American Pit Bull Registry is everything Pit Bull

Food Donations for Pit Bull Friendly Rescues and Shelters

Many rescues and shelters are run by caring spirits who wish to make a difference in the life of a suffering animal or one that would otherwise face the threat of euthanasia.

Because such services are typically run out of the kindness of heart they are also started and run on a shoestring budget leading to the need to run their service in as efficient and frugal manner as possible.

One of the greatest ongoing expenses in running a shelter or rescue is in the procuremnt of food necessary to feed the pets they assist. With this in mind we have reviewed several human based models that we feel the pet rescue and shelter community can benefit from in terms of receiving food donations.

One model of food procurement is to ask the community to make pet food donations. This is simple and can be done through the holding of community service awareness events, direct mail, public ad placement, asking pet shops and co-ops for broken bag donations an so on.

Another model of food procurement can be had through the local restaurant and food market community. Healthy and nutritious food can often be received simply by asking local restaurants for their excess prepared and expiring food. Retail food markets such as grocey stores also often have broken bags of pet food and expiring foods such as meats and breads as well as deli and meat department scraps. When accepting such food donations and feeding them to pets in your care it is important to consider each pets individual food tolerances and to make sure they receive nutritionally well balanced portions.

When accepting food donations you will want to provide your donor with a receipt for their records. We have provided a form below in both HTML and PDF format for this purpose.

When accepting donations either from the public or retail grocery stores, pet markets or restauraunts it is important to also consider the positive tax implications this can have for such providers. Getting such donations can often be encouraged by letting them know when and how much of their donations are tax deductible. In particular businesses are always looking for cutting their tax burdens. By showing them how they can be civic minded while at the same time educating them on the possible positive tax implications this can go a long way to setting up a good rapport and a long term donor base saving literally thousands in pet food costs.

When talking about tax deductible donations it is important to understand what is tax deductible and at what levels based on the rescue / shelters organizational setup. This will vary based on whether the rescue or shelter is incorporated as a non-profit in their state alone or if they have sought and received federal tax exempt recognition as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit.

If you collect donations above the $499 level in value you will want to explore the possibility of becoming a federally recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profit. This will allow you to accept larger donations while at the same time allow the providers the tax advantages of such donations as only donations made to federally recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profits are tax deductible at the $500 and above amount. One easy way around this for all parties involved is to simply limit individual collections to levels below the $500 value mark.

It should be noted that becoming a federally recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profit does has several advantages when it comes to collecting donations especially in terms of grants, bequests and the like. Most large-scale donors/granters will not make donations/grants to organizations without such designation. If you seek to limit your service to the Pit Bull breed however it is not likely you will find many large- scale donors/grantors sympathetic to the Pit Bull cause. If this is the case simply registering as a state based non-profit through your local Secretary of State will likely meet your business needs. If however seeking larger scale donations/grants is something you think worth pursuing then you may wish to open up your services to accept more than Pit Bulls. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options. The primary disadvantages with becoming federally recognized is that it costs $500 (if done on your own) above any state incorporation fees, it can take a long time for the government to review and approve status, there is increased levels of required accounting and the paperwork can seem a bit overwhelming sometimes. Becoming state recognized on the other hand is easy, typically costs less than $100 but limits you in your ability to receive large scale donations and contributions that the giver can also write off their taxes.

When seeking donations it is important to help the donor realize what tax advantages there are in giving. Most businesses pay exhorbative tax rates and are always looking for ways in order to reduce such tax burdens. Giving to non-profit organizations is a win-win situation as they not only do good in the community and gain good will with its citizens they also can use such donations as tax deductible items in many cases.

If seeking to become a non-profit it is important for you to understand that you are also a marketing median for your sponsors. GIVE THEM CREDIT. This will help encourage ongoing contributions. Offer to pass out their coupons and brochures. When providing new homes for pets make gift baskets of such information to provide to new owners. Successful non-profit work is a skill. When you enter into donor agreements you should think of yourself as an advertising company for your donor. It may be just as easy for them to pay for advertising elsewhere but can they receive the tax deductions and good will of the community that you can bring? Help them see the value of supporting your worthy cause.

To go to a printable Food Donation Accounting Statement click format below.

HTML Format, PDF Format

Pit Bull Rescue Development

Become a Volunteer

Health Topics

Pit Bull Word Search Game

Pet Insurance