(NOTE: This post was made under Animal Charity Evaluators’ previous name, Effective Animal Activism.)
The EAA Research team has been working hard, and we’d like to give you an update on what’s in store:
1. Humane Education Programs Analysis
We are continuing our research on the effectiveness of the variety of programs undertaken by animal groups, and have recently been working closely with organizations to look into Humane Education programs such as those run by HEART, Bridges of Respect, and one of our top charities: The Humane League. We find these programs to be promising candidates for highly-effective interventions and intend to share our findings in the near future.
2. Legislative Reform Campaigns Analysis
Another area of great interest to our members is the effectiveness of pursuing political avenues for change through legislative reforms. We believe this is a route which offers great potential.
A recent Compassionate Communities blog post gives an evidence-based introduction to why there is good reason to believe that legislative reform campaigns have the potential to do large amounts of good for animals:
(For more excellent analyses, check out the Compassionate Communities Blog; and a great source for quantitative breakdowns at: Counting Animals)
3. Media Campaigns
We have just begun a new investigation into the effects of a variety of media campaigns including releasing undercover investigations, TV ads, and news coverage.
4. Continuing our Charity Evaluation
We are looking in closer detail at some of the largest animal organizations, and will be posting in-depth analysis in the coming months.
Call For Questions!
Although our research team has plenty of work, we’d also like to collect a list of future topics for inquiry. So we want to know from YOU, our members and readers:
How can you best use your time to make a difference for animals? What do you want to know about how to reduce suffering?
We’re happy to consider any questions about how to effectively make a difference for animals, in whatever sphere of your life – volunteering, career or philanthropy. These questions could be at the conceptual or ethical level, or they could concern nitty-gritty practicalities.
We’re particularly interested in questions that are not already well addressed by other groups.
The most popular questions will receive the attention of our research team, and their findings will feature in our blog and research section. Either post your questions below, or contact us directly.
Charity Feedback from 2022 Evaluations
Highlights From Our 2022 Reddit AMA
Our Approach to Assessing Programs
Here are two questions that I regard as both highly important and insufficiently addressed:
1. What is the most effective strategy for increasing the number of vegetarians? In particular, should we try to persuade people to abstain from eating meat, or should we support the development of adequate meat susbstitutes?
2. What are the effects of vegetarianism on human attitudes towards nonhuman animals? In particular, how do the direct benefits of causing humans to abstain from eating meat, measured in suffering avoided in factory farms, compare to its indirect benefits for sentient beings more generally, measured in lower incidence and intensity of speciesist attitudes? Which class of benefits is greater? And by how much?
How can one most effectively inspire people to become new animal activists? people who will campaign for animals aswell as being vegan?
Also just a quick note on that video; while it seems true HSUS has made a massive impact their budget is much bigger than other charities and this could be why moreso than their message.
1. Are environmental, health and third world arguments useful for vegan education?
2. Are vegans more involved activists or donate more than lacto-ovo-vegetarians?
3. Do environmental arguments for veganism promote an idyllic view of natural processes?
4. Is anti-speciesism in leaflets, websites and so on dissuasive for getting vegans?
I think it is quite unlikely that people will stop eating meat in the near future. it is hard to persuade them to go vegetarian for all sorts of reasons you know much better than me. Instead, when in vitro meat will be available, eating meat should become illegal. Apart from the (likely) low effectiveness of trying to persuade people to go vegetarian (I say this while I keep on trying to persuade people to go vegetarian) there is another aspect that makes me think that in vitro meat is a better option. Many people seem to attribute a certain value to their culture, and food is (at least in some countries) a big part of this culture. I eat Quorn and I am happy when I can use it to make dishes that have been eaten in my family (or country) for centuries. There is a part of my childhood and personal history that is strongly related to some dishes, andthis is probabl s true for everyone. So if we don’t find a way to replace meat we have to give up on centuries of traditional cuisine. This consideration, plus my first point, makes me think that being vegetarian is a good solution for the moment, but that in the meanwhile we should try to develop meat substitutes.