About Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals
Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals concentrates its giving on organizations that improve the lives of animals through direct intervention and education, with California as the sole recipient state in the data. Its recent grants show a practical mix of general support, emergency response, capital campaign matching, and litigation support, all within a local geographic scope centered on Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito received two of the larger awards in the recent grants list, including $50,000 for general support in 2024 and another $50,000 in 2023. Humane Society of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa also received a $50,000 general-support grant in 2025, while Muttville in San Francisco received $50,000 for capital campaign donation matching in 2023. The foundation’s mission aligns with animal rescue and rehabilitation, cruelty prevention, companion animal care, wildlife conservation, and animal welfare education, and its recent grants reflect those priorities across domestic animals, wildlife, and animal protection work.
What Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals Funds
In wildlife response, the trust funded International Bird Rescue twice in Fairfield, including $30,000 in 2024 for an emergency grant for brown pelican crisis and $25,000 in 2024 for general support. Tri County Wildlife Care in Jackson received $40,000 in 2024 for general support, showing a second strand of wildlife rehabilitation funding. For companion-animal services, Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe in Truckee received $35,000 in 2025 for general support, and Placer SPCA in Roseville received $25,000 in 2024. The foundation also supports animal welfare infrastructure in the Bay Area: Cat Town in Oakland received $30,000 in 2024 and $25,000 in 2025, both for general support, while Vets in Vans received $35,000 in Alameda in 2025. Animal protection law appears as a separate line of giving, with grants to Animal Legal Defense Fund for general support and roadside zoo litigation.
How Thelma Doelger Trust for Animals Gives
Typical grants cluster in a narrow band: p25 is $12,500, median is $20,000, and p75 is $25,000. The recent list also includes several $35,000, $40,000, and $50,000 awards, showing that the trust makes smaller core grants alongside larger awards for selected recipients. General support is common, but the pattern also includes matching gifts, emergency response, and project-specific or litigation funding. The trust is classified as a regular funder, accepts unsolicited applications through its General Grant Program, and the recent grants list shows repeated support to the same organizations across multiple years, including the Marine Mammal Center, Cat Town, International Bird Rescue, Fix Our Ferals, and Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe.