Animal Society
Evaluated Charity
Animal Society engages in strategic efforts to achieve systemic change for animals, including farmed and wild animals, in Germany and the E.U. Millions of farmed and billions of wild animals suffer each year, so through employing promising interventions to carry out their work, Animal Society could reduce the suffering of a huge number of individual animals. Despite these strengths, relative to this year’s Recommended Charities, their key programs are still developing, and success remains more uncertain at this early stage. We positively note Animal Society’s focus on strengthening the pro-animal movement through collaboration and strategic partnerships and also applaud their role in successfully influencing policy in Germany and the E.U. They proactively address risks and limitations in their work and are committed to continually improving their programs to help the greatest number of animals.
| Primary area of work: | Legal and Legislative |
| Review Published: | 2024 |
DEMOCRACY FOR ANIMALS
What does Animal Society do?
Animal Society is a Germany-based nonprofit founded in 2020 with the ultimate aim of ending animal suffering through strengthening the political representation of animals. Through public campaigns, research, and movement building, Animal Society enhances transparency in animal politics and promotes political engagement to support animal causes. Furthermore, Animal Society campaigns for public policies that support a gradual phase-out of the use of animals for food.
2023 revenue: $262,130
Staff size: 7 (2 full-time, 1 part-time, 4 contractors)
Year founded: 2020
How is Animal Society’s organizational health?
Our assessment indicates Animal Society has positive staff engagement (average staff engagement survey score = 4.9/5) and is operating in ways that support their effectiveness and stability. They have strong processes for evaluating leadership performance and hold regular board meetings. Most recommended policies are formally in place, and all policies are shared with staff. They were transparent during our assessment by providing all the information we requested. Staff positively noted that Animal Society fosters a positive work environment and creates opportunities for employee empowerment.
How does Animal Society create change for animals?
Each year, millions of farmed animals suffer in the food production system and billions of wild animals suffer due to both direct and indirect harms, many of which are human-caused. These animals are affected by political decisions, but their interests are systematically neglected. Animal Society seeks to help animals and reduce their suffering by making progress on the political representation of animals, focusing on long-term change in Germany and the E.U. We were especially impressed by their recent success in establishing a new role of Commissioner for Animal Welfare in Germany, the role they played in the campaign to create an E.U. Animal Welfare Commissioner, and their cost-effective research program. However, we noted that the evident track record of success was, to date, more limited compared to the charities we recommended this year. Some uncertainties and a limited evidence base to date reduced our confidence in the rationale behind some of Animal Society’s “low-probability, high-impact” programs. We attempted a cost-effectiveness analysis for Animal Society’s work to establish a Commissioner for Animal Welfare in Germany. However, due to the highly speculative nature of key inputs, the uncertain long-term impacts of this policy change, and limited empirical evidence, our analysis did not play a role in our recommendation decision for Animal Society. A spreadsheet detailing our analysis is available upon request.
See more details on Animal Society’s theory of change.
See our How We Evaluate Charities web page for information about our charity selection, evaluation methods, and decision-making process.
Animal Society’s Recent Achievements
- In June 2023, Animal Society won their first campaign in Germany to appoint a federal commissioner for Animal Welfare.
- Following a campaign that started in 2021, they (together with numerous organizations in Europe) helped ensure the E.U. will have a commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare.
- In 2024, Animal Society gathered the support of 18 Members of the European Parliament, calling for the European Commission to deliver promptly the due proposal for an extensive revision of the Animal Welfare Legislation in Europe and the ban of cages as promised.
