Foster 50 - Pedigree Foundation

Welcome to
Foster 50

Hundreds of shelters and rescues.
One mission.

Signups to join the Foster 50 Challenge are now closed!

Foster 50 is a national initiative to help animal shelters and foster-based rescues increase foster participation, run by a coalition of leading animal welfare organizations.

In 2024, Shelter Animals Count data showed an increase in length of stay for shelter animals nationwide, impacting organizations’ capacity to care for animals. Shortening length of stay remains a critical step in solving this overwhelming trend. So, we asked a simple question: What if we could engage more pet parents to foster more animals? The answer became Foster 50, a bold call-to-action designed to make fostering feel possible, urgent and rewarding – with the hope of making an impact across all 50 states.

In 2025, the inaugural year of the program, we saw 9,000+ new fosters recruited, an 11% increase in active foster parents and nearly 37,000 dogs and cats placed in foster homes – 11,000+ of whom were adopted!

This year, we’re expanding the program with a national three-month foster challenge and doubling down with $240,000 in Challenge Grants, along with shared tools and resources from our coalition members.

Foster 50 Challenge Grants will support organizations as they grow, strengthen and sustain their foster programs. This year’s grants include:

$100,000 each from PEDIGREE Foundation and Maddie’s Fund
$20,000 each from Adopt a Pet and MuttNation Foundation

Foster 50 Program Timing

Register by April 30 to participate in the Foster 50 Challenge!
The challenge will run from May 1 through July 31.
Challenge Results Reports will be due by August 15 to be eligible for grant funding. – Coming soon!
Challenge Grants will be awarded and announced in October.

Foster 50 Challenge Details

Foster 50 Challenge Timeline

Sample Foster 50 Challenge Results Report

Foster 50 Guide for Participants Webcast

Wondering what else you could be doing during the Foster 50 Challenge? We hosted a practical, easy-to-follow webcast to help participating organizations make the most of the challenge and keep momentum going. Whether you’ve already launched new ideas or are looking for inspiration on what to try next, this session will give you clearer direction, fresh motivation and actionable next steps. Plus, we answered common questions and made sure you know where to go for support throughout the challenge. Watch the webcast here.

Resources for Shelter and Rescue Organizations

Click the category titles below for links to resources to support your foster programming.

Launch & Grow a Strong Foster Program

Build, expand and strengthen your foundation

» Customizable Guides for Cat & Dog Foster Homes

» Foster Care Program Creation and Implementation

» Foster Care Program Expansion

» Kitten Foster Training Course

» Spanish Language Animal Shelter Resources

Recruit & Retain Foster Volunteers

Find, engage and keep your foster community thriving

» 10 Proven Tips to Recruit More Foster Parents

» 5 Ways to Find More Foster Parents

» 10 Ways to Thank Animal Foster Families

» Fundamentals of Foster Recruitment and Retention

» Growing Your Adult Dog Foster Program

» How to Use Online Orientation for More Foster Parents, Less Staff Burden

Reduce Length of Stay

Move pets into foster – and out of shelters and rescues – faster

» Doggy Day Out Toolkit

» Doggy Day Outs, Field Trips & Short-Term Fosters: Reducing Stress in Shelter Dogs While Increasing Volunteers and Adoptions

» Field to Foster Online Course

» How to Successfully Foster Undersocialized Kittens

» Tips to Set up Fosters for Success with Challenging Dogs

Increase Adoptions from Foster

Help pets find their forever homes faster

» How to Get Your Foster Pet Adopted in Two Weeks

» Marketing Pets from Foster Homes Resource Collection

Check out these videos with helpful advice from our 2025 Foster 50 Challenge Grant recipients for building and growing your foster program.

Build A Foster Landing Page

Can They Find You?

Foster Screening 101

Make it Easy to Become a Foster

Empower Your Team

Additional Foster 50 Resources

The Foster 50 podcast and webinars are audio and visual playbooks containing valuable information on how to grow your foster network programs, developed by our expert coalition of partners. Click on the topics below to listen or watch.

NOTE – the podcast and webinars are from Year One of the program in 2025, so some details will be outdated. Refer to the details above for the 2026 program.