At Maddie's Fund, we believe tracking 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. If you publicly post your statistics on another website (such as Shelter Animals Count), you will also need to post your statistics on your own website to be eligible to receive a grant.

We understand that some organizations are part of local coalitions that have agreements to only publish their coalition statistics and lifesaving percentage. If this applies to you, we will accept the coalition information on your website instead of your organization’s statistics and lifesaving percentage. We encourage everyone to work collaboratively in your community and post your individual and community statistics and lifesaving percentage.

What statistics is Maddie's Fund requiring?

Maddie's Fund would like to see, at minimum, the data points in the Basic Data Matrix. You do not have to use that specific format, but all the information in the Basic Data Matrix should be included in your format. We will accept the Asilomar Accords form. We will also accept the Basic Data Matrix without age breakdown, but we encourage you to work towards including these in the future.

We want to see your annual statistics for the most recent year. You can provide your annual statistics based on either the calendar year or your fiscal year. If you want to show the current year-to-date, we recommend that you also include the previous year to give the full picture of your work. Posting your data broken down by month is applauded (and can show seasonal trends), but should be in addition to an annual composite.

The numbers in the Basic Data Matrix may not tell your whole story, so if you want to include additional numbers, we would encourage that. For example, if your organization is a shelter that also has a low-cost veterinary clinic, you may wish to include the number of animals treated in your clinic.

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.

Here are a few examples of organizations who have posted their statistics and lifesaving percentage to their website:

What if my organization is not a shelter/rescue and we don't have the statistics requested in the Basic Data Matrix?

If your organization is a TNR group, transfer organization, a non-profit veterinary clinic, a sanctuary or similar, you won't have all of the statistics that are being asked for on the Basic Data Matrix. However, you are an important part of the animal welfare industry, and it's important to be transparent with your constituents. In thinking about what your organization does, what numbers do you consider to be important to tell your story? How many animals have you helped this year? How many animals have you prevented entering the shelter? How many spay/neuter surgeries have you completed? How many community cats have you successfully trapped, neutered, vaccinated and returned? These are the statistics that Maddie's Fund is looking for.

Here are a few examples of organizations like yours and the statistics they've shared on their websites:

What if my organization doesn't have a website?

In the instance that an organization doesn't have a website, we would ask that you post your statistics on another location where you have an online, public-facing presence:

  • your organization's Facebook page (preferably in the About section or somewhere "static" – a post on your wall will quickly disappear)
  • your organization's page on Adopt-A-Pet.com, Petfinder.com or similar service

If your statistics 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.