Animal Charity Evaluators
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersWalnut, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
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.
Animal Charity Evaluators firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Animal Charity Evaluators industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Animal Charity Evaluators is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Walnut
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Animal Charity Evaluators business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Animal Charity Evaluators product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Animal Charity Evaluators
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Animal Charity Evaluators technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature3 records
Animal Charity Evaluators partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Scarlet SparkcoreOrganizational 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 PartnershipcoreLegal 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 UpcoreFundraising 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.
- StripecorePayment 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.
- PayPalcoreAlternative 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 FoundationminorThird-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)minorMajor 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.
- GoogleminorListed as a donor for 2023, contributing to ACE's operations. Major technology company supporting effective altruism causes.
- craigslist Charitable FundminorConsistent Diamond-level donor ($25,000+) listed on ACE's Top Donors page from 2018-2026. Major philanthropic supporter of ACE's mission.
- Ambitious ImpactcoreDeveloper 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 CareersminorOrganization 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
Animal Charity Evaluators competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Animal Charity Evaluators social profiles
Digital presenceAnimal Charity Evaluators compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Animal Charity Evaluators financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Animal Charity Evaluators leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Animal Charity Evaluators funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Animal Charity Evaluators M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Animal Charity Evaluators
What does Animal Charity Evaluators do?
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.
Is Animal Charity Evaluators a public or private company?
Animal Charity Evaluators is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Animal Charity Evaluators founded?
Animal Charity Evaluators was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Animal Charity Evaluators based?
Animal Charity Evaluators is headquartered in Walnut, United States, in the North America region.
How does Animal Charity Evaluators make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are recommended Charity Fund, movement Grants Program and corporate and Foundation Grants.
Who are Animal Charity Evaluators's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are GiveWell, Open Philanthropy and Founders Pledge. Broad incumbents are Charity Navigator, Candid (formerly GuideStar), 80,000 Hours and Centre for Effective Altruism. GiveDirectly is listed as a regional player. Others are Animal Equality and The Humane League.
Does Animal Charity Evaluators have an API?
No public API is recorded for Animal Charity Evaluators.
What industry is Animal Charity Evaluators in?
Animal Charity Evaluators's product category is Charity Evaluation & Philanthropic Advisory Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAIAJ, Advocacy, Policy & Public Awareness (Animal Welfare), with a secondary code of AFAEALAC, Animal Welfare & Advocacy Organizations. Its NAICS code is 8132 and its SIC code is 8731.