Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals
Alameda, CA · EIN 94-3318485. Reported 76 grants totalling $1,493,034 to 41 organizations 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. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| 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. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
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 recipient's own IRS classification, for the 67 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
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 -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Contra Costa Humane Society | Pleasant Hill, CA | $6,500 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 99% of this one's giving went to organizations in California. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
Find more foundations like Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals
We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.
No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.
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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $20,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- 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). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
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
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.