Apply For a Grant from our Effective Animal Advocacy Fund

[Español]

What is the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund, and how does it work?

The Effective Animal Advocacy Fund (EAA Fund) is for anyone who is interested in making the animal advocacy movement more effective. ACE launched the EAA Fund in late 2018 for three main reasons:

We believe that a broad, pluralistic animal advocacy movement is more likely to be resilient—and hence more impactful—than a narrow, monistic animal advocacy movement.

There is limited available evidence supporting the effectiveness of any given intervention, and we think that the movement can increase its chances of success by continuing to fund a wide range of interventions.

We think that building relationships with a larger group of advocates and charities will make our own work more effective by providing us with new information to consider and new groups with which to collaborate.

Donations to the EAA Fund will be distributed to a number of promising charities around the world; a small proportion of funding may also be used to support our recommended charities. The disbursement will be determined by a review committee consisting of several ACE team members.

The EAA Fund receives a large number of applications from organizations located outside of the United States, and we recognize that English is a second language for many of them. If any part of the EAA Fund process is unclear, don’t hesitate to reach out to our EAA Fund Program Officer, Marianne van der Werf.

Guidelines

We are more likely to fund:

Newer and/or younger organizations with high potential

Projects focused on farmed animals

Projects focused on advancing wild animal welfare (For our views on wild animal welfare, see our page on cause priorities.)

Projects such as those funded in our first round and second round of grants

Projects in regions where the animal advocacy movement is less well-established, such as areas outside of North America and Western Europe

We are less likely to fund:

Larger, well-funded organizations

Projects focused solely on companion animals, animal testing, animals in entertainment, or projects focused on rescuing and rehabilitating animals

Direct care for animals (For our views on the value of sanctuaries, see our blog post on the topic.)

Projects focused solely on species conservation or projects prioritizing ecosystems over the wellbeing of individual animals (For our views on effectively helping wild animals, see our page on cause priorities.)

Well funded approaches such as leafleting and other individual outreach

Approaches that are already being pursued by our Top Charities

Grants exceeding $100,000

We are not able to fund:

Organizations that encourage any form of animal exploitation

Organizations that do not support ACE’s views on diversity, equity, and inclusion

Projects that are purely for research purposes. For research proposals, please apply to our Animal Advocacy Research Fund. For more details, see the FAQ section below.

Organizations registered in countries sanctioned by the U.S.

Organizations directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office

Please note that we may contact you with additional questions or for further clarification. If you have any questions, please contact our EAA Fund Program Officer, Marianne van der Werf.

Process after applying

After closing the application, the review committee will evaluate the applications and decide which ones will continue to the second stage. You may learn about the review process we used for the April 2019 round in our first announcement blog post; the review process for the current round will be similar. Applicants in the second stage will be requested to provide backup documentation for our due diligence process.1 Based on the backup information, the review committee and ACE’s board members will make final decisions. When the grantees have been notified of their successful application, the grantees and the EAA Fund Program Officer will set goals for the grant and grantees will be asked to sign a grant agreement. Around four months after the grant has been disbursed, ACE will check in with the grantees via a questionnaire.2

We will be accepting applications for the next round of funding in early 2021.

EAA Fund FAQs

How is the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund's distribution determined? Donations will be distributed to promising charities around the world, and a limited amount may also be distributed to ACE’s recommended charities. The Fund’s disbursement will be determined by the EAA Fund review committee. We are likely to fund a wide scope of charities, organizations, and individuals that are not necessarily on our list of recommendations, but that are pursuing important work within the movement. Details on our process are subject to change as our thinking evolves. For more detailed information on how applications were evaluated in our first round of funding, please see our official announcement.

If I’m looking for funding for a research project, should I apply to the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund or the Animal Advocacy Research Fund? In order to ensure research projects are of the highest possible standards, we are asking that all funding requests for research projects be submitted to the Animal Advocacy Research Fund (AARF), which has a grant evaluation process that is better optimized for research. The purpose of the AARF is to support research that contributes to an understanding of effective animal advocacy. A generous benefactor has committed $1,000,000 to be used for this program over three years. We hope to distribute most of this funding via grants to advocacy groups, academics (including graduate students and postdoctoral researchers), and other qualified researchers.

Does the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund require that grantees publicize the grant? The Effective Animal Advocacy Fund does not require this. Being included in the grant announcements blog post or on other pages on ACE’s website is optional; grantees are given the opportunity to remain anonymous. Everything we write about the grantees will be confirmed with the grantees prior to publication to ensure we are representing them accurately and no confidential information is included. Announcing the grant to the grantees’ own audiences is also not required.

How do I apply for a grant from the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund? Fill out this application to apply for funding.

Apply For Research Funding

The purpose of ACE’s Animal Advocacy Research Fund is to support research that contributes to an understanding of effective animal advocacy.

A generous benefactor has committed $1,000,000 to be used for this program. We hope to distribute most of this funding via grants to advocacy groups, academics, and other qualified Researchers. All are welcome to apply.

The deadline to apply for the next round of research funding has passed. We will announce the next deadline to submit applications soon.

Learn more