A donation platform's job is half technical (process the payment, show the impact) and half curatorial (decide who gets to receive donations through us). The curatorial half is the one people care about. Here's exactly how we do it.
Step 1 — Account and intent
A shelter signs up by creating an account and filling out an application: legal name, country, organisation type (shelter / rescue / sanctuary / wildlife / vet clinic / community group / independent caretaker), city, coordinates, and a mission statement explaining what they do and how they use donations.
Nothing about this step is visible to donors yet. The shelter is in a holding pattern called "application" — they can edit their information and start uploading the things we'll need for the next steps, but they cannot receive donations.
Step 2 — Documents
We require uploaded documents proving the organisation exists and is who it claims to be. Depending on country and organisation type, that's some combination of:
- Registration certificate from the country's charity or business register
- National ID or passport of the listed representative
- Bank statement or letter confirming the payout account
- Any other official paperwork that backs up the claims
These documents are never shown publicly. They are visible only to Animly admins and the verifier assigned to the shelter.
Step 3 — Online review
An Animly admin reviews the application end-to-end. We cross-reference the documents, check the registration against the relevant national register, look at the shelter's online presence (older photos, news mentions, social media activity), and verify that the named representative is real and connected to the organisation.
If anything doesn't add up — fake-looking documents, an organisation that doesn't exist in any register, an Instagram account opened last week — the application is rejected. Donations never start.
Step 4 — Verification (documents or visit)
Beyond the online review, we want at least one of two additional anchors before a shelter can be marked verified: either deeper document verification (cross-checked financial records, government correspondence, third-party confirmation) or an in-person visit by a trained verifier who can walk the premises and meet the animals.
In-person visits aren't mandatory in every country, but they happen wherever we have local verifiers. The verifier uploads photos and a short report from the visit. The report becomes part of the shelter's record, visible to admins forever.
Step 5 — Payouts go direct
Once a shelter is verified, donations sent through Animly go to a Stripe account in the shelter's name. Payouts run on the shelter's chosen schedule — weekly or monthly — and land in the shelter's bank account directly. We never sit on the money longer than necessary; the platform takes a 10% fee at the time of donation and the rest flows through.
You'll see this as a blue checkmark next to the shelter's name. It means everything above has happened. It is not a guarantee — we are a human team and people can change after they've been verified — but it is a real, layered process, not a sticker.
What "verified" doesn't cover
We verify that the shelter exists, that the representative is real, and that the money will reach the legal entity. We do not vouch for every individual decision they make in their day-to-day care. If you ever see something that troubles you on a shelter's page — concerning photos, a claim that doesn't feel right — there's a Report button on every profile. Reports go straight to the admin team.