2018 Giving Metrics Report
One of our goals here at Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) is to influence gifts to highly effective animal charities. Over the last couple of years we have improved systems to help us track these donations, as well as to survey donors who have indicated that they donated to our recommended charities as a result of ACE’s guidance.1 In this report, we will detail what we know about the donations and donors that were influenced by ACE’s charity recommendations. We will also evaluate the impact that ACE has had on donors and on the effective animal advocacy movement as a whole.
Definitions
- “Top Charities” refers to the (currently four) animal charities that we believe work most effectively on behalf of animals.
- “Standout Charities” refers to the (currently eight) animal charities that we feel are highly effective and showing promising progress in their efforts on behalf of animals.
- “Recommended Charities” refers to both Top Charities and Standout Charities.
- “Recommended Charity Fund” or “RCF” refers to ACE’s Fund that was launched on November 27, 2017 to support ACE’s recommended charities in accordance with our research team’s recommended allocation.
- “Effective Animal Advocacy Fund” or “EAA Fund” refers to ACE’s Fund that was launched on August 15, 2018 to help grow the animal advocacy movement by supporting a broader scope of charities and groups that are doing promising work but are not necessarily currently recommended by ACE.
- “Animal Advocacy Research Fund” or “AARF” refers to ACE’s Fund that was launched in the spring of 2016 as part of our plan to expand quality research in the animal advocacy movement.
How We Track Donations Influenced
Midway through 2015, ACE started collecting donations on behalf of our Top Charities. This has helped us a great deal in learning how donors use our annual recommendations. In 2018, donations through ACE accounted for 38% of the total amount of donations that ACE influenced to our recommended charities and to our EAA Fund (an increase from 26% in 2017). The remaining 62% of donations were reported to us by those charities or by donors themselves.
Twice per year, we ask our Top Charities to report to us on the amount of donations they’ve received that they know were influenced by ACE. As a condition of being an ACE Top Charity, we ask them to establish a tracking system to help both us and them understand the impact of their recommendation. Each charity tracks this differently; some use checkboxes on their donation forms, while others add flags to their donors’ records when they mention ACE in follow-up correspondence. We think they report the donations that they know were influenced by ACE with a high level of accuracy, though there may be additional donations influenced by ACE that they do not know about because some donors may not indicate ACE’s influence on their decision to give. In 2017, we started reaching out to our Standout Charities to ask if they knew which of their donations were influenced by ACE. We have also had an increasing number of donors who report to us directly about the giving they did as a result of ACE’s charity recommendations.2
Donations Influenced by Charity
In 2018, we estimate that our Top Charities received $3,974,015 and our Standout Charities received $416,847 in ACE-influenced donations. We also raised $1,941,765 for our new Effective Animal Advocacy Fund. This means that we estimate ACE influenced a total of $6,332,627 to the animal advocacy movement in 2018, with 63% going to our Top Charities, 7% going to our Standout Charities, and 31% going to promising charities through the EAA Fund (first round of grants totaling $1.4 million distributed in April 2019). The average gift that ACE influenced to our recommended charities (specific charities, not via the Recommended Charity Fund) was $689.
| ACE Top Charities | Donated through ACE | Donated through ACE’s RCF | Donated Directly to Charity | Total |
| Animal Equality | $56,596.34 | $17,362.07 | $62,142.96 | $136,101.37 |
| The Good Food Institute | $68,610.09 | $17,362.07 | $1,936,758.81 | $2,022,730.97 |
| The Humane League | $93,166.08 | $17,362.07 | $1,621,385.33 | $1,731,913.48 |
| Albert Schweitzer Foundation* | $69,106.80 | $11,496.65 | $620.00 | $81,223.45 |
| Total | $287,479.31 | $63,582.86 | $3,620,907.10 | $3,971,969.27** |
| * Albert Schweitzer Foundation was moved from Standout Charity status to Top Charity status on November 28, 2018. ** Following our announcement in late 2017 that Mercy For Animals (MFA) was no longer recommended, we gave recurring donors a grace period to update their gift’s allocation. During this time (the beginning of 2018), we accepted $2,045.93 in donations for MFA. |
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Most of ACE’s Standout Charities do not have systems in place to track donations that were influenced by ACE, but we distribute donations to them through our Recommended Charity Fund. We also allow donors to make large gifts ($10,000+) to non-U.S. Standout Charities through ACE for tax-deduction purposes. It is very likely that there were additional donations that were made directly to our Standout Charities as a result of ACE’s recommendation, of which we are not aware.
| ACE Standout Charities | Donated through ACE | Donated through ACE’s RCF | Donated Directly to Charity | Total |
| Albert Schweitzer
Foundation* |
$0.00 | $1,104.54 | $0.00 | $1,104.54 |
| Compassion in World Farming USA | $0.00 | $6,852.86 | $140,550.00 | $147,402.86 |
| Faunalytics | $0.00 | $6,852.86 | $179,683.64 | $186,536.50 |
| L214 | $0.00 | $6,852.86 | $150.00 | $7,002.86 |
| The Nonhuman Rights Project | $0.00 | $6,852.86 | $0.00 | $6,852.86 |
| Open Cages | $10,864.04 | $6,852.86 | $576.29 | $18,293.86 |
| ProVeg International | $20,000.00 | $6,852.86 | $100.00 | $26,952.86 |
| Sinergia Animal† | $10,000.00 | $5,748.32 | $100.00 | $15,848.32 |
| Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira† | $0.00 | $5,748.32 | $0.00 | $5,748.32 |
| Vegan Outreach** | $0.00 | $1,104.54 | $0.00 | $1,104.54 |
| Total | $40,864.04 | $54,822.88 | $321,159.93 | $416,846.85 |
| * Albert Schweitzer Foundation was moved from Standout Charity status to Top Charity status on November 28, 2018. ** Vegan Outreach was not renewed as a Standout Charities as of November 28, 2018. † Sinergia Animal and Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira were added to our Standout Charities on November 28, 2018. |
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In 2018, an additional $95,095.93 was either collected by ACE or reported by donors and/or charities to have been influenced to formerly recommended charities. One donor gave $50,000.00 to HSUS Farm Animal Protection Campaign and another donor gave $25,000 to New Harvest, both former Standout Charities. Several donors who were influenced to support Mercy For Animals because of their 2017 Top Charity recommendation by ACE continued to support their work after they were removed as a Top Charity, giving a total of $20,045.93.
Donations Influenced by Size
We compared the names across all donations made to (i) recommended charities through ACE, (ii) recommended charities directly, and/or (iii) the ACE Recommended Charity Fund. We believe that ACE’s charity recommendations influenced at least 1,332 donors overall in 2018.3 Below is information about the generosity of the 1,025 donors who were influenced to donate $4,270,403.90 to ACE’s recommended charities through donations to individual charities (this excludes donors to the Recommended Charity Fund and the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund).
| Donations to Recommended Charities | ||||
| Giving Category* | # of Donors | % of Total Donors | Amount Donated | % of Total Amount |
| $100,000+ | 6 | 0.6% | $3,359,555 | 78.7% |
| $50,000–$99,999 | 4 | 0.4% | $232,891 | 5.5% |
| $10,000–$49,999 | 14 | 1.4% | $272,984 | 6.4% |
| $5,000–$9,999 | 14 | 1.4% | $82,529 | 1.9% |
| $1,000–$4,999 | 91 | 8.9% | $170,323 | 4.0% |
| $500–$999 | 93 | 9.1% | $61,080 | 1.4% |
| $100–$499 | 355 | 34.6% | $73,105 | 1.7% |
| $1–$99 | 448 | 43.7% | $17,936 | 0.4% |
| * Giving categories are based on a donor’s annual giving total across all ACE recommended charities. | ||||
Recommended Charity Fund
The Recommended Charity Fund is for anyone who wants to support ACE’s recommended charities through a single donation, simplifying the process so that donors can easily give to multiple effective animal charities. Disbursed biannually in January and July, grants are made to our Top Charities and Standout Charities according to what our research team determines will be an effective use of the funds at that time.
| Donations to Recommended Charity Fund | ||||
| Giving Category* | # of Donors | % of Total Donors | Amount Donated | % of Total Amount |
| $100,000–$1,000,000 | 0 | 0% | $0 | 0% |
| $50,000–$99,999 | 0 | 0% | $0 | 0% |
| $10,000–$49,999 | 1 | 0.52% | $32,500.00 | 27.45% |
| $5,000–$9,999 | 0 | 0% | $0 | 0% |
| $1,000–$4,999 | 15 | 7.73% | $46,131.03 | 38.96% |
| $500–$999 | 13 | 6.70% | $13,633.20 | 11.51% |
| $100–$499 | 35 | 18.04% | $13,937.71 | 11.77% |
| $1–$99 | 130 | 67.01% | $12,203.82 | 10.31% |
| * Giving categories are based on a donor’s annual giving total across all ACE recommended charities. | ||||
Grants Distributed to Recommended Charities
ACE disbursed two rounds of grants from donations made to our Recommended Charity Fund in 2018. In July 2018, we distributed 22.2% of the Fund to each of our then three Top Charities and 4.2% to our then eight Standout Charities. In January 2019, each of our current four Top Charities received 12.5% and each of our current eight Standout Charities received 6.25% of the Fund.
| Recommended Charities | Grants | Percentage of Fund |
| Animal Equality | $16,654.60 | 14.5% |
| The Good Food Institute | $16,654.60 | 14.5% |
| The Humane League | $16,654.60 | 14.5% |
| Albert Schweitzer Foundation* | $12,344.33 | 10.8% |
| Compassion in World Farming USA | $6,672.12 | 5.8% |
| Faunalytics | $6,672.12 | 5.8% |
| L214 | $6,672.12 | 5.8% |
| The Nonhuman Rights Project | $6,672.12 | 5.8% |
| Open Cages | $6,672.12 | 5.8% |
| ProVeg International | $6,672.12 | 5.8% |
| Sinergia Animal† | $5,672.12 | 5.0% |
| Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira† | $5,672.12 | 5.0% |
| Vegan Outreach** | $1,000.00 | 0.9% |
| Total | $114,685.47 | 100% |
| * Albert Schweitzer Foundation was moved from Standout Charity status to Top Charity status on November 28, 2018. ** Vegan Outreach was not renewed as a Standout Charity as of November 28, 2018. † Sinergia Animal and Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira were added to our Standout Charities on November 28, 2018. |
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Effective Animal Advocacy Fund
Launched in August 2018, ACE’s Effective Animal Advocacy Fund (EAA Fund) is for anyone who is interested in making the animal advocacy movement more effective. It aims to address some of the underfunded areas that our research indicates are necessary to help grow the movement. Contributions to this Fund are distributed to a number of promising charities around the world, which may include our Top Charities and Standout Charities or ACE’s own research, but are more likely to be smaller, less well-funded projects. Applications are accepted two times per year.
ACE created the EAA Fund for three main reasons. First, we believe that the movement should continue to fund a wide range of approaches because a broad, pluralistic animal advocacy movement will be more impactful overall than a narrow, monistic animal advocacy movement. Second, we believe that we should continue to support a broad range of interventions given that there is little available evidence supporting the effectiveness of any given one. Third, we believe that building relationships with a large group of individuals and charities will make our own work more effective by providing us with new information to consider and new individuals and groups with whom to collaborate.
Thanks to an incredibly generous donor, ACE ran an extremely successful matching challenge campaign at the end of 2018 that raised over $1.9 million for our new EAA Fund. There was also a tremendous response from the animal advocacy community that resulted in 106 applications for funding. In spring 2019, our research team selected a diverse group of 49 charities, organizations, and individuals to receive the first round of grants.
Animal Charity Evaluators
Last year, we spent $868,411 on ACE’s programs and operations and influenced $6,332,627 in donations to the animal advocacy movement. This means that for every $1 ACE spent on our own programs in 2018, we influenced over $7.30 to our effective recommended charities or to other promising animal advocacy charities and groups (via our new EAA Fund).4 Since 2014, ACE has influenced over $17 million to effective animal charities.
ACE’s operating expenses and donations that ACE has influenced to our recommended charities and our EAA Fund
Donations to ACE
We have seen donations to support ACE’s programs increase steadily over the past five years. We have also grown our staff size from four people in 2014 to 17 people at the end of 2018.
Excluding donations to the Animal Advocacy Research Fund, the average gift to support ACE’s programs and operations in 2018 was $575.
| Giving Category* | Number of Donors | % of Total Donors | Amount Donated** | % of Total Amount |
| $100,000–$1,000,000 | 2 | 0.38% | $750,000.00 | 66.11% |
| $50,000–$99,999 | 1 | 0.19% | $50,000.00 | 4.41% |
| $10,000–$49,999 | 6 | 1.14% | $195,096.00 | 17.20% |
| $5,000–$9,999 | 5 | 0.95% | $27,770.46 | 2.45% |
| $1,000–$4,999 | 16 | 3.04% | $59,250.25 | 5.22% |
| $500–$999 | 9 | 1.71% | $17,698.83 | 1.56% |
| $100–$499 | 56 | 10.65% | $16,092.56 | 1.42% |
| $1–$99 | 431 | 81.94% | $18,543.07 | 1.63% |
| * Giving categories are based on a donor’s annual total donations to ACE (excludes donations to support the Animal Advocacy Research Fund). ** Total revenue differs from the “Amount Donated” total due to revenue from investment gains, research workshop ticket sales, and third-party revenue sources such as Amazon Smile which cannot be attributed to an individual donor. |
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In 2018, over 65% of ACE’s revenue came from two foundation donors, which was an increase over the previous year. This was due to the following factors:
- A. We received our second expected grant from the Open Philanthropy Project for $250,000.
- B. We received an unexpected significant $500,000 grant from the Animal Welfare Fund (Centre for Effective Altruism’s EA Funds).
Related Metrics
Web Traffic
New organic users
We monitor the number of users who visit our website, but we also pay particular attention to the number of unique new users who visit the website via organic search during the giving season. This helps us track the growth of our audience, and we also feel that it is a probable indirect measure of growth in the effective altruism and effective animal advocacy movements as a whole. Although we do receive a number of visitors as a result of advertising—Google AdWords and/or social media—we feel that tracking the number of people who visit our website after conducting a simple search gives us a more accurate indication of movement building.
In December 2018, the number of organic new users was 8,421 compared to 6,422 in December 2017. This means that organic web traffic grew by over 31% during that time frame, as illustrated in the screenshot below.5
Total website traffic (including social, paid advertising, referral, email, and direct traffic) for December 2018 was 16,132 compared to 27,418 in December 2017, which was a 41% decrease year over year. However, we attribute the majority of the traffic lost to the Google Ads grant changes, which accounted for 12,898 fewer new users in that time period. The loss in traffic resulted in an overall improvement in the quality of website traffic, as indicated by metrics such as bounce rate, average session duration, and pages per session. These metrics are illustrated in the screenshot below.
Animal Advocacy Research Fund
In the spring of 2016, ACE launched the Animal Advocacy Research Fund (AARF) as part of our plan to expand quality research in the animal advocacy movement. The AARF and its Program Officer are funded entirely by an anonymous donor who is also committed to developing high-quality research. This benefactor has committed to providing $1 million in funding to the Fund over a three-year period. In 2018, this accounted for $178,678.77 of our revenue. No general donations to ACE have gone to support this program. This year, we redesigned the AARF website to better meet the needs of applicants. To date, we have funded 35 research projects via six rounds of open proposal submissions that address our key focus areas. More information can be found on the Animal Advocacy Research Fund website.
Donor Survey Results
Each year, we conduct a survey of donors to ACE and our Top Charities. It helps us better understand who is donating to ACE and who is using our recommendations when donating to our Top Charities. It also contributes to our understanding of how much money we are influencing within the animal advocacy movement and how it may have been spent otherwise.
In 2018, the majority of respondents (92%) reported using ACE’s recommendations to guide their donations in the past 12 months, with most (79%) reporting that ACE’s recommendations led them to increase their animal charity donation amount. Only 37% of respondents indicated that they would have donated specifically to farmed animal advocacy charities in the past year without ACE’s influence. Read more about our findings in our 2018 Donor Survey Analysis.
Lessons from 2018
Donors are interested in supporting a broad scope of charities doing more speculative, yet promising, work in the animal advocacy movement. ACE has always been known for our charity evaluations and recommendations, which are designed to identify and promote the most effective giving opportunities for donors. When we first began evaluations, our influence was much smaller than it is now: $147,239 in 2014 compared to $6.3 million in 2018. Today, ACE influences a greater portion of the movement’s funding, so we are looking for ways to support a larger and more diverse group of charities. This desire motivated us to launch our new Effective Animal Advocacy Fund in August 2018, and the response from donors was overwhelmingly positive. Thanks in large part to a generous anonymous donor who provided a matching challenge, we raised $1.9 million for the EAA Fund last year. This new giving opportunity attracted 190 new donors to ACE, and inspired 169 current and former donors to continue or renew their support.
Donors want a convenient way to support ACE’s international Standout Charities. Several of our 2018 Standout Charities are based outside of the U.S. where English is not the primary language. Some donors informed us that they experienced barriers when trying to give directly to those charities. As our annual recommendations aim to influence donors to support specific effective animal advocacy charities, we need to make sure they are able to do so or the charity’s recommendation may be less valuable overall. In response, we are creating a new resource for our Top and Standout Charities to help them make the most out of their ACE recommendation. For our international charities, we encourage them to create an English information page and make sure their donation platform can accept gifts in U.S. dollars. Additionally, ACE accepts donations of $10,000 USD or more on behalf of our international Standout Charities to enable U.S. residents to receive a tax deduction for their generosity.
You can read archived reports from previous years here:
To avoid counting a gift twice, we compare our internal list of reported gifts to the list provided by the charities. If there is any question about a possible duplicate gift, we review both gifts with the charity to confirm if these were additional gifts or the same gifts.
Some charities provide us with donor names (but no other private or identifiable information) so that we can compare these donors’ gifts across all ACE recommended charities that they may have supported. Other charities provide us only with donor identification numbers, which means that we are unable to confirm if those donors gave any gifts to other ACE recommended charities. Because of this, we cannot say definitively that we influenced 1,332 donors in total. However, given the likelihood that many donors do not report or identify donations that were influenced by ACE, we suspect that the number of donors who use ACE’s recommendations as a consideration for their annual donations is significantly higher than what we are able to identify through our annual gift-reporting process.
We do not intend to frame this as causal, but rather to illustrate the amount of funding ACE uses compared with the amount of funding we influence.
In 2018, we added additional goal tracking throughout the website, which explains why the goal conversion rate is significantly higher for 2018 compared to 2017. Because of this, we did not consider goal conversion as an indicator of ACE’s website success.