The latest California for All Animals grant cycle aims to power shelters’ efforts to remove barriers that separate people and pets and keep animals waiting for adoption. The More Pets and People Together Grant application period will be open to eligible organizations for 15 days beginning on Friday, September 15, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. PDT and ending on Friday, September 29, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.

Who is eligible?

Municipal animal shelters, private animal shelters with municipal contracts, and private shelters are eligible to respond to this RFP. A shelter is defined as a brick-and-mortar facility that houses animals on-site and is open to the public a minimum of fifteen hours per week. 

Animal control agencies that provide field services and animal control functions are also eligible to apply, even if they do not perform sheltering services.

If your organization does not meet these criteria, consider partnering with your local animal shelter or animal control agency.

What might a proposal look like?

The funding priority for this grant cycle is to enable animal shelters to take the necessary steps to dismantle barriers and create processes that can lead to the following measurable outcomes:

• Preventing intake and keeping pets in their homes
• Decreasing length of stay of animals in the shelter
• Reducing euthanasia of healthy and treatable animals
• Increasing live outcomes through foster, adoption and return to home/community

Proposals could focus on removing barriers in adoptions, foster programming, Return to Home, and intake prevention services, though we also invite innovation outside these focus areas.

For additional guidance, ideas and inspiration, download the From Barriers to Bridges Action Kit at the Cal for All website. You can also watch roundtable series recordings to hear your colleagues highlight their own collaborative approaches to removing barriers that come between people and pets and share creative solutions they’re implementing to ensure pets spend more nights at home, not in the shelter. 

How do I apply?

Visit California for All Animals for the full guidelines and simple grant application. If you have questions or need help, don’t hesitate to email us at grants@californiaforallanimals.com.

Calling all California strategic thinkers, status quo disruptors, and changemakers! Through July 14 the California for All Animals program is seeking qualified applicants for an advisory council. The council will assist, advise, and make recommendations on the strategic plan, grantmaking and implementation of the California for All Animals program. Members of the Advisory Council will provide input and feedback on the program implementation plans, grant guidelines and funding priorities for California for All Animals. Members will review grant application packages, provide input and vote on grant award decisions. 

Could this be you? Yes! If you work or volunteer at a shelter or animal control agency, or if you work for a community-based organization or social services, or know someone who does, we are looking for you. Likewise, if you’re located in northern California, Imperial County, Riverside, the Central Valley or eastern California, please help spread the word. We are looking for broader representation in those communities.

The challenges before the animal welfare field today are multifaceted and systemic. While we wholeheartedly acknowledge we have much to learn and unlearn, there’s one thing we know for sure: The way to a more humane-hearted California is more voices, more perspectives, more lived experiences, more diversity, more expertise, more cultural humility, more transparency and more seats at the table. 

If you are ready to lend your perspective on California animals who are at risk, and if you want to be part of a community dedicated to keeping animals with the people who care for them, click below to learn about the California for Animals Advisory Council guidelines and compensation.

Application window closes July 14th. Please reach out with any questions!

Field officers have to be adept at handling not only stressed animals but stressed people too. We appreciate their hard work and dedication every day, and we can’t say it enough. National Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week offers us a chance to pause and acknowledge the care and assistance they provide.

This week at California for All Animals, we’re sharing the stories of just a few of the many amazing field officers working across the state. Join us in celebrating the ways they’re collaborating to build safer, healthier, more compassionate communities for animals and people, one conversation at a time.

For officers like Christina Avila, working in animal welfare can be as challenging as it is rewarding. Nine years ago, Christina decided to step away, but after a year off, she was back, this time as a senior officer at City of Perris Animal Control, and everything changed. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say Christina changed everything. Find out how she went from total burnout to lighting a fire under her team to adopt a culture of support and create new opportunities for pets and people in her community.

Visit the California for All Animals website to meet Christina Avila, and check back throughout the week for more ACO stories to come!

Photo: Senior Animal Control Officer Christina Avila, center, celebrates a mobile spay/neuter community event with her team. Credit: City of Perris.

Read Christina’s Story

Pilot new approaches that open doors to new adopters and volunteers…and get a grant for doing it! Along with 21 national organizations, California for All Animals is inviting you to kick off the new year by joining the 2023 Open Arms Challenge. This Challenge is all about spending the month of April introducing more accessible, equitable, and inclusive policies, marketing, partnerships and customer service. PLUS, there’s $420,000 in grant prizes available, and your shelter could qualify for a grant of up to $10,000.

What could your organization do in just 30 days? What could we all do together in 30 days? The possibilities are endless, and the impacts are measurable—and powerful. These month-long pilots prove you can start small to achieve big wins for pets and people in your community, as 2022 Open Arms Challengers like Animal Rescue League of Berks County can attest.

The Challenge gave ARL the perfect opportunity to explore new ways to connect more potential adopters to animals waiting for homes. They teamed up with their local Penn State University branch Spanish classes to bust language barriers and translate shelter communications, including newsletters and adoption-related materials.

The result? More languages led to more love for animals who needed homes and for the families who adopted them. With the spark of a single partnership, ARL created a more welcoming and inclusive culture, enhanced customer service and customer success, and made their adoption process more inviting and equitable.

“The bilingual signage incorporated around our building, the accessible website information, and our bilingual adoption paperwork made it possible for Spanish speakers such as Rafaela to have a smooth adoption experience,” notes Gen, ARL Adoption Counselor. “Upon arriving at our shelter, she was able to easily check-in online, complete an adoption profile, meet the animals she was interested in, and finally, adopt a dog, all in her native language. She was overjoyed to get to take her new companion home without feeling uncomfortable due to language barriers and can look back on her experience with a positive perspective.”

The approach will be different for every organization, but the spirit and goals are the same: increase inclusivity and provide a welcoming environment for all staff (paid and unpaid) and community members; and keep pets in the arms of the people who love them when possible. Challenge activities can be as simple as returning voicemails in a timely manner, providing literature in multiple languages or completely rewriting or doing away with the adoption application, to undertaking bias training or choosing new neighborhoods for adoption events. Read about other Challengers’ translation transformations.

Get ready, California! Register January 23–30 to join organizations across the country in this 30-day challenge.

So far already in September, Californians have worked together to conserve energy in the face of historic heat, record-breaking demand and strained grid capacity; California for All Animals’ latest grant cycle asks, What might we accomplish together through ‘Sniptember’? The 30-day spay/neuter grant blitz runs September 15 through October 15, and we invite you to submit proposals and join with your partner organizations to tackle another shared challenge—increasing spay/neuter capacity across the state.

Through the Spring 2022 Open Grant cycle, California for All Animals awarded over 6 million dollars in funding to California animal shelters to help you provide the care and services that strengthen the bonds and remove the barriers between pets in your community and the people who care for them. Inside and outside the shelter, spay/neuter is one of many interconnected components that builds the health and well-being of pets and communities, and we know that barriers to access for pet owners, not race or ethnicity, are the primary determinants of companion animal spay/neuter rates. As will be the case for the entirety of this program, initiatives that expand access to spay and neuter are crucial. RFPs will be accepted from September 15 – October 15, 2022. Applicants will be notified via email by November 15, 2022.

Who is eligible to apply?

Municipal animal shelters, private animal shelters with municipal contracts, and private shelters are eligible to respond to this RFP. A shelter is defined as a brick-and-mortar facility that houses animals on-site and is open to the public a minimum of fifteen hours per week. The goal of this RFP is to increase capacity of spay/neuter services in animal shelters above and beyond what currently exists.

Veterinary clinics and spay/neuter organizations without a brick and mortar intake facility are encouraged to partner with animal shelters on proposals. The shelter would act as the recipient of the funding and then contract with the spay/neuter organization for services. If you need help partnering with a shelter(s) in your region, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at grants@californiaforallanimals.com, and we’ll connect you.

What might a proposal look like?

The funding priority for this grant cycle is to increase capacity for spay/neuter services for animal shelters, which is defined as spay/neuter of animals in the shelter, referred by field services and those at risk of ending up in the shelter; for example, pet owners experiencing homelessness, pet owners residing in zip codes of high intake, and priority community animals. Operational costs associated with increasing capacity should be included in the proposal.

Examples of funding requests include but are not limited to:

• Increase regional capacity for spay/neuter by offering services to another shelter(s).
• Utilization of existing facilities on days when surgeries are not being performed to increase spay/neuter for the shelter or community. This can be in collaboration with another shelter or spay/neuter organization.
• Increase capacity to train veterinarians on High Quality High Volume spay/neuter (HQHVSN), with a priority on supporting veterinarians currently practicing in shelters or low cost spay/neuter clinics or with a commitment to do so in the short term.
• Increase non-veterinary support staff to optimize veterinary staff use.
• Sponsorship of work visas and associated costs for international veterinarians to increase spay/neuter veterinary staffing and services.
• Initiatives to recruit and train veterinarians not currently participating in the workforce or support transition from other areas of practice to HQHVSN.

Where do I apply, and how can I learn more?

We know you’re busy, so we’ve made the application process simple. For more information, visit California for All Animals. If you’d like to be notified when the grant portal opens on September 15, subscribe to the California for All Animals Newsletter.

If you haven’t applied for an Open Grant yet, there’s still time! Our latest round of funding is available to ALL private shelter organizations (with or without a municipal contract), animal service agencies, and municipal shelters. California for All Animals is committed to helping you advance the welfare of both animals and their people in your community and the well-being of your staff through focused training, expert mentorship, tailored resources, and the right funding to support your vision. Open Grant applications will be accepted through June 30, 2022; grants from $25,000 to $200,000 will be awarded to shelters and focused on the following categories: 

• Outcomes (Adoptions, Return to Home, and Return to Community): What does your organization need to increase adoptions, foster programs, transfer to partners, return to home, and return to community of origin (community cats, for example). Proposals may include requests for veterinary care, supplies, equipment, technology, training and staffing.
• Field Services and Control: Animal control officers play a vital role in an agency’s connection to the community. What does your organization need to return loose pets to their homes and provide support to community members? Examples include supplies such as kitten kits, fencing, trolleys, doghouses, vouchers for spay/neuter and medical care, microchip scanners, collars and leashes, and technology to enhance mobile work. Proposals will also be accepted for training for animal control officers to provide supportive services.
• Care of Animals in the Shelter: Grant funding in this category should focus on physical, medical and mental well-being of animals that are in the shelter’s care. This includes veterinary care supplies and services, behavior and enrichment, volunteer and foster programs, equipment and supplies including housing improvements and interaction spaces.
• Intake Management and Community Support: Grant funding in this category should focus on strengthening and streamlining your organization’s ability to provide services to the community. Examples include supplies and veterinary care to keep pets in their homes and communities of origin, developing appointment-based services for intake, resources for handling calls such as an automated system, finder foster programs, website messaging, text messaging, hotline run by staff or volunteers, and staffing for outreach and engagement.

We’re committed to making the application process simple and engaging. To learn more and apply for the Open Grant, please visit CaliforniaForAllAnimals.com/grants, where you can also watch a short video of California Director Allison Cardona walking you through the four-step process. If you are experiencing any barriers to applying or could just use a little guidance filling out your application, please email us at grants@californiaforallanimals.com! We’re here to listen and to help.

Just like you, we believe that every animal deserves the Right Care, provided in the Right Place, at the Right Time to achieve the Right Outcome. We also believe every person working in a shelter deserves access to the tools they need to do their job well and to feel satisfaction from the hard work they do. Together we can make California a place where families are truly supported and shelters are able to offer the care that is right for each situation at the moment it’s needed the most. 

Apply now

It’s been nearly four months since we launched California for All Animals, a five-year, state-funded project to improve the lives of at-risk animals and provide much-needed resources to shelters that serve this vulnerable population. We invited you—along with California shelters, advocates, and animal welfare organizations who believe in fierce compassion for animals and people—to join the movement and dream different to do different for the animals and communities across our state.

You answered the call, and since then, we’ve given away more than 90 grants totaling over $440,000 to shelters from Yreka to Chula Vista, and with our latest Open Grant period running through June, we’re just getting started!

In our first #allthenews newsletter, you can read about the highlights of our collective work so far, from installing double-compartment housing to level up health and wellness for cats and kittens, as well as puppies and small dogs, to kicking off a Cal for All Call series to support shelter leaders in building relationships and nurturing healthy organizational cultures that benefit animals and the people who care for them.

You’ll also get to know California State Director Allison Cardona and hear more about how we are building a humane-hearted California #alltogether, community by community.

Share this newsletter! If you’re in California, invite shelters in your region to join California for All Animals and apply for an Open Grant if they haven’t already. Applications are open through June 30, and it takes just four simple steps. If your organization serves animals, but you’re not an animal shelter, connect with your local shelter and explore opportunities for collaboration and program development. Questions? Email us at email at grants@californiaforallanimals.com; we’re here to help!

Thank you for all you do to achieve our shared goal of matching every animal in need with the right outcome through the right care, delivered in the right place and at the right time. And thank you for the reminder that each of us holds the capacity to care for animals—and for each other.

Read #allthenews

California for All Animals is committed to helping you advance the welfare of both animals and their people in your community and the well-being of your staff through focused training, expert mentorship, tailored resources, and the right funding to support your vision. We are ecstatic to announce our next round of funding available to ALL private shelter organizations (with or without a municipal contract), animal service agencies, and municipal shelters.

We welcome Open Grant applications May 1–June 30, 2022; grants from $25,000 to $200,000 will be awarded to shelters and focused on the following categories: 

• Outcomes (Adoptions, Return to Home, and Return to Community)
• Field Services and Control
• Care of Animals in the Shelter
• Intake Management and Community Support 

We’ll be holding Zoom office hours to answer questions on May 3 from 3 p.m.– 4 p.m. and June 13 from 10 a.m.–11 a.m. You can also sign up on Calendly for half-hour, one-on-one chats with California Director Allison Cardona on May 4 and 5. 

Just like you, we believe that every animal deserves the Right Care, provided in the Right Place, at the Right Time to achieve the Right Outcome. We also believe every person working in a shelter deserves access to the tools they need to do their job well and to feel satisfaction from the hard work they do. Together we can make California a place where families are truly supported and shelters are able to offer the care that is right for each situation at the moment it’s needed the most. 

To learn more about funding categories and how to apply for the Open Grant, please visit CaliforniaForAllAnimals.com/grants. If you are experiencing any barriers to applying or could just use a little guidance filling out your application, don’t be shy. We’re here to help and we love hearing from you! Click here to schedule office hours with someone on our team.