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Gift Acceptance Policy

Rescuing and caring for animals can be very expensive. Your financial and in-kind donations allow us to save thousands of deserving cats and dogs each year and provide them with food, temporary shelter and critical veterinary care. 

Below you will find the types of donations we accept. 

Financial Donations

Homeward Trails Animal Rescue solicits and accepts gifts that are consistent with its mission and that support its core programs and special projects.

Homeward Trails urges all prospective donors to seek the assistance of personal legal and financial advisors in matters relating to their gifts, including the resulting tax and estate planning consequences

Monetary Donations

Monetary donations will generally be accepted from individuals, partnerships, corporations, foundations, government agencies, or other entities, without limitations.

Vehicle Donations

Donations of vehicles are accepted through third party vehicle donation platforms. Click here for more information.

Homeward Trails may accept donations of real property, personal property, and stock.

Certain types of gifts must be reviewed prior to acceptance due to the special liabilities they may pose for Homeward Trails. Examples of gifts which will be subject to review include gifts of real property, gifts of tangible personal property, and gifts of securities. Please e-mail donate@homewardtrails.org for further information.

Tangible personal property includes art, jewelry, coin and stamp collections and collectibles that are donated to Homeward Trails with the understanding that they will be sold. Homeward Trails will consider the following when offered a gift of tangible personal property: a) Value – The value of the gift must outweigh the cost to administer, maintain, store and sell it. b) Marketability – The item must be readily marketable. We will also consider any additional costs that may be involved with its sale. c) Restrictions – Acceptance of the item may also depend on whether the donor has requested any restrictions on the use, display or sale of the item. d) Gift Transfer Costs – The donor must be willing and able to finance the packing, shipping, delivery, insurance and other costs associated with transferring the gift to Homeward Trails. If Homeward Trails sells the item within three years of receipt, we will report the sale to the IRS through the submission of Form 8282 and provide the donor with a copy of this form. Homeward Trails encourages donors to consult with a tax professional regarding the donation and deductibility of tangible personal property.

Homeward Trails will seek the advice of legal counsel in matters relating to acceptance of gifts when appropriate.

In-Kind Donations

Donations of services in-kind are welcome subject to the approval of Homeward Trails management. The value of donated services will be recognized at fair market value. Please contact doante@homewardtrails.org to discuss a donation of a service. In-kind Donations of Goods Our community is incredibly generous in supporting our organization through donations of items which means that we are often overwhelmed by the amount of donations we receive on a regular basis.

Excess items that we cannot use take time, money, and space from our animals by requiring staff time to sort them, space to store them while we try to make arrangements to pass them on, and costs associated with additional staff time, trash collection or trips to the landfill.

Acceptance of any contribution is at the discretion of Homeward Trails Animal Rescue will not accept any in-kind gift unless it can be used or expended consistently with the purpose and the mission of Homeward Trails. Homeward Trails has created a list of guidelines to help ensure that all donations of goods and products help further it’s mission in a meaningful way. In general, a donated good or product must (a) directly support our animals or staff, or (b) provide an opportunity to raise funds through its sale. If you are considering donating an item to Homeward Trails, please review the following information to determine if it meets our qualifications. If you have questions, or would like to make a donation, please contact donate@homewardtrails.org.

All donations should be clean and in good working order. Dirty crates and litterboxes can lead to the transmission of disease and chewed and broken leashes, harnesses and toys pose a safety hazard to our animals.

Donations will be accepted at the Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm 7 days a week.

Items that are accepted by Homeward Trails become the property of the organization and may be re-donated, sold or discarded as needed.

In-kind donation receipts will be available at the time of donation. We do not include a value for the donated item(s), per IRS regulations.

Please consult with a tax advisor if you have questions regarding the deductibility of your donation.

Items Accepted

Donated goods and products fall into different categories, with separate considerations for each: a) Items that can be used directly by our animals or staff. b) Items that may be used in support of our fundraising events. c) items that can be transferred to our partner organizations

Homeward Trails accepts the following types of in-kind gifts:

Pet Food

Wet and dry cat and dog food, treats, peanut butter, string cheese and hot dogs that are either unopened or recently opened and are not stale or moldy

Pet Supplies

New and like new leashes, collars, martingales, Elizabethan collars, Thunder Shirts, crates and carriers, and pet beds

Pet Toys

In new or like new condition only

Towels and Blankets

Bath and beach size towels and lightweight fleece blankets. Please no sheets, large blankets, afghans, comforters, quilts, or pillows

Cleaning Supplies

Laundry soap, dish soap, hand soap, bleach, glass cleaner, disinfecting wipes, paper towels, toilet paper, nitrile gloves

Technology Items

Laptops, tablets and cameras in working condition with appropriate charges included

Office Supplies

Copy paper, ink cartridges appropriate for our printers, 3”x4” shipping labels, tape, staples, paper clips and binder clips, dry erase markers, permanent markers, pens

Gift Cards

Gas station, grocery store, pet store, Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Staples, and Office Depot gift cards are always appreciated

Auction Items

Household or pet items in new condition suitable for fundraising auctions. Please e-mail rebeccag@homewardtrails.org prior to donating

More News from the Trail!

  • Saving 200 Lives – Our Biggest Event Ever!

    We are SAVING 200 LIVES THIS WEEK!!  Our biggest event ever! This time next week we have TWO Trails UP teams hitting the roads to save lives in this unprecedented effort! And we need your support to make it happen. We are sooo excited!! And to make it more fun for everyone, this effort is part of our Quarterly Raffle. For each $100 donor, we pick one winner at random to win a $350 Amazon gift card, a custom dog or cat goody basket and 2 free tickets to our Chili Bingo event in the fall – winner to be chosen as soon as we meet our $ goal. 120 DOGS WILL BE STERILIZED….. “I love this dog that wandered up to my house. But I’ve got a female dog inside and this dog is not neutered. The cost of getting him neutered is more than I can afford. But I hate to take him to the shelter. So for now I have to keep him chained up. If I can get him neutered and vaccinated then he can live indoors with us. I would love for him to be a real part of our family.” – Mr. Jenkell For the first time ever, Homeward Trails has organized a 120-dog spay/neuter event in Galax, VA, one of our most favorite Trails UP communities. We will be traveling to Galax where we have been working for months to secure 120 dogs who desperately need neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. These animals are loved but have owners who simply cannot afford their surgery. Without this event many would face becoming pregnant and ending up in the local shelter with puppies. Or possibly facing a life on a chain. This is no way for a family to live.  As much of our Trails UP spay/neuter efforts have focused on cats due transport options and surgical availability, our hearts have been hurting as we see the shelters filling up with dogs & puppies and so many people desperately wanting to get their dogs neutered. And so we have been working overtime to put together this major event. We will be partnering with several groups to bring a mobile unit to Galax and bring these lifesaving and lifechanging services to these dogs. We cannot WAIT. Every dog will be neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. And we hope to send all home with dog food, flea/tick meds and for those who need it – a dog house! The cost to us for this event comes to $120/dog  – as we are providing these services totally free to the community. PLEASE consider sponsoring a dog for this event and allowing us to truly change the life of a dog and the people who love him/her. A donation of any amount will truly make a difference! 80 CATS WILL BE STERILIZED The second half of our Trails UP team will be heading to Buchanan County to do free spay/neuter and Trap-Neuter-Return for 80 cats. The number of cat lives that will be saved from preventing unwanted kittens is often totally hard to digest. It’s HUGE. Just last month, we spayed almost 25 early pregnant cats – you can see how many lives that saved through prevention. It also means the world to the human caretakers of these kitties who so often struggle to feed their own families let alone the dozens of cats they care for. We will spend 5 days in the field working with community members in this very under-resourced communities. We will set traps in trailer parks, in yards and barns, on decks and in gardens – wherever we can – to get 80 cats sterilized, vaccinated and microchipped.    This will require not only 36 hours of trapping but more than 10 additional hours of driving to and from our surgical clinic. Our van will be loaded up with 80 cats (the very most we can fit) to make the 3.5 hour one-way trip to the surgical center. This is a huge undertaking each time we do it. But with no affordable large-scale spay/neuter clinics close by, we take what we can get. Our team is so dedicated! And so over a short period of just 5 days, we will sterilize, vaccinate and microchip 200 animals in two separate but equally under-resourced communities. And we are SO EXCITED. Please sponsor a dog or cat at just $100 and you can be a winner of a $350 Amazon gift card, a custom dog or cat goody basket and 2 free tickets to our Chili Bingo event in the fall – winner to be chosen as soon as we meet our $ goal.

  • Helping Happy Hounds – Fee Waived Adoptions for All Hounds

    As you may or may not know, Virginia animal shelters are filled with Hounds. These amazing dogs are most often discarded by callous hunters, found starving wandering the countryside. Many never make it as hunters and are then tied up to chains or left along the side of the road like old furniture. A good number of them do not make it out of shelters alive.But these dogs – like all dogs – are amazing and worthy of families. We just cannot get them families fast enough to stop them from dying in our shelters when there is no more space.And so we are trying something new here. ALL HOUND DOGS ADOPTED FROM HOMEWARD TRAILS WILL BE FREE. Yes, we are WAIVING ADOPTION FEES for Hounds for the foreseeable future.We hope that will entice well-matched applicants to consider a Hound now. Use the money you save on training, treats, toys.We think all dogs are worthy. But the reality is that some take extra incentives. Some have more barriers to getting adopted. And the result is well, more end up dying. And no – this does NOT mean we are just giving dogs away. All applicants will still go through our application/screening process to ensure good homes. This is just us trying to save more dogs by eliminating one more barrier to adoption. And hey, Hound lovers can use all the extra money they can get to buy treats, right?Help us help these Hounds. Our program Helping Happy Hounds is live NOW. Let’s save some lives!

More News from the Trail!

  • Saving 200 Lives – Our Biggest Event Ever!

    We are SAVING 200 LIVES THIS WEEK!!  Our biggest event ever! This time next week we have TWO Trails UP teams hitting the roads to save lives in this unprecedented effort! And we need your support to make it happen. We are sooo excited!! And to make it more fun for everyone, this effort is part of our Quarterly Raffle. For each $100 donor, we pick one winner at random to win a $350 Amazon gift card, a custom dog or cat goody basket and 2 free tickets to our Chili Bingo event in the fall – winner to be chosen as soon as we meet our $ goal. 120 DOGS WILL BE STERILIZED….. “I love this dog that wandered up to my house. But I’ve got a female dog inside and this dog is not neutered. The cost of getting him neutered is more than I can afford. But I hate to take him to the shelter. So for now I have to keep him chained up. If I can get him neutered and vaccinated then he can live indoors with us. I would love for him to be a real part of our family.” – Mr. Jenkell For the first time ever, Homeward Trails has organized a 120-dog spay/neuter event in Galax, VA, one of our most favorite Trails UP communities. We will be traveling to Galax where we have been working for months to secure 120 dogs who desperately need neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. These animals are loved but have owners who simply cannot afford their surgery. Without this event many would face becoming pregnant and ending up in the local shelter with puppies. Or possibly facing a life on a chain. This is no way for a family to live.  As much of our Trails UP spay/neuter efforts have focused on cats due transport options and surgical availability, our hearts have been hurting as we see the shelters filling up with dogs & puppies and so many people desperately wanting to get their dogs neutered. And so we have been working overtime to put together this major event. We will be partnering with several groups to bring a mobile unit to Galax and bring these lifesaving and lifechanging services to these dogs. We cannot WAIT. Every dog will be neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. And we hope to send all home with dog food, flea/tick meds and for those who need it – a dog house! The cost to us for this event comes to $120/dog  – as we are providing these services totally free to the community. PLEASE consider sponsoring a dog for this event and allowing us to truly change the life of a dog and the people who love him/her. A donation of any amount will truly make a difference! 80 CATS WILL BE STERILIZED The second half of our Trails UP team will be heading to Buchanan County to do free spay/neuter and Trap-Neuter-Return for 80 cats. The number of cat lives that will be saved from preventing unwanted kittens is often totally hard to digest. It’s HUGE. Just last month, we spayed almost 25 early pregnant cats – you can see how many lives that saved through prevention. It also means the world to the human caretakers of these kitties who so often struggle to feed their own families let alone the dozens of cats they care for. We will spend 5 days in the field working with community members in this very under-resourced communities. We will set traps in trailer parks, in yards and barns, on decks and in gardens – wherever we can – to get 80 cats sterilized, vaccinated and microchipped.    This will require not only 36 hours of trapping but more than 10 additional hours of driving to and from our surgical clinic. Our van will be loaded up with 80 cats (the very most we can fit) to make the 3.5 hour one-way trip to the surgical center. This is a huge undertaking each time we do it. But with no affordable large-scale spay/neuter clinics close by, we take what we can get. Our team is so dedicated! And so over a short period of just 5 days, we will sterilize, vaccinate and microchip 200 animals in two separate but equally under-resourced communities. And we are SO EXCITED. Please sponsor a dog or cat at just $100 and you can be a winner of a $350 Amazon gift card, a custom dog or cat goody basket and 2 free tickets to our Chili Bingo event in the fall – winner to be chosen as soon as we meet our $ goal.