Project Purr
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Project Purr is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives of unsocialized cats and kittens by providing accessible low cost feral cat spay/neuter to all Santa Cruz County, California residents, regardless of income. Project Purr advocates Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as the only effective and humane solution to reducing cat overpopulation.
- Income
- $105,775
- Spending
- $86,945
- Reserves
- 25.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 52%
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
We do not score finances when yearly spending is very small or the return has too little detail. The ratios stop meaning much at that size.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $83,296 spent. Project Purr is a feral cat advocacy organization founded in 1987 to humanely reduce the cat overpopulation in Santa Cruz County, California. This all-volunteer nonprofit funds the only countywide free spay/neuter program for feral cats/kittens, available to all county residents, regardless of income and no voucher required. Project Purr promotes and supports an ongoing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program to end the homeless animal crisis, while teaching nonviolence and tolerance for others. Project Purr believes in a feral cats right to life as part of our mission. Our goal is to educate, encourage, and enable as many people locally as possible to facilitate TNR themselves. The more people we educate and involve, and the more acceptable the concepts of community cats and TNR become, the more cats lives will be saved. Since Project Purrs inception 38 years ago, nearly 19,500 Santa Cruz County feral cats and kittens have been sterilized for free through our program, at a cost to Project Purr of almost $2.5 million! (average cost of $125 per cat) In 2025, Project Purr accomplished over 600 spay/neuters at a cost of over $67,000. We also rescued/ relocated 15 barn cats. Our partner vets Pet Maintenance & Repair and Animal Hospital of Soquel have been instrumental in supporting this work. These combined efforts prevented the births of thousands of unwanted kittens born to a life of uncertainty and reduced the number of animals entering the shelter. But with ever-increasing veterinary costs and the need for more feral cat spay/neuter, and dependent on donations, Project Purr is always struggling to make ends meet. We are so grateful to individual donations through groups like Benevity and Network for Good.Project Purr is grateful to have received financial support from the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter this year, thanks to a Tipping Point Grant that in 2025 funded spay/neuter for 329 cats at $100 each. We continue to partner with the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter to reduce the number of unsterilized outdoor cats. Our vision of working together with the community to find humane, compassionate solutions will help create long-term change. Project Purr will continue to partner with other local rescue organizations helping animals to reduce the community cat population. The result will be safer, happier, and healthier communities -- and better lives for its community cats too. Together, we can do more. And someday, we hope to save them all.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since December 1997.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.