My goal for this Project is a clear, actionable fundraising and grants strategy for our young nonprofit.

Padma Animal is a registered 501(c)(3) that funds and supplies under-resourced animal shelters in India and Nepal. We're founder-led and in an early growth stage. Right now our fundraising is reactive: one-off gifts arrive, but we have no plan for generating them predictably or keeping donors past their first donation.

Two things are getting in the way. First, we have no fundraising roadmap, so campaigns happen ad hoc rather than on a calendar. Second, grant research is consuming time without much return, because our model is unusual: we fund and supply shelters abroad rather than running adoptions or spay-neuter programs ourselves, which makes many standard animal-welfare grants a poor fit. I've been applying to grants already, so I can share exactly what's been tried and where it stalls.

I'm looking for help building the strategy. Writing the actual application and outreach copy is a separate Project I plan to run afterward, once priorities are set.

By the end of this Project, I'm looking for three things:

1. A written fundraising plan. A practical roadmap covering individual donor acquisition, a recurring giving program, and a campaign calendar for the next 12 months — including which moments to build campaigns around and what a realistic target looks like at our size.

2. A prioritized grant prospect list. Roughly 10–15 funders researched and ranked by fit with our specific model, with award ranges, deadlines, eligibility notes, and a recommendation on which three to five to pursue first. The value here is as much about ruling funders out as ruling them in.

3. A donor retention approach. A short plan for converting first-time givers into recurring supporters — touchpoint timing, what to send when, and how to structure the ask.

Success looks like me ending this Project knowing exactly which grants to apply for, in what order, and having a campaign calendar I can execute month by month instead of improvising.

If this Project succeeds, Padma Animal moves from reactive to planned fundraising. Six months out, I'd expect to see a recurring donor base rather than only one-time gifts, grant applications going to a short list of well-matched funders instead of scattered long shots, and campaigns running on a calendar I set in advance.

That matters because our impact is currently limited by funding, not by need or by willing partners on the ground. We have three established shelter partnerships ready to absorb more support, and specific projects waiting on funding, including an on-site veterinary clinic. Every dollar raised becomes food, medicine, vaccinations, and veterinary care for animals who would otherwise go without.

We've also built the infrastructure so a volunteer can focus on strategy rather than setup: a live website (padmaanimal.org), working online donations, a donor thank-you flow, an outreach tracker, and impact stories and photos from our partner shelters. As founder, I make decisions quickly and will implement recommendations directly — this won't sit on a shelf.

Organization Mission

Care for every animal: fund animal shelters in Nepal and India, deliver surplus veterinary supplies to clinics, sponsor medical care for animals whose bills no one can cover, advocate for animals in shelters, laboratories, and the food system, and educate the community on plant-based eating and responsible pet care.