Free-roaming Cat Spay/Neuter Program

The application submission period for 2009 funding consideration has ended. The next grant application submission period for 2010 funding consideration will be from Feb. 15, 2010 to March 31, 2010.

The free-roaming cat grant offered by PetSmart Charities® is intended to provide funding, strategic planning and, in select cases, mentoring for a comprehensive trap-neuter-return (TNR) program for free-roaming cats. The goal is to build a program that is community-wide in scope, effective in reducing the local feral and stray cat population, efficient in its use of resources, measurable in impact and sustainable over a period of years to come.

Grant recipients will be expected to complete in a timely manner a detailed assessment of the conditions and resources in your community related to free-roaming cats. Upon completion of the assessment, you will work with PetSmart Charities staff to formulate a strategic plan for building an effective TNR program in your community.  Certain grant recipients will also receive ongoing mentoring during the grant period. One element of your strategic plan will include providing data which will allow us to measure the results of your program.  In most cases, this will mean more than simply adding up the number of cats spay/neutered.  For example, changes in colony size and impacts on intake and euthanasia rates of local shelters may be required as well. 

Ultimately, the success of your program will be determined by these measurable results and how well you have followed and completed the elements of your strategic plan. Future funding may depend on your program’s performance.

This grant program will be much more rigorous than in the past and will require an in-depth assessment of your organization, the formulation and accomplishment of an agreed-upon strategic plan, and regular, ongoing communication with PetSmart Charities staff.  You must be open to changing the way you currently work and have the time and resources to create a TNR program that will perform enough spay/neuters to actually reduce your community’s free-roaming cat population.

PetSmart Charities® will consider applications in the range of $10,000 to $100,000, with the possibility of a two-year commitment. This means we expect to be awarding fewer, but larger, grants. Grantees will also receive more support and mentorship during the course of a funded project. 

Application Deadlines

The application submission period for 2009 funding consideration has ended. As a reminder:

• You will receive a confirmation email once we have received the grant and entered your information. It is our goal to complete the review process for each grant as soon as possible after we receive the completed proposal.
• Funding is never guaranteed.
• PetSmart Charities reserves the right to approve grants as deemed appropriate by the PetSmart Charities Board of Directors. Grant decisions are final. Any decision inquiries should be sent, in writing, to the PetSmart Charities Grant Committee at the above address.
• No decision information is available by phone.

The next grant application submission period for 2010 funding consideration will be from Feb. 15, 2010 to March 31, 2010.

Free-roaming Cat Grants Guidelines and Review Process

• Competition for the two grants (targeted spay/neuter and free-roaming cat) will be more rigorous than before. The quality and detail of the application and proposed plan, as well as your capacity and willingness to collect and report data before and after the grant, will be important.
• There are no state deadlines.

• Organizations are eligible to apply for only one of the two spay/neuter grants (targeted spay/neuter and free-roaming cat) at a time.
• Applicants must complete a pre-application questionnaire to verify eligibility. Once the questionnaire is complete and eligibility is confirmed, additional information is provided in order to access the grant application.
• If eligibility is met, submit two complete copies of the application and all attachments.
• Follow up reports will require data that helps complete the “before and after” picture-whether the size and the scope of the problem was changed as a result of the grant and whether the group was more effective in its work because of the grant and mentoring provided by PetSmart Charities.
• We strongly recommend you update your organization’s profile on Guidestar as information pertinent to your grant application will be obtained from this site.
• Grant applications are reviewed and approved throughout the open application period. Due to the length of time to review and process grant applications, applicants are encouraged to apply early. 
• The address listed on your most recently filed 990 is where all correspondence from PetSmart Charities will be mailed. If you have had a change of address forward a copy of the change of address form 8822 to the following address:

  PetSmart Charities Grants
  19601 N. 27th Avenue
  Phoenix, AZ 85027

  or e-mail to: info@petsmartcharities.org.  (If you need a form 8822 it can be downloaded from the IRS website at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8822.pdf.)
• You will receive a confirmation email once we have received the grant and entered your information. It is our goal to complete the review process for each grant as soon as possible after we receive the completed proposal.
• Funding is never guaranteed.

• PetSmart Charities reserves the right to approve grants as deemed appropriate by the PetSmart Charities Board of Directors. Grant decisions are final. Any decision inquiries should be sent, in writing, to the PetSmart Charities Grant Committee at the above address. 
• No decision information is available by phone.