Partner FAQ

PetSmart Charities can award grants to the following entities operating within the United States, its territories, and Canada:

• United States and its territories: 501(c)(3) public charities and municipalities (City, County, State, Tribal)
• Canada: registered charities and municipalities (City, County, State, Tribal, First Nations, Metis or Inuit entity)
• We are unable to fund individuals, private foundations, for-profit organizations, or organizations or programs that operate outside the U.S. and Canada.

• PetSmart Charities supports nonprofit organizations and municipalities through programmatic grant support. Please view our grant categories here.
• We are unable to review requests for fundraising events, sponsorships or cash or product donations.

• Grants are open for application by program within a calendared cycle. Please review the grant information on our website for each application’s open and close dates.
• Applicants can review a landing page which provides the guidelines, criteria and requirements as well as a sample application for most grants.

• For programmatic grants, applicants will be notified within 120 days of the grant’s close date.
• Notification emails are sent to the Grantseeker (person who submitted the application) your organization has identified in our grant portal. If you haven’t received an email within the stated time period, please check your spam/junk folder as sometimes our messages land there based on an organization’s email filters. 
• If your Grantseeker contact has changed or if you have not received notification within the stated time period, you may reach out to grants@petsmartcharities.org for information.
• For Adoption Partner applications, the approval process takes four-to-six weeks to complete.

• Yes. Organizations may apply for any grant in which your request meets the criteria.
• Organizations are not limited to one grant per year and may apply for funding in multiple categories or submit multiple requests per category.
• Please note: Budgets are finite. Organizations with multiple grants submitted in each grant category and/or submissions in multiple categories will be competing against their own grants.
• Organizations are encouraged to determine their priorities for support when requesting funding or PetSmart Charities may determine which grant(s) best meet our philanthropic goals.

We are unable to provide direction as to the suggested level of funding to request but suggest the following as a guide:

• First-time grants to an organization are generally smaller.
• A grant request may not be fully funded. If a smaller grant amount is recommended to be awarded than requested, the Relationship Manager will discuss the impact of the possible reduction with the organization prior to approval.
• We strongly recommend having a conversation with your Relationship Manager prior to submitting a grant that exceeds $100,000. This will help us understand your intent and priorities.
• In general, PetSmart Charities will not provide cumulative annual grants to an organization which total over 25% of their annual budget.  Previously awarded grants to any organization in the same fiscal year may impact potential future funding.

Due to the number of applications we receive and the number of partners we support, we are unable to “prescreen” a request for viability.  Things to consider:

• The most competitive grants are those which have a measurable and defined impact with an efficiency of costs.
• The most competitive grants are those which have a sustainability plan and collaborative aspects to the proposal.
• Administrative costs are limited to no more than 10% of any grant.

Capital requests (defined as depreciable items like equipment or building/remodeling projects) under $250,000 may be considered in each programmatic grant program if the investment requested primarily supports that grant program criteria.

• All grant applications close at 5 p.m. EST on the published date.  We are unable to extend the deadline for any reason and suggest that you mark your calendar and apply early to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.
• Applications submitted near the deadline may experience a slowed connection time due to the large influx of applications received in the last hour of the application’s availability. 

• To more effectively serve pets, we have redefined the spay and neuter programs.
• For grants requesting support for spaying and neutering of homeless pets (shelter/rescue pets), PetSmart Charities Adoption Partners are eligible to submit a grant for review in the Adoption Prep category here.

• If an organization has programs for owned pets, they are eligible to apply for many of our calendared grants. Please check out our grant information here.
• Organizations with homeless pets can apply to be an Adoption Partner if they have the capacity to travel to a store for adoption events. Adoption Prep grants are available to Adoption Partners only. Click here for more information on those grants.

PetSmart Charities can provide grants to support veterinary programs at accredited Colleges or Schools of Veterinary Medicine aimed to support programs that train veterinary students serving a community of need, where a lack of accessible veterinary services has been identified.  At this time, the program is by invitation only to accredited DVM programs in Canada, the US and its territories. Interested parties should contact the appropriate Regional Relationship Manager.

Charities considers basic medical care to be:

• Physical examination
• Basic diagnostics: CBC, blood chemistry, urinalysis, ear cytology, blood pressure, radiographs
• Elective OVH (spay) and neuter procedures
• Analgesia for neuromuscular disease including osteoarthritis
• Dental prophylaxis and simple dental extractions
• Treatment for parasites, including simple (non-complicated) heartworm treatment
• Simple surgical correction of cherry eye (prolapsed gland of the third eyelid)
• Laceration repair, aural hematoma repair, bandaging
• Ear cleaning, anal gland expression, toenail trim
• Simple fracture repair (splint, pin)
• Simple cruciate repair (lateral suture technique)
• Mass removal, cystotomy, simple foreign body removal, splenectomy
• Abdominal decompression via nasogastric tube
• Amputation, enucleation
• Judicious use of medications including pain medications, antibiotics, topical medications, anti-parasiticides

• No. PetSmart Charities does not require a minimum number of adoptions to become an Adoption partner. All 501(C)(3), Canadian Registered Charities and municipal animal welfare organizations are encouraged to apply to become approved Adoption Partners.  
• PetSmart Charities offers donated space in PetSmart stores and opportunities for adoption event grant funding to any approved Adoption Partner independent of the number of adoptions they perform.

• If your organization has not facilitated an adoption in the last two years, you will need to reapply to participate in the in-store adoption program.
• Please contact your local PetSmart Store Leader to begin the process. Click here to find your local PetSmart store. Please note that the Adoption Partner application and approval process takes four-to-six weeks to complete.

If your organization would like to facilitate adoptions at a PetSmart store, please contact your local PetSmart Store Leader to begin the process. Click here to find your local PetSmart store. Please note that the Adoption Partner application and approval process takes four-to-six weeks to complete.

Adoptions are tracked by your organization’s PetSmart Charities Adoption Partner Number. This was the number assigned to your individual organization upon admittance to the Adoption Partner program. Please contact PetSmart Charities if you do not know your Adoption Partner number. Adoptions coded to “0000” or “9999” will not be eligible for adoption rewards.

• Partners will have 30 days from the reward payment date to notify PetSmart Charities of the discrepancy. Email your questions to adoptions@petsmartcharities.org.
• Please note all adoptions must be recorded in store and assigned to your Adoption Partner number to be eligible.

The maximum grant given in the U.S. is $75,000 and $40,000 in Canada.

• The maximum grant given in the U.S. will be $250,000 and $40,000 in Canada.
• Transport grant requests may not exceed 50% of the organization’s overall transport program budget. PetSmart Charities’ Transport grants will not support the purchase of new vehicles.

Adoption Partners can download the latest version of the Adoption Partner Manual here.

No. Number of adoptions and rewards reset every year. Every Adoption Partner will start at zero beginning February 1, 2021. Adoptions will be counted toward 2021 rewards until January 31, 2022.

• No. Each a time a new funding threshold is reached, Adoption Partners will receive the difference between the larger reward and the first reward paid on or around the 20th of the following month.
• Example: In the U.S., if your organization facilitates 50 adoptions in-store, you’ve reached Threshold 1 and are eligible to receive a $1,000 adoption reward. When you reach Threshold 2 (100 adoptions), you’ll receive another $1,000 reward totaling $2,000 in rewards on or around the 20^th of the following month.

• Yes. Adoption Partners in the U.S. who reach more than 10,000 adoptions in one year will receive the $400,000 adoption reward.
• Yes. Adoption Partners in Canada who reach more than 3,000 adoptions in one year will receive the $100,000 adoption reward.

• Once an Adoption Partner reaches a new reward threshold, rewards are paid out on or around the 20^th of the following month and are not cumulative. 
• When the next funding threshold is reached, Adoption Partners will be paid the difference between the larger reward and the previous threshold reward payment.
• If there are any issues with regard to payment for an adoption, a request for payment along with supporting documentation must be submitted via email to adoptions@petsmartcharities.org within 30 days of the payment. Claims older than 30 days will not be considered for payment.
• To view your adoption reward payments, log into the grant portal at: https://petsmartcharities.org/grant-portal.
• Adoption Partners are strongly encouraged to track their own adoptions and double-check their records with the store weekly. Any adoptions that are not recorded with the appropriate Adoption Partner number will not be considered for payment under the reward program.

• Yes. Adoption Partners are eligible for adoption event grant funding during National Adoption Weekends. All requests must be made through your local PetSmart Store Leader first. Click here to find your local PetSmart store.
• Event grant amounts will be determined based on the number of pets provided on the application.

Yes. Approved PetSmart Charities In-store Adoption Partners may partner with other approved Adoption Partners to co-host events to meet the qualifications to apply for adoption event funding.

Adoption event grants can be used for adoption prep, marketing, event equipment and supplies, pet containment and supplies and volunteer support.

PetSmart Charities typically reviews event grant requests within 2 weeks of receiving the application from the partner.

If you have any questions, please contact your PetSmart Charities Associate Relationship Manager below.