Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
PETS COME FIRST INC
PETS COME FIRST INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $382,670 to it, the largest being CENTRE FOUNDATION INC ($265,208). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 93% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $407k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $383k
- Net assets
- $717k
What Pets Come First Inc does
Mission
Pets come first is a 501c (3) non-profit, non-euthanasia organization. Our mission is to facilitate the placement of stray and unwanted animals into loving homes.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Pets come first is a non-euthanasia animal shelter committed to caring for animals of central pennsylvania, and supporting the local community. Pets come first works closely with other local rescues, clinics, and pet food pantries to support community cat "trap and release" programs along with low cost spay and neuter programs to combat the root cause of pet overpopulation.we are dedicated to ensuring responsible shelter management within our community, working together to eliminate the critical overpopulation of homeless, stray and abused animals. Educating our community on the importance of spaying and neutering all animals will decrease the number of surrendered and unwanted animals to area shelters and rescue groups. We work in partnership with other rescues, local & state police, humane officers, and dog law enforcement officers to provide monetary and voluntary resources to support and sponsor local animal programs within our community. We will offer emergency placement, food, and medical services for the pets of approved and responsible low-income families and senior citizens.
$308,253 spent$175,264 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $308,253.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $578k to $723k (+25%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 2% · 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
31% of PETS COME FIRST INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (86% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $25k → $45k.
6 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 93% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of PETS COME FIRST INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
PETS COME FIRST INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 69% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
95% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund PETS COME FIRST INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 80% · 2019 77% · 2020 59% · 2021 60% · 2022 70% · 2023 86% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
33% of PETS COME FIRST INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
93% of PETS COME FIRST INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $27k that is directly attributable, 77% of it comes from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $356k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
PETS COME FIRST INC is better cushioned than half of the 6,435 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,435 animals nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like PETS COME FIRST INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PETS COME FIRST INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PETS COME FIRST INC?
- PETS COME FIRST INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $382,670 to it, the largest being CENTRE FOUNDATION INC ($265,208). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 93% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does PETS COME FIRST INC have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $382,670 in grants to PETS COME FIRST INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PETS COME FIRST INC?
- CENTRE FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $265,208 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PETS COME FIRST INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Pets Come First →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing