Considering a Professional Grant
Some Professional Grants include a Pay-It-Forward Service Commitment. Review the program details and funding ranges first, so you know what a service plan could look like for your award.
Grants
Support that keeps moving forward.
Some Professional Grants include a Pay-It-Forward Service Commitment. Recipients use approved skills, time, and experience to strengthen community work in training, rehabilitation, research, education, mentoring, outreach, fundraising, or related mission areas.
Before you read the formula
Who this page is for
Not sure this applies to you
Not every grant carries a service commitment, and not every applicant will receive one. A short eligibility check gives you a plain answer before you start a full application.
Hosting or verifying service
Community, charitable, educational, research, rescue, and shelter partners can host approved service activities and verify a recipient’s completed hours.
Quick answer
How the commitment works
A Pay-It-Forward Service Commitment is a documented, unpaid, mission-aligned service plan tied to certain Professional Grants. Required hours come from the award amount and the approved service ratio. Only verified, approved hours count toward completion. The award agreement sets the annual expectation, accommodation paths, and maximum term.
The formula is fixed and simple: required hours equal the award amount divided by the dollars-per-hour service ratio, rounded up. A $5,000 award with a $100-per-hour ratio produces a 50-hour commitment: $5,000 divided by $100 per approved service hour = 50 approved service hours. With a minimum of 10 approved hours per active year, a recipient can complete the commitment over as many as five years, or finish sooner. The signed agreement controls the actual ratio, annual minimum, term, hour cap, and any approved exceptions for a given award; the numbers above are an example, not a universal rate.
Submitted hours do not count until a Foundation reviewer approves them. Incomplete service does not automatically create a cash debt; any repayment, cancellation, or recovery provision must be stated separately in the signed agreement and reviewed under the Foundation’s approved policy. This page describes how the commitment generally works, not the terms of any specific award.
Example award
$5,000
Award amount
÷
$100/hr
Service ratio
=
50 hrs
Required service hours
- Annual minimum
- 10 approved hours per active year
- Maximum term
- Up to 5 years, or finish sooner
Example only. Your signed agreement sets the actual ratio, annual minimum, and term. See how the application process works.
Service commitment
Which service qualifies
Is this service eligible for Pay-It-Forward hours?
Likely a fit
- Training access or pet-parent education for approved beneficiaries.
- Rehabilitation and behavior-support work under an appropriate plan.
- Shelter, rescue, foster, or placement support.
- Mentoring students or emerging professionals.
- Public education and community outreach.
- Research assistance or knowledge translation under approved supervision.
- Curriculum and educational resource development.
- Approved event and program service.
- Fundraising and donor stewardship for approved charitable campaigns.
- Pro bono professional services.
- Remote service approved for access, health, geography, caregiving, or scheduling needs.
Needs a closer look
- Normal paid job duties.
- Work that primarily benefits a for-profit company, including Partners Dog School.
- Activity that replaces an employee or contractor.
- Unapproved political campaign activity or lobbying.
- Unsafe or unverified activity.
- Work performed before approval, when retroactive approval is not allowed.
- Activity without a qualified beneficiary, host, deliverable, or verifier.
This checklist gives a quick read, likely fit, not eligible, or staff review needed. It offers guidance, not a decision. No single factor guarantees an award. Final eligibility and award decisions are made by the Foundation’s program staff after a full review.
Service hours
How hours are approved
Submitted hours do not count until approved.
-
Review the plan
The recipient reviews the approved service plan.
-
Complete an eligible activity
The recipient completes an eligible activity.
-
Submit the record
The recipient submits the date, hours, category, beneficiary, description, verifier, and evidence.
-
Foundation review
The Foundation reviews the activity and may approve all hours, approve part, request information, or decline the submission.
-
Hours recorded
Approved hours are added to the recipient’s commitment record.
-
Track progress
Approved hours, outstanding hours, annual progress, and the next due date are tracked against the recipient’s commitment record.
What it looks like
Real skills, applied through an approved plan
A Pay-It-Forward Service Commitment is built from the same skills, time, and experience a recipient already brings to their work, applied through an approved plan instead of open-ended volunteering. A Professional Grant recipient might mentor a newer trainer, support a shelter partner, or contribute pro bono professional hours toward an approved beneficiary. Every activity still needs a qualified beneficiary, host, and verifier before hours are submitted.
Recipient FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I complete all hours in one year?
Yes, when the activities are approved and the service plan allows it. The annual minimum is a floor, not a ceiling.
Can I serve somewhere other than Partners Dog School?
Yes. Approved service can happen through qualified community, charitable, educational, research, rescue, or shelter hosts. Service should not be structured mainly for the private benefit of Partners Dog School or another commercial company.
Can fundraising count?
Approved fundraising, campaign support, donor stewardship, or event work can count when it directly supports a qualified Foundation program and follows applicable rules.
What if I cannot complete the annual minimum?
Request a review before the due date when possible. The Foundation can consider a pause, extension, alternative activity, accommodation, or waiver.
Who approves my hours?
A Foundation reviewer, after checking the activity, evidence, verifier information, conflicts, and eligibility.
Want to know when Professional Grant cycles open?
Professional Grant applications are not open for public submission at launch. Leave your email and the Foundation will let you know when a cycle opens, including whether that cycle carries a Pay-It-Forward Service Commitment.
We only use your email to notify you about Professional Grant openings. No spam, no sharing.