Animal Donations in the United Kingdom

A recent report on charitable giving in the United Kingdom found that donations to animal-related causes ranked thirteenth out of fifteen different social issues. For a country as generally progressive on animal issues as the UK, this may seem like a disappointment, but similar surveys in the U.S. don’t even specify giving to animal causes. As an important metric of support for animal protection, we should all encourage researchers to separate animals from purely environmental issues.

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Here is the summary of giving in the UK, by cause:

And here’s the most recent breakdown for the U.S., from the Foundation Center:

The two images above do not cover the same types of data, but another obvious difference is that the UK data provides the details for animal-related giving, while the U.S. lumps it together with donations to environmental causes. While there is certainly a gray area when it comes to conservation and habitat protection, there is no reason that organizations like the Foundation Center cannot break out giving to animal protection. When I attend the meeting of the Animal Grantmakers in November, I will encourage foundations to use whatever leverage they have to make sure that animal protection is treated as its own cause when it comes to funding surveys.

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