$19 a Month to the ASPCA – How Much Goes to Vet Services?

If you donated $19 a month to the ASPCA in 2023 and want to know how your donation was spent, know that:

• $11 went to pay staff, office-related expenses, travel and conferences;
• $6 went to pay advertising and promotion and fees for outside services, including professional fundraisers, and miscellaneous expenses;
• $1 out of every $19 was spent on veterinary services, operating supplies, and grants to other non-profits whose mission is to help protect animals;  leaving
• $1 unspent and allocated to the organization’s general fund.

The ASPCA is one of the most widely recognized non-profits focused on animal welfare in the country. Founded in 1866, the ASPCA has been around for more than 150 years.  As is the case with most non-profits, the issue isn’t whether the ASPCA does good things (they do) but  whether they could do more or better with the public support they receive (they could).

Expenses are best viewed by specific line item categories (i.e. compensation, office-related, travel and conferences, fees for services, grants, vet services, etc) to understand how the $19 monthly payments are spent:

Expenses by Specific Line Item Category

Specific expenses (as a percentage of revenue) were categorized as follows:

• 40%: Compensation
• 15%:  Office-Related Expenses
•  2%:  Travel and Conferences
• 16%:  Advertising/Promotion (does not include fundraiser fees)
• 12%:  Fees for Services (non-employee)
• 3%:  Miscellaneous and Other Expenses
• 2%:  Grants
• 4%:  Veterinary and Medical Services/Operating Supplies

As illustrated above, 94% of revenue was spent on expenses:  57% was spent on compensation, office-related expenses,, travel and conferences while 31% was spent on advertising and promotion, fees for services, and miscellaneous expenses, and 6% spent on grants and veterinary and medical/operating supplies, leaving 6% not spent and allocated to the general fund. So, every $19 per month was spent as follows:

• $11:  Compensation, Office-Related Expenses, Travel and Conferences
• $6:  Advertising, Promotion, Fees for Services, and Miscellaneous Expenses
• $1:  Veterinary and Medical Services/Operating Supplies and Grants
• $1:  Allocated to the General Fund

In short, the ASPCA allocated the same amount of funds to the general fund as the organization spent on veterinary and medical services and operating supplies, and grants.  The ASPCA spent more on advertising and promotion and fees for services and miscellaneous expenses than they did on veterinary and medical services and operating supplies and grants.