Leave an Effective Legacy Gift

This Fund is a good option if you would like ACE to distribute your legacy gift among our Top Charities and Standout Charities.

By leaving a legacy gift to this Fund, a benefactor will bequeath money to ACE with the restriction that ACE distribute all of the bequest to Top and Standout Charities. ACE may not use the money for funding our own work or the work of any non-recommended charities.

Donations to this Fund will be disbursed twice per year (in January and July) according to the distribution that our research indicates is most effective at that time. Because January’s disbursement falls soon after our annual release of new charity recommendations and July’s disbursement falls soon after our mid-year check on Top Charities’ room for more funding, we will be able to use this information to guide our allocation decisions.

We will do our best to ensure that your personal goals for reducing animal suffering are being met. If there is a particular cause or intervention that is most important to you—and that aligns with ACE’s philosophical commitments—please let us know when you send a copy of your bequest language. We will keep your request on file to assist us in making the decisions that will most effectively achieve your goals.

For more information on the Recommended Charity Fund, and to see our grant history, please visit our Recommended Charity Fund web page.

Suggested language:

“I, [name], of [city, state ZIP], give, devise and bequeath to Animal Charity Evaluators, federal tax identification number 36-4684978, the sum of $_______ [or description of the real or personal property, percentage of your estate, or rest and residue of your estate] for their Recommended Charity Fund.”

Who will determine how to distribute my donation?

It is our fiduciary duty to use your legacy gift to reduce as much animal suffering as possible. To do this, upon receiving your gift, ACE’s Development Director will review any information that you have provided to us about your wishes for what your gift will achieve, and we will earmark your gift in the Fund accordingly. In the January or July that most immediately follows the receipt of your bequest, ACE’s Executive Director and Development Director will consult with the research team to review the latest funding needs of the Top and Standout Charities and determine the most effective distribution of this Fund. If all of their funding needs have been met, and a percentage of the Fund still remains, then it will be held until the following distribution period, when ACE reevaluates the funding needs of recommended charities. The research team, along with ACE’s Executive Director and Development Director, will work together to determine how to regrant your bequest so that it will achieve the optimal outcome for both your own goals and those of ACE’s recommended charities.

Can you give me an example?

Jordan Smith very generously left $500,000 to ACE’s Recommended Charity Fund, bringing the Fund total to $2 million. In July of that year, we looked at the current funding needs of our Top Charities. ACE determined that Top Charity A could use $700,000 to achieve their goals for the year, while Top Charity B could use $250,000, and Top Charity C would use $500,000 well. ACE then discussed the funding needs and projects of their Standout Charities, and determined that four of them would accomplish the most for animals with a gift of $100,000 each. This left $150,000 in the Fund, which would be held until the following year’s January review and distribution. In the end, Jordan’s gift was able to effect a significant amount of change for animals by supporting charities that would most effectively use his donation the year it was received.

This Fund is for you if you would like ACE to redistribute your legacy gift to be used as effectively as possible.

You want to make sure that your legacy gift will be put to the best use possible. With this Fund, ACE can help you do exactly that. We will evaluate where your donation will be used most effectively to accomplish your goal of reducing animal suffering.

Possible outcomes include:

• Funding one or several of our Top and Standout Charities (grants from this Fund will not exceed 50% of any one organization’s annual budget)
• Funding ACE’s own operational expenses so that we may more effectively influence gifts to recommended charities (not to exceed ACE’s current donation cap)
• If all of the needs of our Top Charities, Standout Charities, and ACE have been met, we may fund specific advocacy projects or charities that are not currently on our list of recommendations but that are also doing impactful work

Donations to this Fund will be distributed annually, in the spring, after we have completed our latest round of charity evaluations. This will give us current information on each organization’s funding needs, programs, and effectiveness.

We will do our best to ensure that your personal goals for reducing animal suffering are being met. If there is a particular cause or intervention that is most important to you—and that aligns with ACE’s philosophical commitments—please let us know when you send a copy of your bequest language. We will keep your request on file to assist us in making the decisions that will most effectively achieve your goals.

Suggested language:

“I, [name], of [city, state ZIP], give, devise and bequeath to Animal Charity Evaluators, federal tax identification number 36-4684978, the sum of $_______ [or description of the real or personal property, percentage of your estate, or rest and residue of your estate] for their Effective Animal Legacy Fund.”

To discuss leaving a personalized legacy gift with ACE, please contact ACE’s Development Director Heather Herrell, or submit your name and preferred contact information here. We will be in touch with you shortly.

Who will determine how to distribute my donation?

It is our fiduciary duty to use your legacy gift to reduce as much animal suffering as possible. To do this, upon receiving your gift, ACE’s Executive Director and Development Director will review any information that you have provided to us about your wishes for what your gift will achieve, and we will earmark your gift in the Fund accordingly. In January of the year after your bequest is received, ACE’s Executive Director and Development Director will consult with the research team to review the latest funding needs of the Top Charities, Standout Charities, and ACE to determine the most effective distribution of this Fund. If a percentage of the Fund still remains, then the Executive Director and research team will review any outstanding projects or charities that we feel will reduce significant animal suffering with appropriate funding. The ACE Directors and research team will work together to determine how to regrant your bequest so that it will achieve an optimal outcome for both your own goals and those of the animal advocacy movement.

Can you give me an example?

Mia Ruiz very generously left $2 million to ACE’s Effective Animal Legacy Fund with no restrictions, bringing the Fund total to $3 million. In January of that year, we looked at the current funding needs of our Top Charities. ACE determined that Top Charity A could use $1,000,000 to achieve their goals for the year, while Top Charity B could use $800,000, and Top Charity C would effectively use $500,000. ACE then discussed the funding needs and projects of our five Standout Charities, and determined that all of them would accomplish a lot of good for animals with a gift of $100,000 to each. This left $200,000 remaining. ACE knew that a gift of $100,000 would allow us to hire one new researcher for two years, which would help to improve the effectiveness of all animal advocates. The remaining $100,000 was then granted to a charity that ACE knew was developing an innovative new technology that we had determined would dramatically impact the level of suffering that farmed animals experienced. In the end, Mia was able to effect a significant amount of change that was timely and relevant to the current needs of the animal advocacy movement.