Maximized Good, Minimized Time

Effective volunteerism/activism opportunities, charitable funds, and newsletters.

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The Humane League

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

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

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.

Faunalytics

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.

80,000 Hours

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.

Greenpeace

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

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.

The Sunrise Movement

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.

Citizens' Climate Lobby

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.

Mercy for Animals

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).

Dharma Voices for Animals

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

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

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.