PLATINUM2024

PET HELPERS INC

Celebrating over 40 Years No Kill

aka Pet Helpers   |   Charleston, SC   |  www.pethelpers.org

Mission

Pet Helpers’ is a 501(c)3 Adoption Center and Spay/Neuter Clinic that serves communities across the Lowcountry. Our mission is to end the euthanasia of all adoptable cats and dogs by keeping all animals until adopted; providing low cost spay/neuter surgeries; offering humane education programs; pursuing animal-cruelty prosecution; and initiating animal-welfare legislation.

Ruling year info

1986

President

Carol Linville

Main address

1447 Folly Rd

Charleston, SC 29412 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

57-0802283

NTEE code info

Animal Protection and Welfare (includes Humane Societies and SPCAs) (D20)

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (D12)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2023, 2022 and 2021.
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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Pet Helpers’ is a 501(c)3 Adoption Center and Spay/Neuter Clinic that serves communities across the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Our mission is to end the euthanasia of all adoptable cats and dogs by keeping all animals until adopted; providing low cost spay/neuter surgeries; offering humane education programs; pursuing animal-cruelty prosecution; and initiating animal-welfare legislation.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Low Cost Spay/Neuter & Vaccine Clinics

Low cost spay and neuter and vaccine clinics

Population(s) Served
Adults

This imaginative foster care program organizes our volunteers into five categories. Volunteers select the program that they feel best suits their interests. The five areas are: 1) training and assistance with behavior management ,2) shelter respite, 3) recuperation from surgery of illness, 4) care for puppies and kittens that are too young for a shelter environment, and 5) hospice care to allow pets to complete their life cycles in safe, comfortable homes.

Population(s) Served
Adults

This program is designed to improve the quality of life for dogs that spend their lives tethered outside to a stationary object. The first of its kind in the Lowcountry, the volunteer based program spreads awareness of the hazards of chaining animals and builds enclosures for animals that allow ample space for protection and exercise.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Pet Helpers has a core group of volunteers that have been trained to trap and transport community cats to our facility. With donations and grant funds we provide free spay and neuter surgeries to control cat populations which results in healthier cat populations.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Levi's Legacy was established to help provide financial support for pet owners in the Lowcountry whose pets are facing serious illness or injury, and who cannot seek initial diagnostic veterinary treatment without assistance.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of animal adoptions

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Our goal is to continue to increase the number of animal adoptions made through our shelter every year.

Number of sheltered animals

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Providing all cats and dogs of the Lowcountry, despite their medical needs, a safe and loving environment to stay until they are adopted by their family has been our primary focus.

Number of animals vaccinated

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Low Cost Spay/Neuter & Vaccine Clinics

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

By providing Lowcountry pet owners access to low cost vaccines, we are proudly making great strides toward a healthier pet population.

Average number of days of shelter stay for dogs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Our ultimate goal is to help find loving homes for all of the dogs that pass through our doors while keeping the number of days that they are sheltered to a minimum.

Average number of days of shelter stay for cats and small animals

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Context Notes

Our ultimate goal is to help find loving homes for all of the cats that pass through our doors while keeping the number of days that they are sheltered to a minimum.

Number of animals spayed and neutered

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Low Cost Spay/Neuter & Vaccine Clinics

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Context Notes

By providing Lowcountry pet owners access to low cost spay and neuter surgeries, we are proudly making great strides toward a controlled and sustainable pet population.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our mission is to end the euthanasia of all adoptable cats and dogs by keeping all animals safe and healthy until they are adopted by their family; providing low cost spay/neuter surgeries and vaccine clinic; offering humane education programs; community outreach and engagement; pursuing animal-cruelty prosecution; and initiating animal-welfare legislation.

ADOPTIONS
Our adoption counselors work closely with our animal care staff to make sure that they know every one of our adoptable animals and take the time to understand the needs of the potential adopters as well. For us at Pet Helpers, it is all about “the match”. After all, our goal is to make sure that the adoption is to the “right” family who will provide a FOREVER home.

SPAY/NEUTER
Our mission is to provide high quality spay/neuter surgeries at an affordable price to all families in the Lowcountry. This is the most effective way to reduce the overpopulation of companion animals. Besides offering these services to the general population, we are also aggressively working to increase accessibility to areas of the Lowcountry with high rates of pet reproduction.

LOW COST VACCINE CLINIC
Our low cost vaccine clinic provides preventive care services such as heartworm testing, flea control, microchipping, and nail trims.

UNCHAIN CHARLESTON
Unchain Charleston is “breaking the chains and improving the lives of dogs in the Lowcountry. Fences give freedom!” Unchain Charleston is a concerted effort to spread awareness about the plight of chained dogs and to build fences for chained dogs in the Lowcountry. By providing an alternative to chaining, Unchain Charleston keeps dogs out of the shelter system and in their loving homes. Please send us an email with Name, Address, Phone Number, Breed and Age of Dog.


TRAP-NEUTER-RELEASE
The Lowcountry has a large population of feral, semi-feral, and free roaming cats. Both feral cat colonies and community cats can be managed in a nonlethal method of population control through TNR. These cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, and returned to their colony sites where in many cases, volunteer caregivers provide them food, water, and limited shelter. Please contact the shelter for assistance on our TNR program at 843-795-1110.

PET FOOD BANK
The food bank provides a monthly food supply for families in need. We welcome pet owners in need to use this resource to obtain food for your pet by visiting our Adoption Center at 1447 Folly Road. Please bring a photo ID and proof of spay/neuter at the time of your visit. Proof of government assistance is required. Please send an email with Name, Address, Phone Number, and Number of Cats/Dogs.

ReTAIL Resale Store
Animal Helpers ReTail Resale Store accepts donations of gently used furniture, appliances, decorative pieces, household items, and much more. Donations are tax-deductible. All proceeds from the sale of these items go to Pet Helpers to use to save animals in the Lowcountry

TRAINING
Pet Helpers is happy to bring on their very own professional dog trainer, Heather Szasz. Heather has over 9 years of professional dog training experience as well as being a life coach for a world wide company. Both of these professions combined together allow her to be very successful with working with Dog Owners and the behavior issues with their dogs.

At Pet Helpers, we are dedicated to our goals and address meeting our goals with:

A low cost spay/neuter clinic, a low cost vaccination clinic that encourages and assists the community with having healthy pets and prevents the overpopulation of animals.

A full time animal behavior specialist on staff to work with our animals that may need some additional training and enrichment.

Highly trained employees that are able to effectively match our shelter animals to their fur-ever homes.

Unchain Charleston program is a community outreach program that builds fences for freedom and keeps dogs off chains.

No cost pet food bank has provided countless pounds of pet food to families that are struggling financially.

All shelters in the SC Lowcountry are now no-kill, Pet Helpers was at the forefront of this movement. Now our goal is to keep all adoptable pets out of shelters and healthy by offering; low cost vaccines, spays/neuters; an income based program that covers a portion of spay/neuter surgeries and vaccine costs in our clinic; a community food bank and a grant program that covers emergency medical care for their pets so that families don't have to bring their beloved pets to shelters.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time

Financials

PET HELPERS INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

PET HELPERS INC

Board of directors
as of 03/06/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Carol Linville

Pet Helpers

Term: 1978 -

Frederick Baker

Motley Rice

Cari Auger

Amy Novek

McLeod Williamson

Nancy McGinley

James Beall

Joanna Hoiles

Elliott Davis

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 5/10/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 09/21/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.