How does The Rufus Relief Fund work?

Purpose
Our goal is to provide financial assistance to individuals and families experiencing true financial hardship. To ensure donations are used responsibly and fairly, we require applicants to provide documentation that verifies need.

Eligibility
Applicants must:

• Demonstrate financial need.
• Be the primary caregiver of the pet(s) in question.
• Reside within the areas our nonprofit serves (if applicable).
• Not have received assistance from us within the past 24 months.
   

Required Documentation
To assess financial hardship, we may request:

• Recent bank statements (last 60 days)
• Proof of income (e.g., pay stubs, unemployment benefits, Social Security)
• Recent tax returns (if available)
• Documentation of the pet’s medical needs and estimated costs from your veterinarian
   

All information provided will be treated confidentially and used solely for the purpose of determining financial eligibility.

Privacy & Data Protection
We take your privacy seriously. All submitted documents are stored securely and will not be shared outside of our organization. Documents are retained only as long as needed for review, after which they are securely deleted or destroyed.

Application Review
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Due to limited funding, not all applications can be approved. Priority is given to individuals with:

• Urgent, life-threatening pet needs
• No access to other financial resources
• A demonstrated history of responsible pet ownership
   

We reserve the right to decline applications if we believe the applicant has access to other financial means or if we cannot verify hardship.

Questions?
Please contact help@rufusrelieffund.org if you need help completing your application or have questions about the documentation.

We are a small non-ptofit with limited funds, and truly only can help those truly in financial need. We have a strict process to approve applicants, and there is no guarantee that you will be approved. Please understand we wish we could help everyone!

We can only help as much as people's hearts and wallets are big....so please do spread the word about The Rufus Relief Fund! All donations are 100% tax deductible as we are a 501C3 charity organization.