The Howard T Petrie Charitable Trust (the Trust) seeks to provide a perpetual gift to a single small-to-medium sized animal welfare organization, with the intent of allowing that organization to plan for the long term with confidence. In return, the Trust seeks an organization that operates in a manner making it likely to survive the long term. The annual gift from the Trust will begin at $5000 and will scale up based on achievement of defined developmental milestones. Ultimately, a fully qualified organization will receive not less than $50,000 annually.
To become fully qualified, candidate organizations must comply with the following criteria. It is important to note that organizations that do not currently satisfy all these criteria, but are willing to develop them in a timely and stepwise manner, will nonetheless be considered for funding and are encouraged to apply. In such a case, the recipient organization and the Trust would establish mutually agreeable milestones upon which further support would be dependent:
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the recipient organization (RO) must be a small to medium 501(c)(3) public charity. Generally, such organizations would file form 990-N or 990-EZ and have zero or a few paid employees. Unfortunately, 501(c)(3) private foundations are not eligible due to restrictions on distributions from the Trust;
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RO must have a clear mission statement that involves hands-on animal care that must include longer-lived animals such as parrots, horses, tortoises, etc.;
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RO must have a Board of Directors that is actively engaged in oversight and development of the organization. As a component of this, minutes of regular (at least quarterly) meetings of the Board of Directors must be maintained;
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RO must establish a written plan for succession for all critical staff, especially the current founder/president/CEO;
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RO must maintain accurate and comprehensive financial records, including a ledger, and must maintain receipts for all transactions;
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RO must express and promote explicit statements regarding their policy on animal breeding, the sale of animals, or any other type of for animal exploitation;
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RO must comply with applicable state, local, and federal guidelines or laws regarding nonprofit businesses and tax exempt organizations;
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RO must be insured against liability;
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RO must operate on property that is owned by the organization or is under a long-term lease.
These practices are common in large, well-established organizations, which is why they have survived and thrived. In contrast, many small organizations do not survive their founders, largely because they did not develop these essential principles of operation. Unfortunately, it is their animals that suffer the consequences. Through establishment of developmental milestones and consistent financial support, the Trust seeks to help at least one small-to-medium animal welfare organization avoid this fate.