Applying for Accreditation/Grants

Accreditation and Verification

If you represent a sanctuary which would like to apply for accreditation, please contact Robin Mason, the Accreditation Manager at . Robin will help you determine if your organization should apply to become a  GFAS Accredited Sanctuary OR a GFAS Verified Sanctuary. Both Accredited and Verified Sanctuaries provide humane and responsible care of the animals, as confirmed by an onsite visit. A “verified” status as opposed to an “accredited” status often reflects constrictions imposed by financial resources or the not-yet-fully-evolved growth of a newer sanctuary.

The Process for Accreditation and Verification

Your organization will complete an application form and complete a self-assessment, using GFAS criteria. We verify this self-assessment through required responses and attachments, interviews, and a site visit. As part of the process, we support your sanctuary in establishing three-year goals.

  GFAS Accredited Sanctuary Criteria and Forms  
  GFAS Verified Sanctuary Criteria and Forms 

If you don’t meet the criteria, we don’t publish your name, and we help you with resources needed to successfully complete the process.

After approval, we publish the sanctuary name as a GFAS Accredited Sanctuary, or a GFAS Verified Sanctuary. Annually we ask for a brief update. At the three-year mark, we ask for a more complete update and do another site visit. Your sanctuary is asked to cover the direct average site visit costs. New goals are established for the next three-year mark.

Cost: There is no charge for the initial site visit, nor any annual dues. Site visits are required every three years, and at the three year mark, sanctuaries are asked to cover the direct average cost for a site visit. Site visits are required for both GFAS Verified Sanctuaries and GFAS Accredited Sanctuaries.

Benefits of Becoming a GFAS Accredited Sanctuary or Verified Sanctuary:

• The entire field benefits from having true sanctuaries recognized as such. The public needs and appreciates the help in knowing which facilities are legitimate, and providing humane and responsible care for the animals.
• Donors, funders, and legislators are reassured by this process.

Accreditation in particular offers these benefits:

• The self-examination process in itself results in positive growth.
• For well-established sanctuaries, the accreditation process allows for the opportunity to relatively quickly confirm that all is in order, while sometimes spotting something that inadvertently has been overlooked for years. (Yikes! Do we really NOT have a fire alarm in the barn?)
• For newer sanctuaries, the accreditation process allows for some coaching and mentoring help on areas that perhaps your facility is just now ready to tackle, such as a grievance policy, a strategic plan, or a succession plan. The accreditation process is not a pass/fail test, but rather a partnership in which GFAS works with your organization to help you achieve legitimate accreditation.
• Funders can handle organizations not being perfect (and of course no organization is!). Grant makers and donors have great faith in an in-depth look at your organization, confirmed by an outside agency, including a site visit. Your three-year goals, also verified by an outside agency as prudent next steps, help donors and grant makers know that their dollars are going to fund legitimate needs that will help take your sanctuary to the next level, regardless of your current level of achievement. (Your accreditation information is kept confidential by us, but we are happy to share it in confidence with funders and donors at your request.)
• Recognition by a credible source is invaluable. The readiness for outside confirmation signals increasing confidence and professionalism within individual organizations and within the field.
• Respect is gained not only from donors and funders, but also legislators, potential adopters (for farmed animals and others as outlined in the GFAS criteria), law enforcement, media, and the larger animal protection community.
• Via accreditation, opportunities for you to provide leadership as a GFAS mentor arise, as well as access to peer-mentors as your organization grows.
• It is a process for uniting to facilitate continuous improvement.
• Accreditation for the field says that the work of sanctuaries/rescues is important enough and demanding enough in terms of knowledge and skills to merit establishment of performance criteria, qualifications, and benchmarks for quality.
• Access to GFAS resources, such as our free webinars, is guaranteed with accreditation. Look for more resources soon.

Compliance grants

The ability of GFAS to offer compliance grant funding depends upon donors and foundations generously providing GFAS with funding for this specific purpose. At this time we have some limited compliance funding for equine facilities that are currently in the process of accreditation with GFAS.

In addition, at this time, regardless of the species in residence, GFAS is able to offer the accreditation process (which includes some coaching aid as needed), site visits, the setting of three year goals, and the first three years of accreditation membership at no charge to sanctuaries.

We also continue to offer free monthly webinars.