If you love animals or support humane animal shelters, you may have considered starting a nonprofit animal shelter, a time-intensive project that will need your dedication and energy. If there are no animal shelters in your area, or the existing shelters are kill centers, it is important to know start a nonprofit animal shelter.
Instructions
Starting a Nonprofit Shelter
1. Review an existing shelter in your community. Visit the shelter and consider how the organization is supported. If it does not have the backing of local residents, business, and community leaders, you may want to rethink starting a shelter.
2. Speak with others who might be interested in becoming a part of the team. Determine each person's strengths and weaknesses, as you will need to focus your talents. For instance, if you focus primarily on the animals, you may need assistance with grant writing, public relations, and fundraising.
3. Decide what type of animal rescue you want to start. Will the shelter support euthanasia or will it be a no-kill shelter? It is important to check your state regulations for any restrictions.
4. Form a board of directors who also have a passion for animal welfare and want to see an improvement in local services and programs. It is often helpful to have people with experience in a variety of backgrounds such as fundraising, law, management, accounting and animal health, as this will allow you to apply your strengths to specific areas of running the shelter and will offset some of the long-term costs.
5. Choose a name for your animal shelter, write your mission, develop the bylaws and articles of incorporation, and formulate a budget. These statements and documents will focus the mission of the shelter, give operational guidance, and determine how your shelter is run and the types of programs offered. This can be a complicated process, and it is beneficial to have assistance from an attorney familiar with nonprofit law.
6. Apply to the IRS for an employer identification number (EIN) for your shelter. You will need this if you plan to pay anyone for services or have employees.
7. File for nonprofit status with your state and then file the same documentation with the IRS. Include any necessary application fees and make sure that you have copies of your check and all paperwork. If the IRS has any problems with your paperwork, you will receive a letter requesting modifications.
8. Wait for the final paperwork from the IRS stating that you have 501(c)(3) status. Processing time could take three to six months, depending on if revisions are required and how many applications are being processed.
9. Develop your nonprofit shelter. Purchase kennels, food, animal care products and other needs. Make time for fundraising, requesting financial and in-kind donations from the community. Make the public aware, and put together a mailing list of potential business and individual donors.
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