The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation’s support for animal well-being is rooted in the interests of its founder and our recognition that the health and well-being of animals, people and environment are inextricably linked. A just, healthy, and sustainable Maine requires that all life is recognized for its inherent value.

2024 Available Funding: $792,000.

Sewall is investing $1,515,000 in Animal Welfare grants in 2024. $723,000 of this funding was committed to multiyear grants in 2022 and 2023, leaving $792,000 available for new grants in 2024.

Riding To The Top

Review Considerations

Grants will be made in following areas:

Animal Shelters
Support for animal shelters throughout Maine. These will predominantly be one-year operating support grants. Periodic capital and capacity building project needs will also be considered. Typical operating grant size is $15,000-$40,000 per year.

Organizations with an existing multi-year grant, but have a new capital need, should contact the foundation.

We will prioritize organizations that:

  • Provide humane sheltering and rehoming services and focused on small, domestic animals (cats and dogs)

  • Are under-resourced and serve under-resourced communities

  • Provide humane-education programming

  • Provide (or seek to) community supports designed to keep animals in homes and out of shelters (e.g. access to affordable neutering services, pet food pantries, veterinary assistance programs, crisis management assistance such as temporary sheltering)
    and/or

  • Work collaboratively to meet animal and community needs

Social Services
Support for efforts working at the intersection of social services and animal well-being. This is a new area of giving for us. We anticipate supporting service and therapy animal programs, social service or other community-organization based programs that support animals to stay with their families and out of shelters (e.g. pet food pantries), programs that support families and animals together in times of crisis (temporary sheltering for animals and people facing domestic violence or other disasters), and those that otherwise address social justice issues as they pertain to animals. If you are unsure if your work is a good fit, please contact us.

We anticipate most of these grants will be for projects originating from organizations other than animal shelters. Operating support for organizations whose primary body of work is at the intersection of human and animal well-being (such as therapy animal programs) are welcome. Grant size will be variable. We recommend contacting us to discuss requests over $40,000 prior to applying.

Cat Population Control
Operating and project grants will be made to organizations to which the Sewall Foundation has provided support for cat population work in the past three years. Through these grants we will continue to support targeted efforts, employing best practices to address areas of greatest need. Grant size will vary based on scope of project and need.

2024 Application

2024 applications due date is June 3, 2024, at 5pm. Grant decisions will be announced by mid-August, 2024.

We recommend reviewing the 2024 Animal Welfare Application Guide prior to starting an application, which includes guidelines, instructions, application questions and a description of attachments. For your reference, a word document of the application questions can be found here.

If this is your first time applying to the Sewall Foundation, we recommend following our Creating an Account Guide for step by step instructions.

Click on the button to start a new application, or return to an in-progress application.

If you need technical support with your application, please contact Lisa Smith.