Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Apr 1989.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
90 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
3 people listed on the 990; $22K paid to officers and key staff (Part VII, Section A).
Mary K Birkholz’s $32K as Pres./Dir. is at the 4th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1137 $1–10M animals nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary K Birkholz | $32,000 | $32,000 | $31,299 | $30,800 | $24,050 | $21,800 |
| Kristen Townsend | $17,493 | — | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Caring for Creatures Foundation executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo
- Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II1 listed
Programs and updates
Caring for Creatures Foundation is an animal-related nonprofit based in Palmyra, VA, formed in 1987.
Questions for Caring for Creatures Foundation
Your first name shows with your question. Caring for Creatures Foundation answers here, for everyone.
Animal Care
See Attached Schedule
Form 990 Part III, line 4, FY2020. The organization’s own words, as filed with the IRS. Find it at the IRS (EIN 54-1463336) · Dispute this lineFunders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $61K | $135K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $145K | $143K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $207K | $279K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $115K | $151K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $92K | $128K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of officers and key staff (Part IX, line 5)Ln 5 | $22K | $9K | $5K | $8K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $211K | $197K | $12K | $2K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $1K | $1K | $0 | $0 |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $18K | $17K | $896 | $121 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $790 | $0 | $790 | $0 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $7K | $6K | $520 | $0 |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $585 | $45 | $0 | $540 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $8K | $5K | $3K | $413 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $34K | $34K | $0 | $0 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $16K | $8K | $8K | $0 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $7K | $5K | $2K | $0 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $97K | $97K | $0 | $0 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $7K | $6K | $0 | $2K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $428K | $384K | $32K | $12K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS May 13, 2026 | $1.1M | $715K | $414K | $1.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Aug 22, 2025 | $703K | $687K | $15K | $617K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 14, 2024 | $1.2M | $645K | $579K | $481K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Nov 13, 2023 | $460K | $499K | −$39K | $74K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Nov 15, 2022 | $503K | $501K | $3K | $131K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Oct 8, 2021 | $464K | $428K | $36K | $128K | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990
Part I · Summary $464,188 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 1 of 3 board members independent, 4 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $464,188 across 5 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $428,020 across 13 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $278,790 assets, 13 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $128,091 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit
Names, privacy, and removal requests More
The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.
Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.
Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.
If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.
Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.
If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.