Flow of donations prompts firm to become a nonprofit

As the new year rolls in, Paw Publishing in Carson City becomes Feeding Pets of the Homeless, LLC. And sole proprietor Genevieve Frederick becomes executive director of the non-profit agency.

"I was getting so many donations," she says. "People were sending me money they didn't care that I was a for-profit business."

The original business plan called for creation of a public relations service provided to veterinarians. The animal doctors would subscribe to materials provided by Paw Publishing and use the promo package to publicize their business specifically, that they collected donations of pet food at their clinics and delivered the food to homeless shelters.

Frederick also publicized the fact that while homeless people may visit the shelters to get food, many refuse shelter itself because animals are not allowed and the homeless will not surrender their pets.

So, to legally accept donations to Paw Publishing, Frederick donated all assets from her for-profit company to the non-profit Feeding Pets of the Homeless. The new goal: provide cash grants to veterinarians who could then provide medical care to pets of the homeless.

"We found out a lot of these animals are not vaccinated," says Frederick. "When the homeless go to pick up their own food and pet food they can get pets vaccinated, too."

To publicize the pet food effort, begun a year ago, Frederick has done radio shows and exhibited at a veterinarian conference. In September she plans a presence at a Las Vegas trade show. The Web site is petsofhomeless.com.

The process to go from for-profit to non-profit varies from state to state, says Frederick, but in Nevada, she filed for incorporation as an limited-liability corporation with the Secretary of State and answered a dense 12-page form from the Internal Revenue Service.

"My attorney is reviewing everything now," she says. "It is a difficult task."