Zoetis Foundation Inc.

Zoetis Foundation Inc. is the corporate foundation of animal-health company Zoetis Inc., created in 2021, and it operates on a preselected/invitation model rather than an open-application one — its own website states plainly that it 'is not soliciting grant proposals at this time,' and the underlying grants database flags the funder as preselected_only. Cold LOIs are unlikely to succeed here. The grantee roster (80 grants totaling $19.68M in the DB sample, averaging $245,941 per grant) is dominated by long-standing, name-brand veterinary-sector institutions: the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) alone has received $6.18M across 10 grants — clearly a strategic, multi-year, renewing partner rather than a one-time grantee — followed by the American Online Giving Foundation's employee matching-gifts vehicle ($1.25M/3 grants), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($1.2M/3), and the American Veterinary Medical Foundation ($1.0M/3). Many grantees show 3-10 separate grants each, a pattern consistent with annual renewal cycles once a relationship is established rather than single-instance gifts. For first-time applicants, there are two realistic front doors rather than a direct Foundation application: (1) named partner scholarship and relief programs — AVMF, AASVF, AABP, AAEP Foundation for the Horse, and the Equine Network Foundation — which administer Zoetis-funded scholarships and debt-relief grants on the Foundation's behalf, so eligible individuals or member organizations should apply through those partners' own portals; and (2) the Adopt a Pet grant portal, which is a genuinely open channel for animal-welfare shelters and rescues seeking Zoetis product/program support for pre-adoption cat and dog care. Organizations outside these channels should focus on building institutional credibility in the veterinary or livestock-agriculture sector and pursuing warm introductions to Zoetis corporate affairs/foundation staff — President Jeannette Astorga, Treasurer Patrick Gilligan, and Secretary Rachel Witriol — since none of the three officers draw compensation from the Foundation, indicating this is run as a lean, corporate-embedded giving vehicle rather than a staffed grantmaking shop. International NGOs doing livestock-capacity or veterinary-workforce work in Africa, Brazil, and (as of 2026) Canada, Japan, Mexico, and India are increasingly viable targets as the Foundation expands its geographic footprint.

The Foundation is funded almost entirely by irregular, large capital contributions from parent Zoetis Inc. rather than steady investment income: contributions received were $25,000,000 in 2021 (its founding/funding year), $0 in 2022, and $10,000,000 in 2023, with 2024 contribution data not reported. Grants paid have scaled up sharply and steadily as the Foundation has drawn down its endowment: $0 in 2020, $932,278 in 2021, $5,698,044 in 2022, and $8,279,201 in 2023 — total giving (which includes non-grant program costs) followed the same trajectory at $0, $1,257,076, $6,225,291, and $8,859,673 respectively. Total assets peaked at $28,042,925 in 2021 and have since fallen to $11,177,791 by 2024, consistent with the Foundation's own public claim of $35 million cumulatively distributed from 2021 through 2025 — meaning the Foundation is actively spending down rather than building a growing permanent endowment. The Foundation's own disclosed typical grant size is a median of $118,639 and an average of $233,070, with a disclosed range of $25,000 to $670,000. The broader 80-grant sample in the database (avg $245,941/grant, $19.68M total) is skewed by a handful of very large institutional partners: the top grantee (AAVMC) alone represents 31% of total sampled dollars, and the top five recipients combined (AAVMC, American Online Giving Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Dr. Vernard Hodges/Vet for a Day, AVMF) account for roughly 56% of the $19.68M sampled. By program pillar, Education is clearly dominant — AAVMC, AVMF, AAEP Foundation for the Horse, AABP, university scholarship programs, and debt-relief grants collectively represent well over half of total grant dollars, reflecting the Foundation's flagship veterinary-scholarship commitments (now $2.25M/year through AVMF alone as of 2026). Well-being is a smaller but active pillar (Shanti Project's Veterinary Mental Health Initiative $778,000/3 grants, Vetlife $150,000, Not One More Vet $127,216). Livelihoods/international livestock-capacity grants concentrate in Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa (Instituto Biosistêmico $700,000, Livestock Industry Foundation for Africa $406,146, Uganda Crane Creameries $429,990). Geographically by grantee headquarters, DC leads with 25 of 80 grants (reflecting national association HQs), followed by CA (8), with single digits spread across IA, GA, IL, IN, KY, NY, DE, and VA — this reflects where partner organizations are based, not where program beneficiaries are located, since the Foundation's actual impact footprint spans 71 countries.

The database groups Zoetis Foundation with five similarly small-asset (~$11.2M) Philanthropy & Grantmaking foundations, though none share its veterinary/animal-health specialization — most are generalist or family/corporate matching vehicles with far less public grantmaking activity.

Despite near-identical asset bases (all cluster within roughly $3,000 of $11.18M, an artifact of how this peer set was matched on size), Zoetis Foundation stands apart operationally: it has a much higher visible annual payout relative to assets ($8.86M in giving against $11.18M in assets in the most recent comparable years — a payout rate far above the ~5% typical of most private foundations, reflecting active endowment spend-down), a public five-year impact track record ($35M/118 initiatives/71 countries), and a sector-specific mission tied directly to its parent company's business (animal health) rather than general-purpose or purely geographic giving. Applicants should not expect Zoetis Foundation to behave like a typical small family foundation open to broad local requests — its identity and pipeline are built around veterinary and agricultural institutions.

The Foundation has been highly active through its five-year anniversary in March 2026, when it publicized having distributed $35 million across 118 initiatives since its June 2021 founding, reaching approximately 30,000 veterinary professionals, 72,000 farmers, and 29,000 students in 71 countries. On March 11, 2026, it announced an expanded $2.25 million annual commitment to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, funding $25,000 scholarships for 70 veterinary students and $10,000 scholarships for 35 veterinary technician students nationwide — a significant scale-up of its flagship education pillar. On March 2, 2026, ten swine veterinarians received $7,500 debt-relief grants through the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation, continuing an annual program running since at least 2023. In equine care, Zoetis and the Equine Network Foundation renewed the 'Long Live the Horse Care Grant' for 2026 (announced around April 1, 2026), continuing a program that gave $19,131 across 10 recipients ($1,000-$4,500 each) in its 2025 debut year, with 2026 awards of roughly $19,000 accepted on a rolling basis through December 31, 2026. Internationally, a November 17, 2025 grant to Veterinarians Without Borders funded livestock-resilience programming for pastoralist communities in South Sudan, continuing the Foundation's pattern of annual renewals to Livelihoods-pillar partners in Africa and Brazil. Leadership has been stable at the officer level (Jeannette Astorga as President, Patrick Gilligan as Treasurer, Rachel Witriol as Secretary since October 2021, succeeding Mandee Lee), suggesting continuity in decision-making rather than a recent shake-up. Looking ahead, the Foundation announced in March 2026 that it is exploring 2026 grantmaking expansion into Canada, Japan, Mexico, and India — the most significant strategic shift visible in current reporting, and a signal that organizations in those geographies with veterinary/livestock missions may become newly eligible.

The single most important fact for any prospective applicant: Zoetis Foundation states outright that it 'is not soliciting grant proposals at this time,' and the underlying grants data confirms a preselected-only model. Do not lead with a cold, general-purpose LOI — it is very unlikely to be reviewed. Instead, identify which of the Foundation's three pillars (Education, Well-being, Livelihoods) your work fits and look for the specific partner channel already built around it: veterinary/vet-tech students should apply through AVMF's scholarship portal; swine veterinarians carrying debt should apply through AASVF; equine veterinary students and equine-rescue organizations should watch for AAEP Foundation for the Horse and the Long Live the Horse Care Grant (rolling deadline through December 31 each year, run with the Equine Network Foundation and A Home for Every Horse); and animal shelters/rescues should apply directly through the Adopt a Pet grant portal, being careful to complete every required field, including linked photo and video files — incomplete multimedia submissions are a commonly cited rejection reason for that specific program. For institutional partners hoping to become a new named program (in the mold of AAVMC, Give2Asia, or Instituto Biosistêmico), the realistic path is relationship-building with Zoetis's corporate community-affairs function — likely initiated through existing ties to Zoetis field/sales staff, veterinary-association memberships, or conference relationships, since none of the three Foundation officers (Astorga, Gilligan, Witriol) are compensated staff dedicated to fielding inbound proposals. Use language that mirrors the Foundation's own framing — 'advancing care for animals,' the three pillars by name, and specific beneficiary counts (echo their preference for citing exact numbers of students/veterinarians/farmers reached) — since their own communications consistently quantify impact ($25,000 scholarships to 70 students, $7,500 debt-relief grants to 10 veterinarians, etc.). A common mistake would be framing a proposal as generalist animal welfare or generic education funding; every visible grantee has an explicit veterinary-medicine, veterinary-technician, or livestock-agriculture identity. International or expansion-geography organizations (Canada, Japan, Mexico, India as of 2026) should highlight that geographic fit explicitly, since it is a newly stated priority. Given the multi-year renewal pattern seen across nearly every major grantee, securing even a modest first grant appears far more valuable as a foothold toward recurring annual funding than as a one-time award.