Animal welfare charities vary enormously in impact per dollar, and evidence-based giving allows donors to achieve much greater welfare improvement than through random or emotion-driven giving.
The effective giving movement has applied rigorous cost-effectiveness thinking to animal welfare, with important results. Corporate campaigns for cage-free eggs have been estimated to improve conditions for hundreds of hens per dollar donated. Wild animal welfare research is dramatically underfunded relative to its potential impact. Fish and shrimp welfare organizations address causes affecting trillions of animals with almost no existing advocacy. For donors who want their money to achieve the most welfare improvement, engaging with evidence-based charity recommendations from Animal Charity Evaluators is far more impactful than giving to organizations based on name recognition or emotional appeal. The potential to do enormous good is real.