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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!

  • Clear the Shelters Adoption Weekend – August 31 and September 1

    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.

  • Helping Happy Hounds – Fee Waived Hound Adoptions

    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!

  • Our Current Supply Needs – Can You Help?

    Each year Homeward Trail spends thousands and thousands of dollars on supplies to care for our animals and support the general operations of our organization. We always strive to keep our costs as low as possible so that we can spend every extra dollar saving more lives.  One simple way you can help is by donating these supplies – everything from postage stamps, to cleaning supplies, to ink cartridges and paper, to dog and cat food and litter. Our wish lists are updated regularly so you can always find our most current needs. Please consider donating supplies to help us cover the cost of these items. The more we are able to get donated, the more animals we can help. Thank you! Adoption Center Wishlist Meow Palace Wishlist Dog Enrichment Wishlist Trails Home Farm Wishlist Farmhouse Wishlist Trails UP Wishlist  Puerto Rico Wishlist

More News from the Trail!

  • Clear the Shelters Adoption Weekend – August 31 and September 1

    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.