Animal Outlook
Exposing Truth. Inspiring Change.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
COK is working diligently to educate consumers about where their food comes from. We do this by conducting under cover investigations, pulling back the curtain on the atrocities that happen on factory farms and getting the information to consumers so they can make educated decisions about their food choices. We also conduct nationwide campaigns encouraging popular companies such as Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Papa John's to add more vegan options to their menus to appeal to the fast growing number of vegan consumers. Our campaigns are fueled by teams of volunteers across the country who mobilize via their phones and computers politely asking companies to be more vegan friendly. We engage in many speaking engagements throughout the year all over the country spreading the word about the benefits and joys of a vegan diet. We offer people many resources such as recipes and informational literature to ensure that their transition is successful.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Delivering Justice: Legal Advocacy
Animal Outlook’s Legal Advocacy program exposes the horrors of animal agribusiness by challenging the industry status quo through petitions, complaints, and lawsuits. The program has helped bring unprecedented attention to the plight of egg-laying hens through legal work against the United Egg Producers’ misleading "Animal Care Certified" logo, which, according to the Federal Trade Commission, can no longer be stamped on egg cartons nationwide.
Exposing Truth: Undercover Investigations
Animal Outlook's brave investigators wear hidden cameras to document the day-to-day horrors forced upon farmed animals when the meat, egg, dairy, and aquaculture industries think no one is watching. Our undercover footage has led to a slaughterhouse temporarily shuttering its doors, the closure of a chicken and duck hatchery, several state level cruelty cases, and federal regulatory change. Our work has been featured in international media outlets, national television news programs, documentaries, and more.
Inspiring Change: Education & Outreach
Every day, our staff, interns and volunteers are engaging in creative and effective outreach opportunities to empower others to choose compassion by leaving animals off their plates. Our advocacy work includes hosting the annual DC VegFest bringing in more than 20,000 festival-goers as well as our VegWeek campaign inspiring thousands of pre-vegans to take our 7-Day VegPledge. We also feature dozens of free recipes as well as other free materials on our website TryVeg.com
Revolutionizing Food Systems: Corporate Engagement
Working with various international corporations, we’re successfully pushing for change to reduce suffering, eliminate animal ingredients, and mainstream the availability of plant-based options. Our successful efforts include persuading BOCA Foods to go 100% egg-free, Morningstar Farms and Lightlife Foods to significantly reduce their use of eggs starting in 2008 and 2009 respectively -- and both companies are now 100% vegan. Our work to mobilize consumers to ask for more vegan options also helped results in Dunkin' offering dairy-free milks and vegan sausage patties, Starbucks testing various vegan food options, and McDonald's announcing its adding a meatless McPlant line in 2021.
Where we work
Awards
Most Effective Vegan Camapign - Pro-Vegetarian Commercials 2009
National Animal Rights Conference
Non-Profit - Best Video Award for "Side of Truth" (pro-veg ad) 2009
DoGooder
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of undercover investigations/videos to uncover unethical treatment of animals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Exposing Truth: Undercover Investigations
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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 Outlook is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Working to end animal abuse since 1995, COK focuses on cruelty to animals in agriculture and promotes vegetarian eating as a way to build a kinder world for all of us, both human and nonhuman.
Since 1995, COK has served as an unwavering force bringing about positive changes for animals and thanks to our many generous supporters, we've come a long way in our short history: starting as an all-volunteer high school club and evolving into a national voice for animals.
Despite our small staff and limited budget, COK's innovative, cost-effective campaigns are having a tremendous impact.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
COK organizes or participates in outreach and speaking events across the nation. We rely on our strong and ever-growing volunteer base to represent us at educational/tabling opportunities enabling us to reach thousands of people with message of compassion for all.
Also, since companies are often more responsive to consumer demand and feedback, we’re also building a strong and far-reaching e-community of volunteers (including celebrities) who can engage in our campaigns and other activities via their computers and phones -- by contacting companies on various national “call-in” days, joining in dedicated tweet storms re: a specific company or action, etc
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since 1995, COK has served as an unwavering force for animals, bringing about meaningful changes. Starting as an all-volunteer high school club, COK is now a powerful national voice for animals, changing the world for farm animals through our hard-hitting undercover investigations, innovative legal advocacy, effective corporate outreach and public education, and more. Where we may lack in staff size and funding, we make up for in passion and commitment to creating a kinder world for all.
With a dedicated staff with diverse backgrounds, COK fosters critical and creative thinking to generate new ideas and explore innovative approaches. The wide-ranging experience and qualifications brought to the table by our leadership team and staff include conducting undercover investigations, animal control and humane law enforcement, direct care for rescued animals and sanctuary management, human rights advocacy and social work, culinary experience and recipe development and science.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over the course of more than 20 years, COK’s work has led to criminal animal cruelty charges and convictions, slaughterhouse and hatchery shutdowns, we’ve successfully challenged misleading labels on various animal products, persuaded most of the top poultry companies in the US to eliminate the cruel practice of using “nose bones” in male breeder birds, inspired thousands of people to choose compassionate eating, we’re working to put vegan eating on the political map, and we’re changing the way food companies do business by making vegan eating business as usual, and so much more!
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
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
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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 Outlook
Board of directorsas of 10/03/2023
Amy Trakinski
No Affiliation
Ian Ross
No Affiliation
Erica Meier
Compassion Over Killing
Steven J. Cucolo
No Affiliation
Amy Trakinski
No Affiliation
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
Gender identity
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Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/18/2023GuideStar 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 analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- 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 disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- 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 have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- 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.