This menu of outcomes was developed to inform Animal Charity Evaluators’ charity evaluations and grant-making activities and to support advocates in better defining and evaluating their advocacy outcomes.
The outcomes outlined below aim to capture the full spectrum of work done by animal advocates to try and produce change for animals. These outcomes were categorized with the intention of better understanding and communicating both how the animal advocacy movement works as a whole and how individual charities operate within the movement. We use these outcomes to categorize the work of charities we encounter in our charity evaluations and ACE Movement Grants applications. We think they will also be useful for individuals and organizations when evaluating their work or developing their strategic plans.
We don’t think these outcomes are entirely discrete, and many interventions are likely to have multiple outcomes associated with them (e.g., undercover investigation footage can be used to support campaigns to improve welfare standards, or it can be used in outreach to increase the prevalence of anti-speciesist values). We have added examples of interventions to each outcome to better illustrate our thinking. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list.
Decreased Consumption of Animal Products
This category refers to interventions aimed at encouraging and supporting individuals to decrease their consumption or use of animal products.
Examples of interventions that could work toward this outcome include the following:
- Veg*n starter kits or programs
- Veg*n pledge programs
- Veg*n education via leafleting, ads on billboards or online, and media outreach
- Encouraging people to boycott zoos, aquariums, circuses, and other forms of human entertainment involving the use of animals
- Encouraging people to boycott cosmetics companies that test on animals
- Encouraging people to boycott companies that manufacture clothing using animal fur
- Lobbying for the introduction of meat taxes and/or ending meat subsidies
Direct Help
This category refers to interventions aimed at providing direct help for animals.
Examples of interventions that could work toward this outcome include the following:
- Protecting and rehabilitating stray or abandoned companion animals
- Providing veterinary care and shelter for rescued animals, often in the form of sanctuaries
- Representing individual animals in court cases
- Providing veterinary care and rehabilitation for wild animals
Improvement of Welfare Standards
This category refers to interventions aimed at improving the welfare of animals.
Examples of interventions that could work toward this outcome include the following:
- Campaigns pressuring producers of animal products to commit to adopting higher welfare standards (e.g., ending the use of battery cages for hens in the egg industry, switching to faster-killing insecticides, etc.)
- Outreach to food service providers (e.g., supermarkets, restaurant chains, and companies providing food for hospitals or school canteens), encouraging them to source animal products from supply chains with higher animal welfare standards
- Ballot initiatives to encode animal welfare policies into law
- Welfare certification schemes or programs
- Lobbying for humane methods to control animal populations (e.g., contraception as an alternative to culling)
Increased Availability of Animal-Free Products
This category refers to interventions aimed at increasing the availability and improving the quality of plant-based and cell-cultured options.
Examples of interventions that could work toward this outcome include the following:
- Labeling schemes or programs for alternative proteins
- Lobbying government food authorities to approve alternative proteins as safe
- Campaigning to oppose bans on using “meat,” “milk,” and other words traditionally used to describe animal products to also describe plant-based meats and milks
- Providing strategic support and fundraising to food tech startups and entrepreneurs
- Conducting scientific research aimed at improving the texture and taste of cell-cultured meat
- Campaigning to get institutions to offer more plant-based options
Increased Prevalence of Anti-Speciesist Values
This category refers to interventions aimed at spreading and solidifying anti-speciesist values.
Examples of interventions that could work toward this outcome include the following:
- Education programs aimed at fostering compassion and empathy for farmed or wild animals
- Legal work to encode anti-speciesist values into policy (e.g., recognition of certain animals as persons)
- Protests and other direct actions aimed at promoting moral consideration of animals in public discourse
- Documentaries aimed at promoting compassion for farmed animals
Stronger Animal Advocacy Movement
This category refers to interventions aimed at developing a stronger animal advocacy movement.
Examples of interventions that could work toward this outcome include the following:
- Helping organizations create healthy cultures and sustainable structures by promoting the best management, human resources, and workplace practices
- Supporting organizations in their Representation/Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (R/DEI) initiatives and supporting individual activists and advocates of marginalized groups
- Coordinating veg*n festivals, conferences, and other events for networking and knowledge sharing
- Organizing workshops, courses, or internships to improve the skills of activists
- Conducting research to improve our understanding of different interventions or approaches
- Connecting with other social movements, communities, or influencers
- Implementing initiatives to support the mental health of animal advocates
