This Challenge is funded by Adopt a Pet, California for All Animals, Life of Riley, Maddie’s Fund®, Michelson Found Animals Foundation and Ryan Animal Rescue Foundation and in collaboration with American Pets Alive!, ASPCA, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, Best Friends Animal Society, BISSELL Pet Foundation, The Community Cats Podcast, Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE), Cuddly, Greater Good Charities, HeARTS Speak, Humane Society of the United States, JVR Shelter Strategies, Maddie's® Million Pet Challenge, National Animal Care and Control Association, Petco Love, Petfinder Foundation, PetSmart Charities and Shelter Animals Count.
Mark your calendars for the all-inclusive 2024 Open Arms Challenge! This grant Challenge is like no other. For the entire month of April 2024, animal shelters, foster-based organizations and public charities are encouraged to create a new program or expand an existing one focused on keeping pets and people together.
It is all about opening our hearts and minds to more accessible and inclusive practices, helping to keep pets with their people through Return to Home and Foster programs and so much more. Not only do we all hope to see innovative ways to increase community engagement with adoptions, foster recruitment, volunteer interest and safety net programs - there are also grant prizes available! (Total prize amount to be revealed later this year.)
Beginning in 2023, there will only be one Challenge per year.
The Open Arms Challenge is an opportunity for organizations to pilot a new practice or expand upon a current program that has already been started.
The goal of this Challenge is to increase inclusivity and provide a welcoming environment for all staff (paid and unpaid) and community members; and keeping pets with people when possible. What that looks like is different for every organization. It can be as simple as returning voicemails in a timely manner, providing literature in multiple languages or completely rewriting or doing away with the adoption application, to undertaking bias training or choosing new neighborhoods for adoption events. The Open Arms Challenge can be applied to any of your organization’s programs and services.
Your organization applies to participate in the Open Arms Challenge once the application period is open. If accepted, your organization implements the new or expanded activity you’ve chosen for the Challenge month. You document what was done, what was learned and what resulted from this Challenge. You then submit a participation report to be considered to win a grant from the funding partners. There are additional prizes designated by some of the collaborating partners, as well.
This Challenge will invite animal shelters, foster-based organizations, and public charities focused on keeping pets and people together to create or expand programs in any of the following areas:
Most importantly, the practice(s) each organization decides to undertake should reflect a desire to intentionally connect with all areas of the community and a willingness to listen to what their community wants and needs.
The Challenge is open to animal shelters, foster-based organizations, and public charities focused on keeping pets and people together who want to increase inclusivity and provide a welcoming environment for all community members. Welcoming practices that will be considered are those that actively make your organization’s culture more open, equitable and inclusive for your community.
To be considered to PARTICIPATE in this Challenge, your organization must be:
Registration link will be live on this page during the application window which will open February 26 - March 6, 2024.
Yes! Now is the time to start your planning. What new program would you like to pilot? How can you expand your existing programs to be more inclusive and community focused?
To start the ideas flowing for this Challenge, there are loads of resources available. There are recordings of speakers from previous years sharing how they implemented new and updated programs and policies at their own organizations. Additionally, there are materials, samples, applications and reports.
Additionally, the February Weekly Community Conversations are slated to be all about these practices. We will have more information later in the year.
Important Dates:
The Michelson Found Animals Foundation is part of the Michelson Philanthropies network.
© 2026 Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Inc.
