Pets for Vets

Legal name: Pets for Vets Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271250302
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2010, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Wilmington, NC, US
Phone
(301) 956-3837
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Military, Veterans' Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,628,428
Expenses
$1,317,493
Assets
$5,929,537
Liabilities
$30,635

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ann Black (President)
  • Marianne Upton (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Clarissa Black (Executive Dir.): $136,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We enrich the lives of Veterans by creating a life changing Super Bond® with expertly selected and trained shelter or rescue pets and providing ongoing expert support to ensure a reciprocal and thriving partnership at no cost to the Veteran.

What it reported doing in 2024

Pets for Vets is committed to engaging and recruiting trainers, fostering a collaborative community committed to continuing education, and sharing its innovative approach to Human Animal Bond Assisted Interventions. By continually increasing the pool of expert trainers, the Pets for Vets program seeks to expand to make a greater impact on veteran and animal communities leading towards a world where every veteran receives the support they deserve.October 20, 2024, marked the 15th anniversary of Pets for Vets, a significant milestone in the organizations history of connecting veterans with rescue animals to promote healing and companionship. In 2024, Pets for Vets continued to expand in reach and impact. It recruited and onboarded 28 new trainers, strengthening its capacity to deliver high-quality Human-Animal Bond Assisted Interventions across more communities. It resolved 76 veteran applications and worked on 23 veteran-pet matches, each built around the creating of reciprocal, life-changing Super Bonds. During 2024, Pets for Vets introduced two new programs: the shelter puppy pilot program which partners with animal shelters to identify pregnant dogs and provide comprehensive care for puppies from whelping through adulthood; and the foster puppy pilot program which engages a network of volunteer puppy raisers to raise donated puppies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.9%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.1%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.5; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 71.9% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $995K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.