Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals
Alameda, CA · EIN 94-3318485. Reported 76 grants totalling $1,493,034 to 41 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $20,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $50,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Mammal Center | Sausalito, CA | $125,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe | Truckee, CA | $110,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cat Town | Oakland, CA | $105,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Humane Society of Sonoma County | Santa Rosa, CA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| International Bird Rescue | Fairfield, CA | $100,000 | 4 | 2 | 2023 |
| Tri County Wildlife Care | Jackson, CA | $80,534 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium | San Francisco, CA | $65,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Animal Legal Defense Fund | Cotati, CA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Vets in Vans | Oakland, CA | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Earth Island Institute | Berkeley, CA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| East Bay SPCA | Oakland, CA | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Gold Country Wildlife Rescue | Auburn, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Muttville | San Francisco, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bird Rescue Center | Santa Rosa, CA | $42,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Lindsay Wildlife Experience | Walnut Creek, CA | $40,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Compassion Without Borders | Santa Rosa, CA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fix Our Ferals | Pinole, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of Oakland Animal Services | Oakland, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pasadena Humane | Pasadena, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pets Lifeline | Sonoma, CA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Placer SPCA | Roseville, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Town Cats of Morgan Hill | Morgan Hill, CA | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Animal Legal Defense Fund | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Contra Costa Humane Society | Pleasant Hill, CA | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Fix Our Ferals (dba Animal Fix Clinic) | Richmond, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of Alameda Animal Shelter | Alameda, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Nine Lives Foundation | Redwood City, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Dwight Center for Conservation Science at Pepperwood | Santa Rosa, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pepperwood Foundation | Santa Rosa, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Oscar's Place Adoption Center & Sanctuary | Hopland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pacific Wildlife Care | Morro Bay, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Silicon Valley Pet Project | San Jose, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Spay Neuter Imperative Project California | Danville, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Wildcare | San Rafael, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wildcare Eastern Sierra | Bishop, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Humboldt Spayneuter Network | Eureka, CA | $9,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Bandit's Buddies Inc | Squaw Valley, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Curiodyssey | San Mateo, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jelly's Place | San Pablo, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Trinity Animal Shelter Auxiliary | Weaverville, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Paws in Need | San Ramon, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
20 of 41 (49%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 50%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Muttville
FOR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONATION MATCHING - International Bird Rescue
Emergency grant for brown pelican crisis - Animal Legal Defense Fund
For Roadside Zoo Litigation - San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium
SUPPORT OF VET SOS PROJECT - Earth Island Institute
For Raptors Are The Solution project
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 68 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | $285,534 | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 19 | $355,500 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 20 | $442,000 | $25,000 |
| 2024 | 21 | $410,000 | $20,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals has 1 of them, worth $6,500. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa Humane Society | Pleasant Hill, CA | $6,500 |
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in California. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $20,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 1516 Oak St Ste 318, Alameda, CA, 94501. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 94-3318485 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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