Non-human animals suffer in extreme ways and unimaginable numbers. Animal Charity Evaluators works toward creating a world where humans help animals experience wellbeing by improving their lives when we can—regardless of their characteristics or what caused their suffering.

We want to reduce as much suffering and create as much wellbeing as possible for animals living now and in the future. To do this effectively, we must use reason and evidence to guide our actions.

The animals who likely suffer in the greatest numbers are those living in the wild, followed by those who are farmed. While effective methods exist to help these individuals, relatively few resources are available to execute them. This means millions of animals are experiencing preventable suffering right now.

Three main factors contribute to this neglect. First, there’s a lack of awareness about these issues among the general public, stemming from deeper structural and societal problems. Second, even among people who care, there’s limited knowledge about the most consequential ways to help animals. And third, there’s simply not enough funding to do the necessary work.

ACE uses a four-pronged approach to increase the amount of high-impact work that gets done for animals. We identify the most effective ways to protect animals, promote the need for this work, raise the funds to do it, and disburse those funds where they’ll go furthest to help animals.

We execute this approach through three programs. Our Charity Evaluations and Recommendations program carefully identifies high-impact, animal charities that will likely do the most good with additional donations, then distributes grants to recommended organizations based on need. Our Movement Grants program selects highly promising but underrepresented projects and organizations and supports them with grants. And our Meta-Fundraising program develops resources for highly impactful charities and distinctly promising projects by creating awareness with donors and raising funds. These complementary programs are designed to collectively accelerate our progress toward impact and, ultimately, create a world that is more hospitable to all living beings.

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.