The Humane League makes animal welfare advocacy take minutes. Its convenient Fast Action Network collects various actions you can take and streamlines the process, asking you for only a few clicks. Its campaigns advocate for large companies to improve their animal care standards, such as by adopting cage-free eggs. These campaigns often have a significant impact, causing companies it selects to respond to the pressure. The Humane League is considered a top charity by Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), meaning the league has an outstanding degree of evidence-backed impact (learn reasons to trust ACE), making this the most effective quick action DGN endorses. In addition, the Humane League provides more traditional volunteering opportunities to those with the time for it.

RESULTS provides a platform for you to quickly advocate for tractable global health & development legislation to US representatives. Sending an email or letter takes minutes and may influence the outcome of legislation that could save numerous lives. RESULTS is exceptionally high-impact because global health & development lobbying is highly neglected; few organizations lobby against global poverty and the ones that do appear to work.

The Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) is one of GiveWell's top charities—GiveWell a trusted expert that uses strict criteria demanding evidence-backed impact. The AMF specializes in delivering life-saving insecticide-treated bed nets to at-risk individuals, costing only ~20 cents per net. Its volunteering is involved compared to our minutes-long options; however, volunteering with the AMF is flexible, online, and highly impactful, so the time is well worthwhile.

As of July 2023, GiveWell only donates to charities that they expect to save a life (or cause an equivalent increase in peoples' well-being) for less than ~$5,000—ventures that have a ten times greater impact than directly giving money to some of the world's poorest people (at a rate of $0.85 for every $1 donated). GiveWell offers the All Grants Fund and the Top Charities Fund. The Top Charities fund solely donates to GiveWell's top charities. In contrast, the All Grants Fund gives to charities GiveWell expects to be most impactful, regardless of whether it is one of GiveWell's top charities. In effect, this means the All Grants Fund provides grants to charities that are too small to recommend as a top charity or efforts that may not always be highly cost-effective but, under certain conditions (such as the country it is deployed), met when grant-giving, are more effective than the top charities. The All Grants Fund's wider net also may reduce the amount that (due to inherent uncertainty in estimating effectiveness) donations are funneled into non-optimal charities. Thus, donating to the All Grants Fund seems more optimal than contributing to the Top Charities Fund, but both are outstanding.

Considered a top charity by Animal Charity Evaluators' strict evidence-based criteria (see reasons to trust them), Faunalytics produces research to improve the effectiveness of animal advocacy and provide evidence to animal advocates' arguments. Faunalytics collected data on consumers' acceptance of cultured meat for one of many examples. Faunalytics offers a monthly or weekly newsletter featuring the latest updates on its discoveries at the forefront of animal well-being research (a must-read for animal advocates). Its volunteer opportunities are more time-involved than our minutes-long actions but are likely among the highest-impact actions we've researched. Click the link to see what volunteer roles Faunalytics is currently looking for.

Your career is 80,000 hours long. That's a long time, so it makes sense to think about it critically. Over 60 studies agree that the most fulfilling and enjoyable jobs are those that have a positive impact, so it's a good idea to prioritize doing good in your career. The team at 80,000 hours help you build a satisfying and beneficial career from start to finish: What it means to do good, how to do more of it rather than less, career guides, application advice, and so on. They offer a career guide (with a two-minute summary) helping you think through your career and, once you have flexible plans, a newsletter of job opportunities that do maximal good.

Giving Green is a subset of the nonprofit IDinsight that creates a fund for the most effective climate change charities. Founder's Pledge (FP) produces various charity funds optimizing cost-effectiveness. Giving Green and FP have some differences in their current strategies (this may change as new information arises). The foremost difference is that FP seems to focus more on research and advocacy, whereas Giving Green grants more to technological innovation. DGN presently recommends donors give a tentative 50% to Founder's Pledge and 50% to Giving Green to minimize the risk of missing out on optimal ventures.

Among the largest, oldest, and most widespread climate campaign organizations, Greenpeace makes climate change advocacy simple by letting you contact companies or politicians and sign petitions in minutes (though petitions generally have less impact). Political lobbying can increase support for vital legislation, thereby having a high impact-to-time ratio. If you aren't in the US, Greenpeace has websites for many countries, which can be easily found by searching "Greenpeace" in a browser.

Compassion in World Farming runs animal welfare advocacy campaigns that allow you to contact your representatives in a few clicks. Compassion's impact places it among Animal Charity Evaluators' standout charities (learn reasons to trust ACE). Compassion also offers more involved volunteering. We find Compassion synergistic with the Humane League, as the Humane League focuses on pressuring corporations, whereas Compassion emphasizes policy. Engaging with both is a best-of-both-world scenario: The Humane League has higher tractability and evidence of impact, while Compassion often has a higher potential reward. If you don't have the time, we recommend you focus on the Humane League since its network is more robust and more routinely updated.

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) scrupulously combs through animal welfare charities to determine the most effective. As of July 2023, ACE's top charities are Faunalytics, The Humane League, the Good Food Institute, and the Wild Animal Initiative (click here for ACE's current top charities). ACE offers a fund of their recommended charities for convenience. If you choose to donate to charities individually, it seems the Good Food Institute deserves a special emphasis in your donations because of its potential to end factory farming in the long term.

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is among Giving Green and Animal Charity Evaluators' top recommendations (as of July 2023). The GFI's team aims to fix meat production, which is currently a key contributor to climate change, environmental disorder, pandemic risk, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (to say nothing of its harm to animals). They work through myriad channels: funding & ideas for research, aiding producers, political advocacy, and more. The GFI produces various specialized newsletters, but the GFI's general option, Reimagining Protein, appears to be the best newsletter for keeping you informed about the alt protein sphere.

For involved climate change activists, the Sunrise Movement is likely the highest-impact organization to invest your time in. Its campaigns are attributed by many as a meaningful cause of the Biden administration's unprecedented climate legislation. The Sunrise Movement was also one of Giving Green's top recommendations, although it lost its position due to uncertainty about its future plans. Still, arguably no other climate activism organization can boast the same level of prior impact as the Sunrise Movement.

Similarly to Greenpeace, Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) allows you to easily support climate change mitigation legislation by contacting your representatives. CCL appears to be a solid complement to Greenpeace since CCL focuses on advocacy in Congress, whereas Greenpeace often lobbies the president's administration. Congress members may be more open to altering their standpoints on climate than the White House, given that they have a smaller voter pool.

Another of Animal Charity Evaluators' standouts, Mercy for Animals (MFA) runs investigations, research, and corporate outreach programs in the US, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, India, and Mexico. Its action center includes volunteering and quick online advocacy opportunities that combine well with the Humane League since MFA uniquely focuses on both federal and state-level legislation (which is more neglected and tractable).

Bill McKibbon is a prominent voice in the realm of environmentalism and co-founder of 360.org. His newsletter in the New Yorker (for which you do not need to subscribe to the New Yorker) a strong free way to stay up-to-date on climate change. The Climate Crisis compliments the NYT's Climate Forward (our other recommended climate newsletter), as it provides a space for a somewhat more opinionated and persuasive perspective than that of the New York Times.

Dharma Voices for Animals, the world's only Buddhist international animal rights organization, adapts its strategy by country but emphasizes diet change advocacy ahead of its lobbying, restaurant conversion, and veterinary programs. Its primary locations include Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US, though it also works in Germany, Brazil, Finland, Myanmar, and Australia. Its specialization in countries where animal welfare is more neglected is one reason for its position as a standout charity (according to Animal Charity Evaluators). See reasons to trust ACE.

FIAPO collaborates with 80 members and 200 supporting organizations to build India's animal rights movement and agitate for improved legislation. FIAPO is a standout charity of Animal Charity Evaluators' with impressive accolades such as stopping India’s first mega dairy (to hold 40,000 cows). Animal advocacy is also neglected in India (relative to the US), increasing its expected impact. FIAPO offers year-round volunteer opportunities and you can become a FIAPO animal activist if you desire.

ProVeg was one of Animal Charity Evaluators' standout charities in 2018 (though it was later rejected and has not applied for evaluation since as of July 2023). It offers skill-based volunteer opportunities to support its myriad ventures, which induces advocacy, innovation competitions, and support/funding for organizations and startups.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is a global health & development philanthropy leader, working in 141 countries and giving $71 billion to date. Published by its learned experts, the BMGF's newsletter, the Optimist, focuses on novel solutions and ideas and emphasizes celebrating successes in the long battle against global poverty.

Africa and South Asia have the most people living in extreme poverty. Hence, for anyone seeking to reduce poverty and alleviate its health effects, it is crucial to be informed on developments in these regions. Understanding these areas' politics, economics, and culture is useful to ensure the success of efforts to help. For this, Foreign Policy offers two convenient briefs, one for Africa and another for South Asia.

The New York Times has earned worldwide acclaim for its dedication to fact-based journalism. Its climate newsletter (which is unfortunately only available to subscribers) is a solid way to learn more about climate change, from its effects to its discourse to its solutions (including both policy and technical innovation, though emphasizing the former). It complements Bill McKibbon's newsletter, the Climate Crisis, because it provides a purer representation of information while McKibbon provides fuller insight, persuasion, and opinion.

The Global Health NOW (GHN) newsletter was created to update subscribers on global health developments in an easy-to-scan format. While health in low-income countries is likely the highest priority, GHN doesn't focus specifically on health in the poorest areas and opts for a broader view. Still, most issues discuss the least developed nations in at least one section.

The Impactful Animal Advocacy newsletter aims to provide regular, concise updates on the latest news, developments, and resources in the animal advocacy space.