At Maddie's Fund, we believe tracking your statistics is vital to the success of any organization. Your numbers tell where you've been, where you are and where you want to go. Additionally, we believe in transparency. The best way to tell your community what you are doing is to post your statistics and lifesaving percentage on your website. If your community knows what you are doing, they will be better able to support you in becoming volunteers, fosters, donors or adopters.

As a national animal welfare leader and funder of animal welfare in North America, we believe that organizations should be transparent about the number of animals that come under their care, and the outcome for all of those animals. That is why we support the public availability of key data (the basic data matrix as defined by Shelter Animals Count), from all animal welfare agencies and nonprofits, both publicly and privately funded and whether or not they provide government animal control services or humane law enforcement.

To be eligible for Maddie's Fund's grants, you must post your annual animal statistics, your lifesaving percentage and the formula for how it was calculated on your website. The link to where they're all posted on your website needs to be included in your grant application.

What is a lifesaving percentage and how do I calculate it?

Your lifesaving percentage represents the number of animals being saved by your organization. There are a number of different calculations. You can refer to the Asilomar Accords Live Release Rate, the ASPCA's Live Release Rate, the ASPCA's Save Rate, a euthanasia rate or any other calculation you like. You can use whichever calculation you prefer, as long as you post both the percentage and how it was calculated on your website.

Why do I need to post both my statistics and my lifesaving percentage?

We think it's very important to share your data and your lifesaving percentage together. The lifesaving percentage on its own doesn't tell the complete story, but if it's posted with your data, people can see the whole story. Plus, it's important to share your lifesaving percentage alongside your data so people don't have to calculate it themselves.

What information do I put on the application?

When filling out your grant application, you will be asked to give us the direct URL where your annual animal statistics and lifesaving percentage are posted on your website. Please do not give us the link to your homepage, unless your statistics are posted on your homepage. For example, if your statistics are posted to your "About Us" page, please send us the direct link to your "About Us" page. If your statistics are on a document that you have uploaded to your website (i.e., a .pdf or .doc), please send us the URL to where that document can be found on your website, not the document itself. Lastly, if the link that you give us does not lead us directly to where your statistics and lifesaving percentage are posted, your application may be declined.

Please see the Posting Your Annual Animal Statistics page for some great examples of posting your shelter statistics and lifesaving percentage.

If your lifesaving percentage and calculation are not posted to your website in the format that we have described, if they are incomplete, or if the URL on your application is broken, your grant application may be declined.

If you have questions about your statistics, or need some direction, please contact our Grants Team at grants@maddiesfund.org or 925.310.5450.