Animal suffering is a vast and pervasive problem. Billions of animals endure unimaginable pain and distress in factory farms and decaying wild spaces. The sheer scale of the problem can make the situation seem overwhelming and hopeless, especially considering the limited resources available to develop solutions and create meaningful change.
Fortunately, there are many organizations dedicated to positively impacting the lives of both farmed and wild animals. Their tireless efforts and compassion embody the belief that all sentient beings deserve a better, more humane world—by supporting these organizations, you can help create a kinder world for animals.
Why Should You Help Animals?
Helping animals is not just a moral and ethical choice; it reflects our commitment to justice and compassion. By helping animals, we expand our circle of compassion, fostering a more inclusive and empathetic society. Embracing anti-speciesism, we acknowledge that all sentient beings deserve consideration and respect, regardless of their species. Helping animals promotes a world where kindness and justice are extended to all, including those who cannot speak for themselves!
What Is An Animal Charity?
In the U.S., animal charities are 501(c)3 entities, meaning that they exist solely for charitable purposes rather than to serve private interests1. In a broader sense, an animal charity is any nonprofit organization dedicated to helping animals. These organizations include both animal rescues that focus on specific animals and advocacy groups that campaign more generally for animals on a range of topics. Different charities focus on specific animal groups, such as farmed or wild animals, and use different interventions to advocate on their behalf, such as awareness building, media outreach, educational initiatives, research and analysis, and corporate and political campaigns.
Some animal charities aim to help as many animals as possible by implementing strategies and initiatives that maximize positive impact on animals’ wellbeing. These effective animal charities are driven by measurable, evidence-based, and strategic approaches designed to create the greatest good for animals.
Why Are Animal Charities Important?
Animal charities play a crucial role in creating a more just and compassionate world for both animals and humans. They work toward protecting and improving the lives of millions of animals subjected to cruelty, neglect, and other forms of human-caused harm. Animal charities also raise awareness about the treatment of animals across various industries and promote compassion toward all living beings. Additionally, they educate the public about the environmental, health, and ethical impacts of animal consumption, and encourage innovation to create and advance more sustainable and humane alternatives.
Why Should People Donate to Animal Charities?
Beyond the moral imperative, helping animals has profound ripple effects across various critical issues. A reduction in animal agriculture, for instance, plays a pivotal role in mitigating climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving natural resources. Many animal charities intersect with social justice as they address disparities in access to food and resources, particularly in communities affected by the environmental consequences of industrial animal farming. Animal advocacy efforts can also positively impact public health by reducing the risk of zoonotic diseases and antibiotic resistance.
Reasons to Donate to Animal Charities
By fostering more ethical and sustainable relationships with animals, you are contributing to a holistic, interconnected network of positive change that extends to numerous facets of our society and the world at large.
Support an effective, pluralistic movement
The issue of animal suffering is so vast that each strategy, regardless of its approach, plays a valuable role in improving the welfare of animals. You can find and support effective animal charities that address a diverse array of cause areas, ensuring that many ways of helping animals are being funded. Many turn to ACE to support effective organizations that rely on scientific evidence and research to determine how best to alleviate the suffering of billions of animals worldwide. Effective animal charities might also be a good match for your philanthropy if you are seeking to support groups that prioritize data-driven interventions and efficient resource allocation, making them a powerful force in the ongoing effort to improve the lives of animals that share our planet.
Cover operating costs
Animal charities play a crucial role in protecting and caring for animals. However, they heavily rely on donations to sustain their operations and achieve their goals. This issue is particularly challenging for charities that focus on farmed and wild animals, as they receive significantly less funding compared to organizations that focus on companion animals. Donations also help ensure the stability of these organizations, enabling them to withstand changes in the business cycle or external shocks that may affect the amount of funding they receive.
Best Animal Charities to Donate to in 2023
Empower a kinder world by making strategic donations to these effective animal charities fostering compassion, justice, and sustainable change for farmed and wild animals.
Çiftlik Hayvanlarını Koruma Derneği
Çiftlik Hayvanlarını Koruma Derneği (CHKD), also known as Kafessiz Türkiye, is a Turkish organization that is primarily dedicated to improving farmed animal welfare standards—in particular, farmed chickens and fishes. They achieve this through corporate, individual, and media outreach, as well as research, education, and capacity-building initiatives to strengthen the animal advocacy movement. By donating to Kafessiz Türkiye, you can make a difference in the lives of farmed animals.
Dansk Vegetarisk Forening
Dansk Vegetarisk Forening (DVF) is a Danish organization dedicated to promoting plant-based nutrition and reforming the food system. Their research, education programs, and public outreach inspire individuals and companies alike to make kinder, more sustainable food choices. Your donations help support DVF’s efforts to create a healthier and more sustainable future in Denmark and beyond.
Faunalytics
Faunalytics is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that provides animal advocates with relevant information for advocacy. Their efforts include conducting and publishing independent research, collaborating with partner organizations on various research projects, and promoting existing research and data for animal advocates through their website’s content library. By donating to Faunalytics, you can help provide animal advocates with the information they need to make a difference.
Fish Welfare Initiative
Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) works to improve the welfare of farmed fishes. Their main program in India, the Alliance For Responsible Aquaculture, involves working directly with fish farmers to implement water quality improvements. FWI also heavily invests in research and development to identify more cost-effective welfare improvements. Your donation to FWI will help fuel their efforts to improve the lives of farmed fishes in India and elsewhere.
Legal Impact for Chickens
Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC) files strategic lawsuits for chickens and other farmed animals, develops and refines creative methods to enforce existing cruelty laws in U.S. factory farms, and sues companies that break animal welfare commitments. LIC’s first lawsuit, a shareholder derivative case against Costco’s executives for chicken neglect, achieved significant media exposure. By donating to LIC, you can help make factory-farm cruelty a liability in the United States.
New Roots Institute
New Roots Institute educates U.S. students about the connections between industrial animal agriculture and important issues like animal welfare, climate change, human rights, and public health. Their Leadership Program offers a year-long fellowship for students interested in exploring factory farming’s impacts and solutions. Your donations to New Roots Institute will support their programs to empower the next generation to end factory farming.
Shrimp Welfare Project
Shrimp Welfare Project (SWP) is the first organization to focus exclusively on improving farmed shrimp welfare. Their efforts include raising awareness about the welfare of farmed shrimps and outreach and collaboration with stakeholders across the supply chain to improve welfare standards. By donating to SWP, you can help increase the visibility of shrimp welfare as a neglected and tractable issue.
Sinergia Animal
Sinergia Animal works to improve the welfare of farmed animals, promote plant-based products, and strengthen the animal advocacy movement in several countries in Asia and South America. They collaborate with major retailers to ensure that animal welfare commitments are made and met. They also engage in research, investigations, policy work, and outreach to media, institutions, and producers. Your donations help support Sinergia Animal’s efforts to create a better world for farmed animals.
The Good Food Institute
The Good Food Institute (GFI) supports research and start-ups focused on alternative proteins in regions around the globe. They also engage with corporations, institutions, and policy work to strengthen the capacity of the animal advocacy movement. Your donations to GFI support their efforts to develop and promote plant-based and cell-cultured alternatives to animal products in several countries.
The Humane League
The Humane League (THL) operates in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan, where they work to help farmed animals through vegan advocacy and corporate outreach to improve farmed animal welfare standards. THL supports the growth of the global animal advocacy movement via the Open Wing Alliance, a coalition whose mission is to end the use of battery cages worldwide. Your donation to THL helps advance their work to create a kinder world for all farmed animals.
Wild Animal Initiative
Wild Animal Initiative is a U.S.-based organization working to advance the wild animal welfare science field. By conducting their own research and supporting other wild animal researchers, Wild Animal Initiative aims to increase academic interest in wild animal welfare and identify evidence-based solutions to improving wild animals’ wellbeing. Donating to Wild Animal Initiative supports their crucial work to improve our understanding of wild animals’ lives and promote their wellbeing.
Donate to Multiple Animal Charities
We understand that it can be difficult to decide which effective animal charities to donate to, let alone make several transactions to support them. Fortunately, you can support all 11 of the above animal charities in a single transaction by making a gift to the Recommended Charity Fund. This fund supports ACE’s current Recommended Charities—which have been rigorously evaluated based on our criteria—in a biannual disbursem*nt determined by our Programs team.
Donate to ACE’s Recommended Charity Fund
