Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services

What Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services does

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services (FoBACS), legally a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 45-3035418), is a volunteer-run support organization that raises money and volunteers for Berkeley Animal Care Services (BACS), the open-admission municipal animal shelter at 1 Bolivar Drive, Berkeley, CA, which serves Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont. FoBACS does not run the shelter itself; it funds programs the municipal budget does not fully cover, including medical care, enrichment and training, humane education, adoption support, and special projects. Its board (President Dave Groves, Treasurer Daro Quiring, Secretary Janis Sowder, and members Chris Smith, Sonia Mahir, Bonnie Testa, Dylan Wooters, and Allison Landa) is volunteer-only, and roughly 426 hours of volunteer labor are contributed per week.

The organization has no proprietary technology. Its digital infrastructure is composed entirely of third-party SaaS: Squarespace for the website, LGL Forms for donations and newsletter signups, Better Impact for volunteer management, Amazon and Chewy wishlists for in-kind giving, and Cardonation Services for vehicle donations. There is no app, no API, no SDK, and no platform business; the "product" is the fundraising and volunteer program that flows into the shelter.

Revenue is generated through individual cash donations (website and LGL Forms), the $350/year Kennel/Habitat Sponsorship with custom placard recognition, vehicle donations, and in-kind wishlist contributions. Adoption fees ($125 dogs, $100 cats, $25 other animals) are set and collected by the municipal shelter, not by FoBACS. Distribution is entirely local and physically anchored to the single BACS shelter, with digital outreach through Instagram, TikTok, Nextdoor, Craigslist, 24PetConnect, and PawBoost supplementing in-person adoption traffic. The shelter is temporarily closed following a fire on 7/6/2026, with recovery fundraising currently active.

Name

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services

Legal name

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services

Website

https://friendsofbacs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit that funds medical care, enrichment, training, and adoption programs for Berkeley Animal Care Services, the municipal animal shelter serving Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Animal Welfare and Shelter Support Services

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Animal Shelters & Adoption Services (BPAGAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Animal Shelters & Rescue Operations (AFAEALAB), Lost & Found, Reunification & Microchipping Programs (BPAGAIAL)

Keywords

• Animal shelter support
• Nonprofit fundraising
• Animal adoption services
• Volunteer programs
• Kennel sponsorship

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Individual Monetary Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals via the organization's website. Donations support life-saving medical care, foster family supplies, resources for new adopters, and toys and treats for shelter animals.
2. Vehicle Donations: Car donation program allowing donors to contribute vehicles, processed through a third-party car donation service.
3. Kennel Sponsorship: Annual contribution of $350 sponsors a dog kennel or cat habitat for one year. Includes custom placard recognition displayed on the kennel. Supports essential shelter programs including training, enrichment, equipment, and medical care.
4. In-Kind Donations (Wishlist Items): Donations of essential items including dog/cat beds, towels, blankets, pet food, toys, treats, and specialized supplies. Accepted via drop-off or shipment to the shelter, and through Amazon and Chewy wishlists.
5. Volunteer Services: Volunteers contribute time for fundraising activities, social media content creation, newsletter writing, event support, and animal photography. These services support organizational capacity without direct revenue generation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

FoBACS is a volunteer-run nonprofit that funds medical care, enrichment programs, training, equipment, and adoption support for animals at Berkeley Animal Care Services, the municipal open-admission shelter serving Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont. The organization raises funds through individual donations, kennel sponsorships, in-kind wishlist items, and vehicle donations, and coordinates volunteer support contributing approximately 426 hours weekly to shelter operations.

Product overview

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services (FoBACS) is a nonprofit organization that does not offer a technology product or platform. Rather, it provides animal sheltering services, including adoptable animals (dogs, cats, and small companion animals), a foster program for animals needing extra support, a kennel sponsorship program, and various volunteer and donation opportunities. Its online presence consists of a nonprofit website that provides information about shelter operations, adoption processes, lost and found pet resources, and community support options. The organization does not have a software product, platform, or module-based architecture—it is a service-oriented nonprofit that uses third-party platforms (Squarespace for website hosting, LGL Forms for donations/newsletter, Better Impact for volunteer management) to operate its programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dog Adoption Support Facilitates adoption of dogs housed at Berkeley Animal Care Services municipal shelter. Adoption fees of $125 per dog are set by the municipal shelter, not FoBACS. Supports the adoption process for dogs in the Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont service area.
• Cat Adoption Support Facilitates adoption of cats housed at Berkeley Animal Care Services municipal shelter. Adoption fees of $100 per cat are set by the municipal shelter, not FoBACS. Supports the adoption process for cats in the Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont service area.
• Small Animal Adoption Support Facilitates adoption of small companion animals (small mammals, etc.) housed at Berkeley Animal Care Services municipal shelter. Adoption fees of $25 per animal are set by the municipal shelter, not FoBACS.
• Kennel/Habitat Sponsorship Program Annual sponsorship of a dog kennel or cat habitat at $350 per year. Includes a custom commemorative placard displayed on the kennel or habitat, allowing sponsors to honor people, pets, or organizations. Funds support training, enrichment, equipment, and medical care for shelter animals.
• Individual Monetary Donations Tax-deductible donations from individuals via the organization's website. Donations support life-saving medical care, foster family supplies, resources for new adopters, and toys and treats for shelter animals.
• Vehicle Donation Program Allows donors to contribute vehicles in support of the shelter, processed through a third-party car donation service (Cardonation Services).
• In-Kind Wishlist Donations Donations of essential items including dog/cat beds, towels, blankets, pet food, toys, treats, and specialized supplies. Accepted via drop-off or shipment to the shelter, and through Amazon and Chewy wishlists.
• Foster Program Foster program for animals needing extra support beyond the shelter environment. Foster families provide temporary care to improve animal welfare and adoption readiness.

Quantifiable outcome

• Volunteers contribute approximately 426 hours of service weekly to support shelter animals and programs
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Maddie's Fund: Maddie's Fund is the national grantmaking foundation that awarded BACS its Lifesaving Award and funds community shelter lifesaving programs. It is a directly relevant funder/peer given its grantmaking focus on shelter medicine, adoption, and live-release outcomes.
• Best Friends Animal Society: Best Friends operates a national no-kill sheltering and adoption network and partners with municipal shelters to drive down euthanasia rates. Its focus on live-release outcomes and shelter enrichment programming aligns directly with FoBACS's mission in Berkeley.
• ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals): The ASPCA is a national animal welfare nonprofit supporting sheltering, adoption, and medical care programs. While it operates at a much larger scale nationally, it shares FoBACS's mission of funding veterinary care, adoption services, and humane education through charitable donations.
• Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): HSUS is a large national animal welfare nonprofit funding shelter rescue, adoption, and rescue operations across the U.S. Comparable to FoBACS in mission scope (animal welfare, adoption, shelter support) but operating at national scale.
• PetSmart Charities: PetSmart Charities funds adoptions and shelter support programs nationwide, including grants to municipal shelters. Its grantmaking and adoption-promotion model overlaps with FoBACS's role in underwriting BACS's adoption and medical programs.

Direct peers

• Friends of Animal Care & Control (Austin) / similar shelter-support nonprofits: Friends of ACC (Austin) is a volunteer-run nonprofit that supports its municipal animal shelter through fundraising, foster, and enrichment programming — the same role FoBACS plays for BACS. It is the closest peer in terms of structure and operating model.

Regional players

• Berkeley Humane (formerly Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society): Berkeley Humane is a local animal welfare nonprofit in the same Berkeley/East Bay service area providing adoption, veterinary, and humane education services. Although it operates its own shelter rather than supporting BACS, it competes for the same pool of Bay Area donors and adopters.
• Montreal SPCA: Montreal SPCA is a shelter and animal welfare nonprofit where FoBACS's president previously worked. It operates an animal shelter with adoption, veterinary, and humane-education services in Quebec, making it a structurally similar nonprofit shelter operator operating in Canada.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services