Many people tell me that they want to change the way we treat animals, but don’t know to which organization they should give. I’m very pleased that now I can point them to Animal Charity Evaluators, where they can find the best available research and thoughtful discussion to answer that difficult and very important question.
Peter Singer - Philosopher
The amount of suffering reduced per dollar varies by many orders of magnitude. In other words, donating one dollar to one group may do as much good as donating $1000 to another. ACE takes the guesswork out of how to have the most impact.
Dr. Michael Greger - MD
Before ACE, no groups evaluated animal advocacy tactics or charities based on impact. I’m confident that their findings will optimize efforts to help animals.
William MacAskill - CEO and co-founder of the Centre for Effective Altruism
Donations to support the work that ACE does pay off many times over in increased donations to the best charities working to lessen animal suffering.
Theodore Summer
We have not only received a donation [from a major manufacturer], but, even more, were able to forge a relationship with a funder who has a thoughtful approach inline with our own; this is a credit to your strategy of creating better philanthropy by promoting effective altruist reasoning. And, you didn’t only connect us with a funder, but with a partner in advocacy. We helped [the manufacturer] through the process of setting up an animal welfare committee and now are advising them in some potentially very consequential work to improve welfare. The value ACE has created has not only been the connection itself, but the qualitative value of creating a framing for how funder and nonprofit should conceptualize what it means to use funds effectively.
Aaron Gross - Founder and CEO, Farm Forward
I support ACE because I believe in the enormous importance of understanding better how we can most effectively help animals.
Rupert McCallum
The [ACE Symposium] was one of the most interesting conferences I have been part of. Your team did a great job organizing it, the 15 minute talk slots worked nicely, and the speakers were wonderfully diverse, with great opportunities for networking. The whole event had a great feel.
Harold Herzog - Professor of Psychology at Western Carolina University
My desire is do my best to help eliminate the most amount of animal suffering. From a rational approach, helping farm animals is where the biggest need is. ACE then helps me with the due diligence they do in selecting what organizations have the best proven ROI. I appreciate the work they do.
Rick Sharp
Animal Charity Evaluators is one of the most important additions to the animal rights community I’ve observed in my 8 years of professional involvement.
Michael Webermann - Former Executive Director of FARM
An impact-focused work ethic is rare in philanthropy, yet really important. I want my donations to go to organizations that value impact evaluation and that help the vegan movement be effective. I have learned a lot through this website and your research, and continue to do so. Due to my chosen profession [international aid], I am able to apply what I learn not only to my personal life and knowledge, but also to my career and my work.
Greta B.
I like ACE because I’m a supporter of effective altruism. When I give money, I want it to do a lot of good, not just a little. I also give to GiveWell, because they look for the most effective charities, but they only rate human-centered charities. Right now, nonhuman animals are suffering more, and in vastly greater numbers, than humans; furthermore, this suffering could be greatly reduced at little cost, since it is suffering that people are deliberately inflicting for trivial reasons. So donating to the most effective animal charities might be the way to do the most good that one can do. I like ACE because they help identify these most effective charities.
Michael Huemer - Recommended Charity Fund and Effective Animal Advocacy Fund donor
I donate to ACE because I know that progress on basic animal welfare in agriculture affects a tremendous number of beings, and is a cause that even progressives leave out of their view entirely. It was important to me to donate to a charity that practices rigor and isn’t afraid to tackle questions of how important a cause is dollar-for-dollar.
Daniel Echlin - ACE donor
AARF funding and the guidance of the ACE team allowed us to utilize research best practices to create a pilot study to strategically assess and improve our programming.
Katie Cantrell - Executive Director, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition
Our AARF-funded study on clean meat messaging taught us (advocates and industry associates) a lot about the probable difficulty of trying to overcome some consumers’ concerns about unnaturalness. As a result of the study, money and energy can be put toward more fruitful avenues…the research has been published in the journal Meat Science, thereby expanding the audience of academics exposed to advocacy research, as well as on Faunalytics’ website, which received more than 200,000 unique visitors in 2018. Receiving funding for this project made it possible to reach out to a wide and varied audience, some of whom would never have been exposed to animal advocacy any other way.
Jo Anderson - Research Director, Faunalytics
AARF funding allowed us to conduct a thorough version of our popular ‘Dominate Facebook’ social media analysis, resulting in a comprehensive analysis of animal advocacy media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for five different languages. Without the help from AARF, it’s very unlikely that we would have completed the project.
Steven Rouk - Analytics and Research Specialist, Mercy For Animals
Knowing there is a reliable source of funding for research into the most effective interventions for animals means that I can think seriously about a longer-term career in effective animal advocacy research, and encourage others to do the same. Without AARF funding, our two large-scale studies on consumer acceptance of cultured meat would not have been possible. AARF is a fantastic resource, not only for research funding, but for directing the research agenda in effective animal advocacy. It is no exaggeration to say this resource will help to save billions of animals.
Chris Bryant - Ph.D. Candidate, University of Bath
We stand continuously in awe of the myriad ways in which ACE amplifies and advances vital solutions to animal suffering. Thank you so much for empowering our team. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish for animals together in 2019.
Brittany Chambers - Senior Development Manager, The Good Food Institute (Top Charity 2016–18)
The recommendation of Animal Charity Evaluators has had a huge impact on our work. It profoundly motivated our team, gave us a much wider international recognition, and is helping us to significantly increase our sources of funding to improve and expand our work for the animals.
Carolina Galvani - President, Sinergia Animal (Standout Charity, 2018)
ACE has been a tremendous help in increasing our effectiveness, by providing us with tailored materials and research. ACE’s review process in and of itself elevated us to a new level by encouraging us to consider how we think of our programs’ impact.
Jakub Stencel - Development Director, Open Cages (Standout Charity, 2017–18)
ACE’s recommendation helps position the Albert Schweitzer Foundation as an impact-minded organization that’s constantly working on becoming more and more effective for the animals. It also increases our international recognition and reaffirms our existing donors’ decision to contribute. One of our top donors told us: ‘I am glad to have seen that ACE has rated the Albert Schweitzer Foundation as a Top Charity this year. The rating encourages me to continue to support you.’ In addition, the annual ACE evaluation helps us to continually review and improve our work.
Mahi Klosterhalfen - President, Albert Schweitzer Foundation (Top Charity, 2018)
A few years ago, we began looking at what charities could help us make the biggest positive impact in the world. We were aware of some of the low-cost, high-impact initiatives like distributing mosquito nets that help alleviate human suffering. But we had a particular interest in helping animals and helping avert the climate crisis. We stumbled on ACE’s website, and their simple infographic about the disparity between animal charity funding vs. animals spared. The logic in focusing on farmed animals was clear, and we followed ACE’s recommendations when deciding which charities to support.
We learned about the Giving Pledge, and agreed that was an annual commitment we wanted to make. Around the same time, ACE launched their Recommended Charities Fund. That fund provides us a convenient way to route our donations to the most impactful charities that is reassessed on an ongoing basis. At the same time, it helps support ACE’s research and show our commitment to their work.
These charities are doing the hard work of helping people make kinder and wiser choices. And ACE is doing the hard work of helping assess and understand how we can make the biggest impact. Our monthly contribution is a simple but important commitment from our side, but it feels enormously satisfying. We’re grateful for the work of ACE and the many charities working to make the world kinder and safer for humans and animals alike.
