Our Giving Fund: Improving Animal Welfare in H1/2025

Recently, the ZDF satirical show “Die Anstalt” declared in a segment about making the world a better plave and effective giving: The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better. Just as it applies for the world as a whole, this applies to the fight against factory farming. Worldwide, tens of billions of farm animals continue to live and die under unsustainable conditions. And yet, numerous organizations and our donor community are actively working against these conditions.

There is still much to be done—combating industrial animal farming is a true Herculean task. But some small goals have been achieved, especially in the protection of broiler chickens, as explained by Open Philanthropy expert Lewis Bollard in his newsletter. And of course, Effektiv Spenden has once again identified some of the most effective projects that tackle part of this enormous challenge.

Fund Allocation

In the first half of 2025, our giving fund raised approximately €338,300 in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Additionally, we were able to use €119,000 from the previous half-year. A small portion of the funds went to our top recommendation, Sinergia Animal (around €21,500), while the remaining funds were, as always, allocated in coordination with the EA Animal Welfare Fund to the following organizations, which promise maximum impact in the fight against animal suffering:

• Humánny Pokrok: €51,000.00
• Animal Welfare Observatory: €86,500.00
• International Council for Animal Welfare (ICAW): €128,477.53
• OBRAZ - Obranci zvířat, z. s: 169.900,00 €

Humánny Pokrok

Humánny Pokrok is a Slovak organization working to improve farmed animal welfare through corporate campaigns, government advocacy, investigations, and movement-building. They’re currently leading a national broiler welfare campaign targeting the 42 million chickens raised annually in the country. By combining investigations, petitions, corporate outreach, and policy work, they aim to drive national reform and influence EU-wide standards. This grant will enable Humánny Pokrok to campaign for broiler chicken welfare in Slovakia with the goal of securing three major retailer commitments for the European Chicken Commitment.

Animal Welfare Observatory

The Animal Welfare Observatory advocates in Spain for better living conditions for broiler chickens. Spain is the second-largest producer of broiler chickens in the EU, with around 710 million animals slaughtered there each year. Improvements in Spain therefore have a huge impact. AWO works to ensure that major retailers implement the European Chicken Commitment. Thanks to AWO’s efforts, 6 of the 10 largest supermarket chains—including Carrefour, DIA, and Eroski—have already committed to higher animal welfare standards.

Through a combination of constructive corporate dialogue and public campaigns, AWO ensures that these commitments are actually upheld. While some retailers, such as Lidl, are still hesitant, AWO’s success demonstrates that engagement works. This support helps AWO increase pressure on reluctant retailers and fulfill existing commitments—a particularly cost-effective opportunity to improve the lives of millions of chickens and advance animal welfare sustainably across Europe.

OBRAZ 

OBRAZ – Obránci zvířat is a leading Czech organization that advances legal recognition of animals as sentient beings and drives systemic change through legislative reform, public mobilization, and corporate outreach. Since 2015, the organization has helped secure significant victories including bans on fur farming and caged hens by combining grassroots public outreach with strategic advocacy efforts. This grant will enable OBRAZ to focus on implementing Czechia’s 2027 ban on cages for laying hens by securing and enforcing retailer commitments while conducting policy advocacy to uphold the cage ban. The funding will also support efforts to advance broiler chicken welfare by pressuring major retailers to adopt the European Chicken Commitment. Through these initiatives, OBRAZ aims to secure national policy victories that will influence broader EU-wide regulatory change.

The International Council for Animal Welfare (ICAW)

The International Council for Animal Welfare (ICAW) is a global nonprofit dedicated to advancing institutional animal welfare across key regions worldwide. ICAW is among the few organizations achieving significant progress for shrimp welfare, including securing commitments from major UK retailers to eliminate eyestalk ablation and adopt electric stunning practices. These milestones highlight the power of targeted corporate outreach in transforming the lives of billions of aquatic animals. Additionally, ICAW works to reform intensive farming by advocating for cage-free systems, broiler welfare improvements, and mobilizing consumer demand to drive structural change. With this grant, ICAW plans to continue their shrimp welfare corporate campaigns by expanding their work to other European countries, with the goal to secure at least three additional commitments.

Updates on previous grants

Animal Policy International (API)

Animal Policy International has made significant strides in their imports ask, and are excited to highlight two key developments:

Legislative milestone in New Zealand

A member’s bill has been introduced in parliament, marking a vital step towards adressing the closing the animal welfare gap in New Zealand’s trade policy. This bill was presented alongside a petition signed by over 10,000 supporters.

Report Launch at UK Parliament

In April, API launched their major report on imports at an event in Parliament, attended by MPs from all four major parties. Approximately 50 parliamentarians participated, showcasing strong cross-party support.

Sinergia Animal

So far in 2025, Sinergia Animal has celebrated impactful victories for farmed animals across Latin America, Asia, and beyond:

Secured 11 new corporate animal welfare commitments, including Juan Valdez’s global cage-free policy across 630 stores and a cage-free policy from ONYX Hospitality Group impacting four Asian countries.

Through its Nourishing Tomorrow program in Argentina, Sinergia Animal introduced plant-based kiosks in 28 municipal schools, ensuring daily plant-based meals for more than 6,700 children under three—replacing over 524,000 animal-based meals annually.

In global advocacy, Sinergia Animal and partners blocked a €40 million investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development into fast-food chains like Burger King and Popeyes, preventing public funds from being used to expand factory farming.

We would like to thank all the donors who contributed to the Givng fund: Improving animal welfare in the first half of 2025. Without you, these grants would not have been possible!

About the author

Anne Schulze

Founder & Managing Director

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I am one of the founders and managing directors of Effektiv Spenden. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to send me an email. I'll get right back to you.