Best animal shelters to donate to [UPDATED 2024]

You might be wondering “If I want to donate money to an animal charity which is the best organization?”. Certainly, when it comes to donating to animal shelters, there are many great organizations out there that are doing amazing work for animals in need. Here, we’ve compiled a list of 8 of the best animal shelters to donate to.

If you want to know what you could donate to these shelters, we compiled a list here: What to Donate to Animal Shelters: A Full Guide

We relied on the scores provided by Charity Navigator.

Charity Navigator is an independent charity evaluator that rates nonprofits based on their financial health, accountability, and transparency. The organization uses a four-star rating system to indicate how efficiently a charity will use donations. Four stars are the highest rating a nonprofit can receive. The evaluation scores go from 0 to 100, with 100 being 4 stars. The scores are updated annually to reflect any changes in a charity’s performance or practices.

The scores are made up of two main areas:

• Financial Health: evaluates a charity’s financial performance, including its revenue, expenses, and how efficiently it uses its resources.
• Accountability & Transparency: The Accountability & Transparency score looks at how transparent a charity is with its finances, governance, and activities. And how well it follows good practices for ethical and effective management.

Charity Navigator uses a combination of financial data and information from other sources, such as the charity’s tax returns, to calculate the ratings. Additionally, the organization looks at a charity’s public reporting and accountability practices. Such as whether it has an independent board, regularly reports on its activities and finances, and has a whistle-blower policy.

The best animal shelters to donate to are:

(These are in no particular order since to determine the best animal shelters to donate to, we only chose shelters with a score of 100 and 4 stars at Charity Navigator. )

1. The Friends of the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter

This shelter falls under the jurisdiction of the City of Buffalo Public Works Department. Making it a municipal agency. Their primary mission is to raise funds and financially support the shelter.

They offer a range of valuable services to the community, including:

• Providing care, shelter, food, and comfort to injured, lost, abused, and abandoned animals like cats and dogs;
• Finding loving and responsible homes for animals;
• Reuniting lost pets with their families; and
• Keeping potentially dangerous animals off the streets

They also provide other services besides the ones mentioned above. Like critical and preventive veterinary care; subsidized adoption rates for senior and special needs animals; and training for shelter dogs in need.

You can find them at 65 HAMPTON HILL DR Williamsville NY 14221-5839. Find out how to support them by clicking here!

2. The Animal Welfare League

A nonprofit founded in 1935 with 88 years of experience assisting homeless, abused, unwanted, sick, and injured animals. They service approximately 35+ police municipalities, remaining open to them 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, to receive their animals as well as to provide field services. They employ a full-time medical staff, including veterinarian(s) who provide the care needed for the animals.

Some of the things they implement to help the animals are:

• Adoption program. Their primary mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home animals in need. The organization has a comprehensive animal adoption program that seeks to match animals with loving and responsible owners. The adoption process is designed to ensure that the animal is a good fit for the potential adopter’s lifestyle and home environment. They also provide ongoing support and guidance to adopters to help them give the best care possible to their new pet.
• Spay/neuter clinic. They operate a low-cost spay/neuter clinic that helps to reduce the number of unwanted animals in the community. 
• Veterinary services to the community. The organization operates a full-service veterinary clinic that offers a wide range of services, including vaccinations, dental care, and surgery. The clinic is staffed by licensed veterinarians and veterinary technicians who are committed to providing the highest quality of care to animals.
• Humane education program. The program is designed to teach children and adults about responsible pet ownership, animal welfare, and the importance of treating animals with kindness and respect. The program includes classroom presentations, workshops, and other educational resources.

The AWL also provides a range of other community services. Including pet food pantries for families in need, pet therapy programs, and animal rescue services. The organization works closely with local law enforcement agencies to investigate cases of animal cruelty and neglect and to ensure that animals are protected from harm.

They currently have two locations, one at 10305 Southwest Highway, Chicago Ridge, IL 60415, and the other in the City of Chicago at 6224 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637. Some may say they are the largest animal shelter in the State of Illinois. Click here to see how to donate to them!

3. Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter

An animal shelter in Missouri that was founded in 1999. Their main goal is to give loving homes to the lost and forsaken animals under their watch. This goal is achieved thanks to the help of their generous volunteers and donors. They are a 501(c)(3) organization, which makes them a nonprofit.

On their website, you can find numerous ways to support their efforts, including:

• Making a one-time donation.
• Making a memorial donation in honor of a beloved pet who might be gone.
• Making a recurrent monthly donation that works like a subscription.
• Giving non-cash gifts that are based on their amazon wishlist or shopping list.
• Volunteering.
• Buying a calendar.

You can contact them via email at [email protected]. Give them a call at 816-587-0918, or pay them a visit at 1356 NW Hwy 9 Parkville, MO 64152.

4. The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard Inc

This is a “no-kill” shelter established in 2009 in the State of Massachusetts. They are dedicated to providing efficient, high-quality, and humane care of animals in their shelter.

Amongst their services you can find:

• Locating forever homes for the animals of Martha’s Vineyard.
• Assisting with re-homing adoptions.
• Providing animal cages so that the pet visitors of Martha’s Vineyard can be safe and comfortable.
• Giving out free dog training sessions to newly adopted dogs.
• Pet grooming.
• Educational Seminars, Community Service and Volunteering.
• Assistance to the Island’s Animal Control Officers.
• Help with lost and found animals.
• Carrying out an Annual Rabies Clinic.

To support them you can donate on their website or attend their fundraising events at Martha’s Vineyard. They also have a wishlist that you can refer to in case you prefer bringing gifts to them at their location in 1 Pennywise Path, PO Box 1829, Edgartown, Massachusetts, 02539.

5. The Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter Inc

They are a non-profit organization located in Michigan. Their primary mission is to provide care and shelter for animals while they await their forever homes. They believe that every animal deserves a loving home and do everything in their power to make that a reality.

Some of the things that make them special are:

• In all cases that come to them, they medically and behaviorally evaluate the animal; and for the ones that need it, they try behavior modification training (including muzzle training for dogs) to up their chances of finding a new home. Even if families call them about surrendering their highly aggressive pets, they talk them through what they can do to help those pets and let them know what they can expect from their pets coming into the care of the shelter.
• They are a no-kill shelter and have claimed to save consistently 98% of the animals that come to them – which is an award-winning success story. Their intention is to educate everyone on proper animal care, so there soon won’t be the three percent who arrive at the shelter too sick or wounded to be saved.
• They have a low-cost spay and neuter program to help prevent pet overpopulation and reduce the number of unwanted pets in the area.
• They also offer microchipping services to help lost pets find their way back home.
• They don’t receive operating funds from any governmental agency. They rely on donations from their neighbors and friends to make their efforts possible. So the support of people like you is key to keeping them running.

Go to their website to see all the ways you can support them in their admirable labor! You can email them with any questions at [email protected] or pay them a visit at 815 South State Highway M553, Gwinn, MI 49841.

6. Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter Inc

This is an animal shelter in Pennsylvania with a mission to protect, shelter, and adopt homeless animals in northern Franklin and parts of the southern Cumberland county service area. They offer a safe and comfortable space to homeless and stray animals, providing shelter from harsh weather conditions and minimizing their stress levels.

Apart from that, they help the animals by:

• Acting as the primary contact agency in their service area to ensure lost pets are quickly and safely returned to their owners.
• Placing adoptable pets in caring and responsible homes.
• Supporting efforts to prevent animal cruelty and neglect by providing education and necessary legal citations.
• Promoting responsible pet ownership through humane education initiatives.
• Working to decrease the number of uncontrolled animal breeding.

365 days a year, the animals in the kennels are cared for by the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter staff. They clean, medicate, nurture, protect, and work towards finding them loving homes. You can help them by volunteering, getting a membership, becoming a foster parent, donating, or buying from the thrift store they operate at 66 South Main Street in Chambersburg.

You can visit them and adopt a pet at 5051 Letterkenny Road West, Chambersburg, PA 17201-8706.

7. Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter

They are a nonprofit organization that shelters and cares for lost and abandoned companion animals in Alameda, California. They reunite lost pets with their owners, find new homes for homeless animals, and strive to prevent animal cruelty through education and community programs.

Some of the things they do are:

• Give people the opportunity to adopt or foster animals.
• Spay and neuter all of the cats, dogs, and rabbits before going to their new homes.
• Offer the option of private Adoptions, which allow owners to create an online profile for their pet that will appear on the shelter’s website and Facebook page. This way the pet goes from its old home to its new one without ever entering the shelter.
• Carry out the Seniors For Seniors adoption program, allowing senior citizens to adopt any cat or dog that is 7 years or older without paying an adoption fee.
• Provide medical assistance to animals through the Starfish Medical Fund. This fund has given more than 1,000 shelter pets the chance to recover from serious illness or injury and be adopted into new, loving homes.
• Give all canine adopters six weeks of free canine training courtesy of the Sasha Training Fund.
• Offer a Pet Loss Support Group led by Suzanne Hayne, a licensed marriage and family therapist with an M.A. in counseling psychology from John F. Kennedy University.

You can find them at 1590 Fortmann Way, Alameda, CA 94501. To know the different ways in which you can support them visit their website!

8. The Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation

The SASF is a non-profit organization that has been providing support to the Seattle Animal Shelter since 1995. The foundation’s mission is to help the shelter save more animal lives by raising funds, educating the community about responsible pet ownership, and increasing public awareness of the shelter’s efforts.

They contribute by:

• Fundraising. This can be considered one of the primary ways the foundation supports the shelter. The foundation hosts multiple events throughout the year, including a yearly fundraiser gala, which raises money to support the shelter’s efforts.
• Donations. The foundation accepts donations from individuals and businesses to help provide funding for medical care, food, and other supplies that the shelter needs to care for the animals.
• Educational resources. They provide educational resources to the community about responsible pet ownership. This includes information about proper animal care, the importance of spaying and neutering, and other topics related to animal welfare.
• Foster program. In order to care for the animals until they are ready for adoption, this program allows volunteers to take animals into their homes. The support for the foster program helps to increase the number of animals that the shelter can care for and increases the likelihood that they will find permanent homes.
• Pet licensing program. In Seattle, it is required by law to license all cats and dogs over the age of eight weeks. The license provides a form of identification for pets and helps to fund the shelter’s animal care and control services. They help promote the importance of licensing and provide funding for low-income pet owners who may not be able to afford the license fee.
• Animal healthcare. They provide medical care, vaccinations, and spay and neuter services to help ensure the health and well-being of the animals in their care.

The shelter provides a variety of services including adoptions, animal care and control, and lost and found pets. The shelter works to match the right animal with the right family to ensure that every pet finds a loving home.

Emergency assistance

In addition to their ongoing efforts, the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation has also played a critical role in responding to emergency situations. In 2020, when wildfires ravaged the West Coast, the foundation provided funds to help the shelter transport animals from affected areas to Seattle. They also provided funding for medical care and supplies for the animals.

To help them you can donate on their website, volunteer, or designate Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation as your preferred charity on AmazonSmile. You could also mail a donation by making the checks payable to:

The Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation
P.O. Box 99006
Seattle, WA 98139-0006

Conclusion

It’s important to research and find the animal charity that best aligns with your values and the type of work you want to support. Truth is, there are many great charities out there doing incredible work for animals, so we hope our list of 8 of the best animal shelters to donate to in 2023 will help you make an informed decision about which one to support. Let’s join forces and make a difference together! If you want to know about more organizations that help animals, click here!