Animal Charity Evaluators

What Animal Charity Evaluators does

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity founded in 2012 and headquartered in Walnut, California (registered office in Covina), operating with 11-50 employees. Its core product is a Charity Evaluation Program that assesses animal advocacy organizations against three criteria: Impact (theory of change and cost-effectiveness, including the proprietary Suffering-Adjusted Days metric), Room for More Funding, and Organizational Health (assessed via an Engagement Survey developed with Scarlet Spark and a Whistleblower Form developed with Animal Defense Partnership). ACE does not charge for evaluations; it is funded entirely through donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate donors.

The organization operates three revenue-bearing programs beyond the evaluation methodology itself. The Recommended Charity Fund, launched in 2017, is a pooled donation vehicle that ACE distributes twice yearly across its current 10 recommended charities, with over $12 million disbursed to date. The Movement Grants program funds emerging and underfunded animal advocacy organizations globally, supported by a $300,000 USD matching challenge in 2026. Donations are processed through Fundraise Up, Stripe, and PayPal on ACE's website, with extension to third-party platforms (Facebook, PayPal Giving Fund, GiveDirect, EA Foundation, Causevox) for broader reach.

ACE occupies a distinctive position at the intersection of the effective altruism movement and the global animal welfare sector. It is endorsed by Peter Singer and William MacAskill, holds Candid Platinum Transparency and Charity Navigator credentials, and integrates with ecosystem partners including EA Funds, Ambitious Impact, and Animal Advocacy Careers. Donor concentration leans on a tiered system with Diamond-level contributions of $25,000+ from entities such as craigslist Charitable Fund, EA Funds, and Google, supplemented by a long tail of individual givers seeking evidence-based guidance on animal welfare philanthropy.

Name

Animal Charity Evaluators

Legal name

Animal Charity Evaluators

Website

https://animalcharityevaluators.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Animal Charity Evaluators is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that rigorously assesses animal advocacy charities on Impact, Room for More Funding, and Organizational Health, then channels pooled donations to its top-rated recipients through the Recommended Charity Fund and Movement Grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charity Evaluation & Philanthropic Advisory Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Advocacy, Policy & Public Awareness (Animal Welfare) (BPAGAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Animal Welfare & Advocacy Organizations (AFAEALAC), Animal Welfare Auditing, Compliance & Certification Services (Non-testing Lab) (AFAEALAN), Animal Welfare Certification Services (AFALAMAE)

Keywords

• Charity evaluation services
• Animal welfare research
• Nonprofit effectiveness assessment
• Evidence-based philanthropy
• Grant funding programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Walnut

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: ACE receives donations from individuals who want to maximize their charitable impact for animals. Donations are processed through the website via Fundraise Up, Stripe, and PayPal.
2. Recommended Charity Fund: A pooled fund where donors contribute and ACE distributes funds twice yearly to recommended charities based on optimal allocation. Distributed over $12M since 2017.
3. Movement Grants Program: Grant program funding animal advocacy organizations globally, especially those in underrepresented regions or working on underfunded approaches. Funded through donations with matching challenges.
4. Corporate and Foundation Grants: ACE receives support from foundations and corporations including EA Funds, Google, craigslist Charitable Fund, and others listed on their Top Donors page.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that independently evaluates animal advocacy charities on three criteria — Impact, Room for More Funding, and Organizational Health — using a proprietary evidence-based framework. It channels donor contributions to the highest-rated charities through its Recommended Charity Fund (over $12M distributed since 2017) and funds under-resourced animal advocacy work through its Movement Grants program.

Product overview

Animal Charity Evaluators offers a comprehensive portfolio of charity evaluation and giving services focused on animal welfare. The core offering is the Charity Evaluation Program, which rigorously assesses animal advocacy charities on Impact, Room for More Funding, and Organizational Health criteria. This evaluation program feeds into two key funding mechanisms: the Recommended Charity Fund, which distributes pooled donations to top-rated charities (over $12M distributed since 2017), and Movement Grants, which funds emerging and underfunded animal advocacy groups globally. Supporting products include the Engagement Survey tool for assessing organizational health, detailed Charity Evaluation Criteria documentation, and the Charity Handbook for evaluated organizations. The portfolio enables donors to make evidence-based decisions about effective animal charities while providing the movement with grant funding and capacity building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Recommended Charity Fund: A donation vehicle that distributes funds to ACE's current Recommended Charities based on most effective use of available funding.
• Movement Grants

Products and services

• Charity Evaluation Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Distributed over $12M to effective animal advocacy charities since 2017
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Scarlet SparkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizational consultants who collaborated with ACE to develop the engagement survey instrument for evaluating charity workplace culture and organizational health. The survey questions are based on recognized frameworks including Gallup Q12, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Google's Project Oxygen, and Culture Amp research.
• Animal Defense PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal experts who helped develop ACE's Whistleblower Form and contributed to the Organizational Health evaluation criteria. Provides support for handling harassment and discrimination claims in evaluated charities.
• Fundraise UpcoreTechnology or IntegrationFundraising widget for collecting online donations. PCI and GDPR compliant, using industry-standard SSL technology. Partnered with Stripe and PayPal for payment processing. Sensitive financial information stored directly with Stripe/PayPal rather than on ACE's servers.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processor for online donations on ACE's website. PCI-compliant servers store credit card information securely via SSL. Used for both one-time and recurring donation processing.
• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationAlternative online donation processor for ACE's website. Handles payment processing with private financial information stored with PayPal rather than on ACE's servers.
• Effective Altruism FoundationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party platform through which donors can give to ACE or ACE-managed Recommended Charity Fund. Users may choose to donate through EA Foundation's platform.
• EA Funds (Animal Welfare Fund)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor donor to ACE and the animal welfare ecosystem. Listed as a Diamond-level donor ($25,000+) for 2025. Part of the effective altruism funding ecosystem.
• GoogleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed as a donor for 2023, contributing to ACE's operations. Major technology company supporting effective altruism causes.
• craigslist Charitable FundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerConsistent Diamond-level donor ($25,000+) listed on ACE's Top Donors page from 2018-2026. Major philanthropic supporter of ACE's mission.
• Ambitious ImpactcoreTechnology or IntegrationDeveloper of the Suffering-Adjusted Days (SADs) metric that ACE adapted for cost-effectiveness analysis. ACE uses their internal system for making quantitative decisions on animal welfare ideas.
• Animal Advocacy CareersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization whose talent survey ACE consults when assessing whether success of charity growth plans is contingent on difficult hires. Part of the animal advocacy ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GiveWell: The most direct comparable: an EA-aligned charity evaluator that assesses nonprofits on cost-effectiveness and publishes top recommendations. Operates the same core function as ACE, but focused on global health and poverty rather than animal welfare.
• Open Philanthropy: EA-aligned grantmaking organization that conducts deep cause prioritization and funds high-impact interventions, including in animal welfare. Shares ACE's evidence-driven approach to directing philanthropic capital.
• Founders Pledge: EA-aligned platform helping entrepreneurs direct philanthropic capital to high-impact causes, including animal welfare. Closely comparable model: pooled donor capital, evidence-based allocation, cause-area research.

Broad incumbents

• Charity Navigator: Largest U.S. charity evaluator, assessing financial health and accountability across all nonprofit categories. ACE's Charity Navigator badge signals overlap, though ACE goes deeper on cost-effectiveness than Charity Navigator's financial-screen approach.
• Candid (formerly GuideStar): Operates the Seal of Transparency (including the Platinum tier ACE holds) and the Foundation Directory. Adjacent evaluator focused on transparency and nonprofit metadata rather than impact ranking.
• 80,000 Hours: EA-aligned organization providing research and career guidance, including on animal welfare as a high-priority cause. Shares ACE's EA community roots and content-driven donor/audience acquisition.
• Centre for Effective Altruism: Umbrella organization supporting the EA community that ACE draws donors from. Strong ecosystem adjacency but not a direct charity evaluator.

Regional players

• GiveDirectly: EA-flagged organization that delivers direct cash transfers and has been repeatedly featured in GiveWell top recommendations. Comparable EA pedigree and evidence-first giving model, though operating in a different cause area.

Others

• Animal Equality: International farmed-animal advocacy organization that operates in the same cause area ACE evaluates. Not a peer evaluator but a candidate-subject organization representative of ACE's downstream beneficiaries and ecosystem relationships.
• The Humane League: One of ACE's currently recommended charities working on farmed chicken welfare globally. Adjacent rather than competitive — illustrates ACE's evaluation output and ecosystem reach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AnimalCharityEv
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdRLnvaAMvvfh0wif9EReWw
• Facebookfacebook.com/AnimalCharityEvaluators
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/animal-charity-evaluators
• Instagraminstagram.com/animalcharityevaluators

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Animal Charity Evaluators