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Animal Charity Evaluators

Helping People Help Animals

Menu of Interventions

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) developed the Menu of Interventions to inform our assessment of charities’ programs and to support advocates in defining and evaluating their work. As we refine this list, we expect to use it alongside our Menu of Outcomes in future charity evaluations and grantmaking activities.

The 16 intervention types outlined below aim to capture a broad spectrum of strategies animal advocates use to try to produce change for animals. We categorized these interventions with the intention of better understanding and communicating how the animal advocacy movement works as a whole and how individual charities operate within the movement. The Menu of Interventions is not intended to be an exhaustive list of intervention types.

Many interventions are likely to be associated with multiple advocacy outcomes. To better illustrate our thinking about the potential impact of each intervention, we included expected outcomes for each type. See our Menu of Outcomes page to learn more about these outcomes.

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Books or documentaries
This category refers to books, documentaries, and/or films intended to spread anti-speciesist values or support an animal advocacy initiative.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Increased prevalence of anti-speciesist values
  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
Campus outreach
This category refers to outreach to encourage students to become community leaders and/or create animal advocacy clubs at their campuses.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
Capacity building
This category refers to developing or strengthening the skills, processes, and/or resources that animal advocates need to conduct and improve their work (e.g., recruiting or training advocates, building alliances, providing guidance to other organizations, etc.).
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Improvement of welfare standards
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
  • Increased availability of animal-free products
Corporate outreach
This category refers to outreach or campaigns to encourage food companies (e.g., retailers, supermarkets, restaurants) to commit to improving animal welfare standards throughout their supply chains.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Improvement of welfare standards
Education
This category refers to humane education and other educational programs intended to spread anti-speciesist values and change attitudes and behaviors toward animals.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Increased prevalence of anti-speciesist values
  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
Individual outreach
This category refers to outreach to individuals to raise awareness about animal issues and promote behavioral change (e.g., online vegan outreach, social media campaigns, leafleting, vegan pledge campaigns, etc.).
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Decreased consumption of animal products
  • Increased prevalence of anti-speciesist values
  • Improvement of welfare standards
Institutional (or corporate) vegan outreach
This category refers to outreach to institutions (e.g., schools, universities, hospitals) or food companies to promote plant-based options or reduce animal product consumption.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Increased availability of animal-free products
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
Investigations
This category refers to investigations into animal-related issues or facilities (e.g., undercover investigations of how animals are treated on farms, during transport, and in slaughterhouses).
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Improvement of welfare standards
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
Investor outreach
This category refers to outreach to encourage investors to support plant-based, cell-cultured, or higher-welfare animal products or to stop supporting animal products altogether.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Increased availability of animal-free products
  • Improvement of welfare standards
Legal or policy work
This category refers to engagement with politicians, lawyers, or government/public institutions to change laws and/or policies affecting animals, including filing lawsuits for law enforcement or launching campaigns about specific initiatives (e.g., ballot initiatives).
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Improvement of welfare standards
  • Increased availability of animal-free products
Media (or celebrity) outreach
This category refers to outreach to media outlets, journalists, celebrities, and/or influencers to change attitudes and behaviors toward animals or support a specific animal advocacy initiative.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Improvement of welfare standards
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
Producer outreach
This category refers to outreach to animal farmers or producers of animal products to encourage them to increase animal welfare standards on farms (e.g., adopting cage-free housing systems) or transition from farming animals to farming plants.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Improvement of welfare standards
  • Increase availability of animal-free products
Product labeling
This category refers to programs to label or certify products as vegan, vegetarian, or higher welfare.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Increased availability of animal-free products
  • Improvement of welfare standards
Protests
This category refers to protests or organized demonstrations to support an animal advocacy initiative.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Decreased consumption of animal products
Research
This category refers to conducting or promoting research relevant or useful to animal advocacy.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Stronger animal advocacy movement
  • Increased availability of animal-free products
  • Improvement of welfare standards
Veterinary care
This category refers to providing veterinary care and/or shelter for rescued animals, often in the form of sanctuaries, shelters, or neutering campaigns.
 
Expected outcome(s):

  • Direct help
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