Rescue Me

What Rescue Me does

Rescue Me is a 501c3 nonprofit animal adoption platform operated under World Organization (EIN 61-1577084) since 1999. Founded by Jeff Gold, the organization runs a free, web-based marketplace that connects pet adopters with independent rescue groups, animal shelters, and individuals rehoming pets. The platform serves over 2 million registered users — the vast majority in the USA — and has facilitated more than 1.4 million animal adoptions across dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, farm animals, small mammals, reptiles, and wildlife.

The core product is a website at rescueme.org backed by three major data centers, complemented by over 350 breed-specific dog subdomains and 50+ cat subdomains (e.g., dog.rescueme.org), an email-based Rescue Alerts module, and an Advice Portal. Operational assets also include a 135-acre physical center for special needs animals and a separate donation-processing system supporting credit cards and PayPal, with breed-specific and animal-type donation targeting.

Revenue derives entirely from donations — both one-time tiers ($50–$500+) and recurring monthly gifts ($10–$100/month) — which fund infrastructure, programmers, and support vendors. Distribution is primarily organic, driven by SEO on indexed breed-specific pages, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and a success-stories blog. The go-to-market is essentially self-serve: shelters and individuals post animals free of charge, and adopters search by breed, location, and animal type. The organization holds US trademark registrations on the Rescue Me name and paw logo.

Name

Rescue Me

Legal name

World Organization

Website

https://rescueme.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rescue Me is a 501c3 nonprofit online marketplace founded in 1999 that connects pet adopters with independent rescue groups, shelters, and individuals rehoming pets, serving 2 million-plus registered users through free breed-specific listings and operating a 135-acre special-needs animal facility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Adoption Services

NAICS

Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (812910)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Animal Shelters & Adoption Services (BPAGAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Foster & Volunteer Network Programs (BPAGAIAF)

Keywords

• Pet adoption services
• Animal rescue marketplace
• Pet rehoming platform
• Breed-specific rescue pages
• Nonprofit donation processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Donations: Rescue Me is a 501c3 public charity that generates revenue through donations. EIN 61-1577084. Donations support infrastructure maintenance at three major data centers, programmers, and support companies facilitating operations.
2. Donation Processing: The vast majority of donations go to maintaining Rescue Me's infrastructure at its three major data centers, as well as to programmers and support companies who facilitate its operation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Rescue Me operates a free online pet adoption marketplace that connects shelters, rescue groups, and individuals rehoming pets with potential adopters across dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, farm animals, small mammals, reptiles, and wildlife. The platform enables free posting for organizations and individuals and free searching for adopters, supported by a donation processing system that funds the platform's infrastructure across three major data centers.

Product overview

Rescue Me! operates as a comprehensive pet adoption platform that connects animals in need with potential adopters through a network of breed-specific websites. The core offering is the animal adoption marketplace at rescueme.org, which enables shelters and individuals to post animals for adoption free of charge across multiple animal categories (dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, farm animals, small mammals, reptiles, wildlife, and wild birds). The platform includes a donation processing system that supports breed-specific and animal-type donations with multiple payment options. Additional modules include Rescue Alerts for email notifications when matching animals are posted, and an Advice Portal providing pet care guidance. The platform serves millions of pages monthly to hundreds of thousands of users and has facilitated over 1.4 million animal adoptions, with dedicated subdomains for over 350 dog breeds and 50+ cat breeds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rescue Me! Animal Adoption Platform A comprehensive online pet adoption marketplace that connects animals in need (dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, farm animals, small mammals, reptiles, wildlife) with potential adopters. Shelters, rescue groups, and individuals can post animals for adoption free of charge, and adopters can search by breed, animal type, and location (state or country). The platform has facilitated over 1.4 million adoptions.
• Donation Processing System A donation platform that allows individuals to contribute funds to support animal rescue operations, with donations directed to specific animal types (dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, farm animals, small mammals, reptiles, birds, wildlife) or specific breeds. Supports one-time and recurring monthly donations, offers printable acknowledgment cards or email gifts, and integrates multiple payment methods including credit/debit cards and PayPal.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Rescue Groups and Animal ShelterscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThousands of independent rescue groups and animal shelters depend on Rescue Me for many or most of their adoptions. The platform enables these partners to post animals for free and reach millions of potential adopters.
• World OrganizationcoreOthersRescue Me is a project of World Organization (WO), a 501c3 public charity. WO owns and operates the Rescue Me website.
• OLALminorGTM or Marketing PartnerOLAL released the benefit single 'Spot' in 3D Audio to help Rescue Me! as part of their Rescue Me Theme Song collaboration.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Petfinder: Petfinder is the largest online pet adoption marketplace in North America, now operated by PetSmart. It connects shelters, rescue groups, and adopters using a similar two-sided marketplace model to Rescue Me, with breed and location filtering. It is the most direct competitive analog.
• Adopt-a-Pet: Adopt-a-Pet is a leading North American non-profit pet adoption platform that lists adoptable dogs, cats, and other animals from shelters and rescue groups. It shares Rescue Me's core adoption-marketplace functionality and partner base of shelters/rescues posting for free.

Regional players

• Dogs Trust: Dogs Trust is the largest dog welfare charity in the UK, operating rehoming centers and an online adoption portal comparable in mission to Rescue Me. It does not directly compete in Rescue Me's primary U.S. market but represents the U.K. analogue of a donor-funded rescue organization.
• Battersea Dogs & Cats Home: Battersea is a major London-based dog and cat rescue charity that rehomes animals and operates a public-facing adoption platform similar to Rescue Me. It is comparable on mission and donor-funded model but operates primarily in the U.K. market.

Broad incumbents

• Best Friends Animal Society: Best Friends Animal Society operates the largest no-kill sanctuary in the U.S. and runs a national adoption/adoption-events program. It shares Rescue Me's adoption mission and donor-funded model, and its sanctuary operations parallel Rescue Me's special-needs facility.
• ASPCA: The ASPCA is one of the largest U.S. animal welfare nonprofits, operating shelters, advocacy, and a national adoption platform. It overlaps with Rescue Me across adoption services and donor-funded animal welfare, but operates at vastly larger scale and broader scope.
• The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): HSUS is a major U.S. animal welfare nonprofit providing rescue, advocacy, and shelter services. While it focuses on policy and rescue operations rather than an adoption marketplace like Rescue Me, it is highly comparable as a donor-supported animal welfare organization.
• Petco Love (formerly Petco Foundation): Petco Love is the corporate-affiliated animal welfare foundation of Petco, funding and operating national adoption programs. It supports shelter and rescue partners similar to Rescue Me, and has substantially larger financial backing through Petco.
• PetSmart Charities: PetSmart Charities is the corporate-affiliated foundation of PetSmart and operates (alongside Petfinder) one of the largest U.S. pet adoption platforms. It is comparable to Rescue Me in the adoption-marketplace category but with dramatically larger capital and parent-company resources.

Emerging players

• PetHarbor: PetHarbor is a smaller online adoption platform aggregating shelter listings across the U.S. It competes with Rescue Me in breed/location-based adoption search but operates with materially less brand recognition and user base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RescueMeOrg
• Facebookfacebook.com/rescueme.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/humane-society-of-the-ochocos

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Rescue Me