Animal Charity Evaluators
Helping people help animals
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Animal suffering in our world is diverse and immense, but the number of animals used and killed for food dwarfs the number of animals used by humans for other purposes. Furthermore, the number of wild animals is several orders of magnitude greater than the number of farmed animals. However, the distribution of resources to help animals is highly inconsistent with these patterns. Although farmed animals represent over 99% of animals used by humans, charities that exclusively advocate for farmed animals receive less than 1% of all donations to animal charities. Similarly, despite the fact that wild animals represent 99.9% of all vertebrates on earth, there are few charities and almost no resources dedicated exclusively to evaluating and improving the welfare of wild animals. In order to have the most impact, Animal Charity Evaluators recommends that donors concentrate their efforts on preventing the suffering of as many farmed animals and wild animals as possible.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Charity Evaluations
ACE conducts annual charity evaluations to identify the most effective animal charities working in high-priority cause areas. Annually, we publish lists of recommended charities to promote organizations that would likely produce the greatest gains for animals with additional donations. We are transparent about our charity evaluation process and make improvements to it each year.
Grantmaking
ACE awards grants via our Recommended Charity Fund and Movement Grants program. The Recommended Charity Fund is for anyone who wishes to support ACE’s recommended charities through a single donation. Funds are dispersed twice a year, in January and July, to our Top Charities and Standout Charities working on a diverse range of effective interventions. Each June, we award Movement Grants to organizations and individuals working on various approaches to animal advocacy—especially those that lack funding, target large numbers of animals, or operate in regions with a small animal advocacy movement. This allows us to reach organizations that are too small or novel to be considered in our Charity Evaluations program, ensuring that we can support the growth of a broad range of effective organizations.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Dollars donated to support advocacy efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Activists, Researchers
Related Program
Grantmaking
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2022, ACE helped to influence an estimated $8.3 million in donations within the animal advocacy movement. Since 2014, the total influenced amount is estimated to be more than $56 million.
Total number of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Activists, Researchers
Related Program
Grantmaking
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
ACE awards grants to our Top and Standout Charities via our Recommended Charity Fund and to promising animal advocacy projects in neglected regions around the globe via our Movement Grants program.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) is dedicated to our mission of finding and promoting the most effective ways to help animals. We aim to assist compassionate donors, advocates, and volunteers in making informed decisions about how to help animals as effectively as possible. ACE strives to identify ways to alleviate suffering and improve the lives of animals on a wide scale, while continuously updating our recommendations based on new evidence. Our goal is to help people help animals. Ultimately, ACE's vision is a world in which no individual is given less than full moral consideration on the basis of any morally irrelevant feature of their identity, including species membership.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
To achieve ACE’s mission of finding and promoting the most effective ways to help animals, we pursue two main programs: Charity Evaluations and Grantmaking.
Charity Evaluations: ACE evaluates animal charities around the globe in order to determine their effectiveness in reducing animal suffering. Our comprehensive Charity Evaluations Program provides an in-depth look at each charity’s Programs, Cost Effectiveness, Room for More Funding, and Leadership and Culture in order to recommend them as either a Top Charity or a Standout Charity. We publish our recommendations to help people help the most animals with their donations.
Grantmaking: ACE awards grants from both our Recommended Charity Fund and Movement Grants program. Our Recommended Charity Fund is distributed biannually to our current effective Top Charities and Standout Charities. Our Movement Grants program aims to build and strengthen the global animal advocacy movement by awarding grants annually to applicants working on approaches that are underfunded, target large numbers of animals, and are in regions with a relatively small advocacy movement. Since 2014, ACE estimates that we have helped to influence over $56 million USD in donations within the animal advocacy movement.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
ACE has a talented globally-distributed team that is knowledgeable in research, development, communications, management, and leadership. Our organization welcomes diverse perspectives from both the animal advocacy and effective altruism communities to help inform our decision-making processes about the best ways to help the most animals. Each year, our research team solicits feedback and consults experts in academia as well as in the field on what ACE can do to increase our support of the movement. In our work, we include the ideas of people with expertise and lived experiences in their local areas. Our team solicits input from the animal advocacy movement and listens openly, seeking to understand their point of view. When we encounter new information, we update our thinking. ACE learns from the charities working in the communities they serve so that we can help them operate more effectively to reduce animal suffering.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since our founding in 2012, ACE has considered thousands of charities for evaluation and recommended 28 charities as impactful giving opportunities to help people make a difference for the most animals with their donations. We have supported our Top Charities and Standout Charities with more than $7.2 million distributed through our Recommended Charity Fund and awarded over $4.5 million to 178 promising animal advocacy projects in 42 countries through our Movement Grants program. Since ACE began tracking this metric in 2014, we estimate that we’ve helped to influence over $56M within the animal advocacy movement.
Select 2022 accomplishments:
–Recommended 4 Top Charities and 11 Standout Charities
–Distributed over $2.6 million in grants from our Recommended Charity Fund to our Top and Standout Charities
–Awarded $910,000 from our Movement Grants program to 35 promising animal advocacy projects
–Helped to influence an estimated $8.3 million within the animal advocacy movement
–Welcomed a new Executive Director
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Animal Charity Evaluators
Board of directorsas of 09/07/2023
Verónica Díaz Carrai
Tipping Point Private Foundation
Term: 2021 - 2024
Kieran Greig
Rethink Priorities
Allison Smith
Powerback Rehab/Glen Ridge Nursing Care Center
Zachary Freitas-Groff
Stanford University
Verónica Díaz Carrai
Tipping Point Private Foundation
Andrea Gunn
Sharpen Strategy
Ravi Mulani
Intuit
Thomas Bilello
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/30/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.