThe Placer County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SPCA: $85,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $80,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetAnimal Legal Defense Fund Inc: $80,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPepperwood Foundation: $63,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetVets in Vans Inc: $60,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCuriodyssey: $55,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetThe Bird Rescue Center: $52,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetPoint Reyes Bird Observatory: $50,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLindsay Wildlife Museum: $40,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWildcare Eastern Sierra: $36,000 over 5y, 6.9% of budgetTown Cats of Morgan Hill: $35,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetCompassion Without Borders: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetContra Costa Humane Society: $25,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetFriends of Oakland Animal Services: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNine Lives Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHumboldt Spayneuter Network: $17,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetFriends of the Alameda Animal Shelter: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFieldHaven Feline Center: $15,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetValley Humane SocietyInc: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSilicon Valley Pet Project: $13,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetAnimals in Need Fund: $12,500 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetWildcare: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSierra Wildlife Rescue: $10,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetOscar's Place Adoption Center & Sanctuary: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHigh Plateau Humane Society: $10,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetConservation Earth Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSpay Neuter Imperative Project California: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWildlife Center of Silicon Valley: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetButte Humane Society: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAnimal Refugee Response: $5,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetTrinity Animal Shelter Auxilary Tasa: $5,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetJellys Place: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBandits Buddies Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetPets In Need: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPlanet Bee Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 2.2% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 49.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Thornton S Jr and Kat…The Duffield Family F…Petsmart Charities IncPetco LoveMarin Community Found…BISSELL Pet FoundationThe American Society …McNabb FoundationThe Grey Muzzle Organ…The Michelson Found A…Silicon Valley Commun…Best Friends Animal S…
Thornton S Jr and Katrina D Glide FoundationCA66.5× affinity30 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Thornton S Jr and Katrina D Glide Foundation · The Duffield Family Foundation Dba Maddie's Fund · Petsmart Charities Inc · Petco Love · Marin Community Foundation · BISSELL Pet Foundation · The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals · McNabb Foundation · The Grey Muzzle Organization · The Michelson Found Animals Foundation Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Best Friends Animal Society

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals?

Find your warmest path to Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

About Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals

How much does Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals give?
Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals reported 21 grants totaling $410,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 16 and 23 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Animals (87%), Environment (6%), Health (5%).
Who are Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: The Marine Mammal Center ($375k), Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe ($180k), International Bird Rescue ($180k).
Does Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 22% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Thornton S Jr and Katrina D Glide Foundation, The Duffield Family Foundation Dba Maddie's Fund, Petsmart Charities Inc.
Where is Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals based?
Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals is based in CA.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 59 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home