Ways You Can Donate to Sammie's Friends and Help Nevada County Animals:

Mail a Check or Donate Online
Automatic Donations
Matching Donations
Donate a Vehicle
Donate Securities
Donate a Life Insurance Policy
Contribute from Your IRA
Estate Planning
Sell on eBay
Go Shopping!
Use GoodSearch.com as your Internet search engine

All donations to Sammie's Friends go to the direct support of animals at the Nevada County Animal Shelter and community animals who have no other way to receive veterinary care.  As well, some animals that have been adopted from the shelter and later become ill or injured have been helped by Sammie's Friends.

In 2004, $15,000 was spent to care for ill or injured animals.  In 2005, over $31,000 was spent on care for ill or injured animals.  In 2006, $61,000 was spent on the care of ill or injured animals.  In 2007, over $104,000 was spent on ill or injured animals.  In 2008 $122,000 was spent on 444 animals, averaging $275 per animal.  And in 2009, $143,000 was spent helping 619 animals.

Care of this type has reduced the euthanasia rate since most of these animals become adoptable. (Most people do not want to adopt an animal if they are immediately faced with a large vet bill.)  In 1998, the euthanasia rate at the shelter was almost 70%. At the end of 2007, the rate was down to 3%, which held steady through 2009.  One of the three major reasons for this huge reduction in euthanasia is the medical care that funds from Sammie's Friends provides.  (The other major reasons are the Shelter's Volunteer Program and NewDawn Dog Rescue's web site.)

Thank you for your support.

Other ways to donate:

 -  Automatic Donations.  Have money taken automatically out of your paycheck or your bank or brokerage account and sent directly to Sammie's Friends.  This is really easy and adds up over a year's time.

 -  Matching Donations.  See if your employer offers a matching donation plan.  This doubles your donation!

-  Donate a Vehicle.  If you have a used car you no longer use or want, donating it to Sammie's Friends is fast and easy.  Save yourself the trouble of selling it AND help Nevada County animals.  The donation company will arrange to pick up your vehicle, handle the title transfer, and provide you with a tax-deductible donation receipt, all at no cost to you.  For more information or to donate a vehicle, please click here.

- Donate Securities.  Avoid capital gains taxes by transferring appreciated securities to Sammie's Friends.  You will also receive a tax deduction based on the value of the securities at the time of transfer.  Please see your tax advisor for more information.

- Donate a Life Insurance Policy.  If you own a life insurance policy you no longer need, you can donate the policy to Sammie's Friends.  Please see your life insurance agent for more information.

- Contribute from Your IRA.  Through December 31, 2009, the IRA Charitable Rollover tax incentive allows people age 70-1/2 or older to donate up to $100,000 a year from their IRAs to public charities without paying income tax on the donated amount.  Congress may pass an extension of this rule for 2010.  This is particularly helpful to people who do not itemize their tax deductions.  Funds donated count toward the annual required distribution from your IRA.  Please consult your tax advisor for more information.

 -  Estate Planning.  Include Sammie's Friends in your will, trust, life insurance policy or other planned gift.  U.S. tax laws generally allow unlimited amounts to be left for charitable purposes without being subject to estate or gift tax.  Any bequest will be greatly appreciated.

 -  Sell on eBay.  Now you can automatically donate all or part of the sales price of your eBay items directly to Sammie's Friends.  For more information, please click here.

 -  Go Shopping!

NEW!   GoodShop.com Raise money for Sammie's Friends by going to www.GoodShop.com and buying online from your favorite retailers, including Amazon, PetSmart, Staples, Target, and more.  The catch?  There is none!  Over 1000 online stores have agreed to donate a percentage of your purchases as long as you enter their web site through GoodShop.com. Remember, you must go first to www.Goodshop.com.  Make sure to enter Sammie's Friends in the box under "Who Do You Support?" At the top of the page there is a box where you can search for stores.  There is also a drop-down menu that lists all the stores participating in this program.  Search for or select a store from the list, and you will be taken to a page that shows what percentage of your purchase that store will donate to Sammie's Friends. Then (VERY IMPORTANT) click on the button that says "GoodShop This Store."  You will be taken to the store's regular web site where you can shop as usual.  But because you entered the store's site through GoodShop.com, a certain percentage of your purchase will automatically be sent to Sammie's Friends. What could be simpler?  There is absolutely no cost to you, yet taking this one extra step while shopping online will generate a donation to Sammie's Friends.  Even if one individual donation isn't that big, lots of donations from lots of people really add up over time, and will allow Sammie's Friends to help even more Nevada County animals. More information about GoodShop.com and GoodSearch.com   NEW!   GoodSearch.com Search Engine Another way you can raise money for Sammie's Friends at absolutely no cost to you is to use GoodSearch.com as your search engine.  This is the same outfit as GoodShop.com (see above), but here you generate donations by Internet searches instead of Internet shopping. When you need to conduct an Internet search, instead of using Google or Yahoo, go to www.GoodSearch.com .  (GoodSearch is actually powered by Yahoo, so it produces high-quality search results.)  Make sure to enter Sammie's Friends in the box under "Who Do You Support?" Now use the search box just like you normally conduct an Internet search.  Except in this case, half of the revenues that advertisers pay to GoodSearch.com will be donated to Sammie's Friends.  Just like with GoodShop.com, even if one individual donation is small, lots of donations from lots of people really add up over time, and will allow Sammie's Friends to help even more Nevada County animals. More information about GoodShop.com and GoodSearch.com   The Great Grocery Benefit If you shop at SPD, this program is for you.  It is the easiest thing in the world to do.  Pick up a Great Grocery Benefit booklet at the Nevada County Animal Shelter, or e-mail Sammie's Friends with your name and address, and booklet will be sent to you. You take this booklet to SPD, and when you shop you give them one coupon from the booklet, and 3% of whatever amount you purchased will be donated to Sammie's Friends.  Right now, this comes to about $75/month, but the more people who use the booklets, the more it will benefit the animals.  eScrip Register your credit card, ATM/debit card, or grocery loyalty card online.  Participating merchants will donate a percentage of your purchase whenever you buy something from them using your registered card.  For more information, please visit eScrip.com.  (Please note that Safeway, the only participating Nevada County supermarket, donates only to school groups.  Their Club Card cannot be used to support Sammie's Friends.) eBay Buy items on eBay from sellers who have agreed to donate all or part of the sale price to Sammie's Friends.  To find eBay items that qualify, please click here.  (To find out how you can help Sammie's Friends by selling on eBay, please click here.)