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Help the greatest number of animals.
Our Impact
Giving Metrics Report
Our giving metrics provide information on donations that were reported to have been influenced by ACE.
Annual Reports
Read our past annual reports to see how our work has contributed to our growth and success, and discover highlights from each year.
Our Programs
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Charity Evaluations
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Movement Grants
How We Create Change
Our theory of change
As part of our organizational strategy, we have refined our Theory of Change—a method that outlines how an intervention (or group of interventions) is expected to create real-world change based on evidence.
The way that a charity or intervention creates change for animals can be challenging to understand. To communicate our assumptions about how change occurs, we created a Theory of Change diagram, using arrows to represent the possible effect of each intervention. This diagram is not a complete representation of real-world change; rather, it’s a simplified model that showcases the change ACE wants to see: less animal suffering and greater animal welfare.
ACE’s Theory of Change diagram
Charity Evaluations
To achieve the change we want to see, the animal movement needs more funding so that we can be better informed about what animals need and identify which interventions are likely to help the greatest number of animals. This is why ACE conducts charity evaluations to identify which organizations will likely make the greatest difference for animals. Donors can use our recommendations to find the most impactful ways to support animals, and our reviews help charities identify which type of work will help animals the most.
Grantmaking
Our grantmaking aims to increase the money pool for high-impact charities so they are able to carry out more effective work. Our Recommended Charity Fund helps donors support our Recommended Charities through a single donation. However, ACE recognizes that we cannot create real-world change by focusing only on large, well-established organizations. That’s why our grantmaking also includes our Movement Grants program, which funds smaller organizations that work in high-priority regions, use novel approaches, or focus on underrepresented animals. We believe that supporting a wide variety of organizations will also provide new information on what interventions work best.
Together, our programs and interventions fill a gap in the movement that builds capacity and amplifies the incredible work that advocates and donors do to help animals.
The spaces we operate in
- We have a global focus because animals suffer everywhere, and we need strong advocacy around the world.
- We exist to serve the animal advocacy community so more people can help more animals lead flourishing lives, and we come to this movement for inspiration and learning.
- We were born out of effective altruism, and we continue to count on this community for their expertise and generosity.
- So far, we have paid less attention to the circle of people who care about animals but may not consider themselves animal advocates. We will now include them in our strategy because:
- We want to increase the total pool of funding available for impactful animal advocacy and make funding more sustainable by diversifying sources.
- We want more people who care about protecting animals to include farmed and wild animals in their moral circle.
Our goals
Increase the rigor and quality of our work
So that:
- People who want to give to successful animal charities trust our recommendations and give to the most impactful and promising charities.
- Animal advocacy is more data- and research-driven and advocates choose the programs with the greatest potential for animals to experience wellbeing.
Tactics:
- Increase our expertise and strengthen our evaluation and grantmaking criteria
- Optimize our evaluation processes for efficiency and transparency
- Make it easier and more beneficial for charities to participate in evaluations and apply for grants
- Identify and prioritize research needs and program gaps in the movement
- Assess our own impact and test our assumptions
Increase the money pool for high-impact animal charities and promising programs
So that:
- More work can be done to help more animals as much as possible.
Tactics:
- Diversify the revenue streams and target audiences that fund our grantmaking program
- Engage with (potential) donors strategically, transparently, and efficiently
- Explore new methods to secure funding for our Movement Grants program, Recommended Charity Fund, and our own operations
- Make it easier for donors to give to our recommended charities
Interact with a broad audience
So that:
- The effective animal advocacy movement receives greater support.
- We have a pluralistic and resilient movement with broad support around the globe.
Tactics:
- Optimize our search engine results and visibility in the spaces that are most influential for our mission
- Improve our relationship with our current stakeholders in the animal welfare and effective altruism communities
- Message our programs so our work is accessible to a broad spectrum of donors who want to help animals
- Communicate our mission and programs to animal advocates in different communities around the world who could benefit from our resources
- Update our brand and website to be more user-friendly and better represent our theory of change
Strengthen our sustainability
So that:
- The animal advocacy movement can count on ACE to amplify its achievements and capacity.
Tactics:
- Secure the necessary resources to do our work in changing circumstances
- Hire, retain, and train highly talented staff and board members with diverse skillsets and perspectives
- Provide staff with the clarity and tools they need to deliver results
- Create a work environment that sets everyone up to thrive and feel like they belong
Our objectives
- More people who want to help animals come to ACE
- The quality and need of our work are obvious to charities and donors
- We understand our impact and how we can improve
- We have the resources we need to expand our reach and impact
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