How the ASPCA Spends Revenue (2024)

If you donated $100 to the ASPCA in 2024 and want to know how your donation was spent, know:

• $49 went to pay staff, office-related expenses, travel and conferences.
• $26 went to pay advertising and promotion and fees for outside services, including professional fundraisers.
• $8 out of every $100 was spent on veterinary services, operating supplies, and grants to other non-profits whose mission is to help protect animals.
• $4 out of every $100 was spent on miscellaneous expenses leaving $13 unspent and allocated to the organization’s general fund (which had $640 million at year-end).

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).

In the most general terms, the ASPCA raises about $450 million annually and has $640 million in net assets. The organization has about 1,400 employees and counts compensation for these employees ($153 million) as its single largest expense.

The Form 990 (2024) submitted to the IRS reports the ASPCA raised $446 million (compared to $379 million in 2023, $376 million in 2022 and $390 million in 2021), most of which ($395 million or 89%) came from contributions, gifts, and grants.

Expenses totaled $388 million (including $8 million in depreciation) leaving $58 million added to the general fund that had a year-end balance of $640 million (compared to $553 million in 2023) primarily because of $27 million in unrealized gains on investments, and not spending all the revenue raised in 2024.

Expenses can be viewed two ways:  by broad general category (i.e. grants, program services, management and general expenses, and fundraising) or by specific line item categories (i.e. compensation, office-related, travel and conferences, fees for services, grants, etc). Each is beneficial with the latter approach providing more detail on how revenue was spent.

Expenses by Broad General Category

The $388 million (87% of revenue) in expenses were categorized as follows:

• $266 million (60% of revenue):  Program Services
• $ 80  million (18% of revenue):  Fundraising
• $ 19  million (4% of revenue):  Management and General Expenses
• $ 23  million (5% of revenue):  Grants

As illustrated above, program services used 60% of revenue while fundraising, management, and general expenses used 22% of revenue. Grants – $23 million or just 5% of revenue – were to domestic animal welfare organizations. The ASPCA made  grants larger than $5,000 to 531 non-profit 501 (c) (3)’s and  7 to other organizations. In total, the ASPCA spent $87 out of every $100 on expenses with the remaining 13% allocated to the general fund.

Most grants were to other animal organizations who provide spay/neuter services, live release services, equine services, relocation services, anti-cruelty campaigns. The 10 largest grant recipients were:

• $1,065,000:  Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
• $  949,000:  Animal Care Centers of NYC
• $  918,000:  Nebraska Humane Society
• $  665,000:  Emancipet
• $  467,087:  Animal Rescue Coalition
• $  420,000:  Gulf Coast Humane Society
• $  400,000:  Vet Care Coalition
• $  337,000:  Friends of the Shelter
• $  325,000:  Dogs Playing for Life
• $  206,000:  San Diego Humane Society

Expenses by Specific Line Item Category

The $388 million in expenses (87% of revenue) were categorized as follows:

• $153 million (34% of revenue): Compensation
• $ 71  million (16% of revenue):  Advertising/Promotion (does not include fundraiser fees)
• $ 57  million (13% of revenue):  Office-Related Expenses
• $ 43  million (10% of revenue):  Fees for Services (non-employee)
• $ 15  million (3% of revenue):  Veterinary and Medical Services/Operating Supplies
• $ 19  million (4% of revenue):  Miscellaneous and Other Expenses
• $ 23 million (5% of revenue):  Grants
• $ 7 million (2% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences

Compensation is the largest expense for the ASPCA with $153 million in compensation provided to 1,399 employees, making the average compensation $109,000.  The most highly compensated employee was the President and CEO, Matt Bershadker who received $1,226,402.

Advertising and Promotion is the second largest expense at $71 million (and does not include fees paid to professional fundraisers). Office-related exposes totaled $57 million.  $43 million was spent on fees for services with 133 organizations receiving more than $100,000 in compensation.  The five largest recipients were reported to be:

• $34 million:  Eagle-Com, Inc, of Toronto, Canada for “donor acquisition”
• $26 million:  Laughlin Constable, Inc, of Milwaukee, WI for “donor acquisition”
• $23 million:  Andron Construction Corp, of Golden Bridge, NY for construction
• $16 million:  Ascenta Group, of NY, NY for “donor engagement”
• $ 8 million:  Goggle, of San Francisco, CA for  “donor acquisition”

As illustrated above, the ASPCA spent $84 million (or 19% of total revenue) on “donor acquisition” or “donor engagement”  (which are fundraising expenses) with the cost of the 5 most highly compensated independent organizations exceeding total fundraising expenses ($80 million) reported on the Form 990 which indicates total fundraising expenses are underreported on the Form 990.

Using the above information, every $100 in revenue was spent as follows:

$100:  Revenue

-$ 34:  Compensation

-$ 16:  Advertising and Promotion

-$ 13:  Office-Related Expenses

-$ 10:  Fees for Services

-$  2:  Travel and Conferences

-$  4:  Miscellaneous Expenses

-$ 79:  Subtotal: Compensation, Advertising, Office, Fees for Services, Travel and Misc

  $ 21:  Revenue Remaining

-$  5:  Grants

-$  3:  Veterinary Services and Operating Supplies

-$  8: Subtotal:  Grants and Veterinary Services and Operating Supplies

 $  13:  Revenue Remaining:  To General Fund

As illustrated above, $63 out of every $100 was used to compensate employees, pay office-related expenses, travel and conferences.  An additional $16 was used to pay for advertising and promotion and fees for outside services.  $8 out of every $100 went towards grants and veterinary services and operating supplies.  The ASPCA spent more on advertising and promotion ($16 out of every $100) than on grants, veterinary services, and operating supplies ($8 out of every $100). And, the ASPCA in 2024 spent less on grants/veterinary services and operating supplies ($38 million) than they put ($58 million) in the general fund (which already had more than $550 million in net assets).

A Note on Fundraisers

The ASPCA raises funds by mail, e-mail, internet, and phone solicitations. In addition, the organization also uses in-person solicitation, solicits for grants (non-gov’t and gov’t), and holds special fundraising events. The 5 highest paid independent contractors in 2024 were reported to be:

• SD&A Teleservices raised $7.5 million, retained $1.2 million, netting the ASPCA $6.3 million
• Ascenta Group raised $14 million, was paid $16 million, costing the ASPCA $2 million
• New Canvassing Experience raised $1.7 million and was paid $1.7 million, netting the ASPCA $0
• Knewsales Group, Inc. raised $3.5 million, was paid $3.8 million, costing the ASPCA $300,000
• 3Sixty, of Brooklyn NY raised $3.2 million, was paid $3.7 million, costing the ASPCA $500,000

In summary, the four (4) most highly compensated fundraisers raised $30 million but were compensated $27 million, netting the ASPCA $3 million.

If you want your donation to go further, DO NOT respond to telemarketers; give directly to an organization, but you may also want to ask yourself if the ASPCA is spending enough on animal welfare?

In addition, it is important to note the ASPCA has $640 million in net assets yet the organization spent only $38 million on veterinary services, medical supplies, and grants in 2024.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2024) for the ASPCA, click here.