Intercontinental consolidated & well-funded EAA orgs: I’m not sure this is the dominant model. E.g. the five biggest groups you’re probably thinking of (THL, MFA, GFI, CIWF, Animal Equality) had combined 2019 budgets of ~$50M, out of a global movement total of ~$180M. I think that’s less consolidation than most movements. That said I don’t have a strong prior on whether international consolidated orgs or smaller local ones are most effective. We’ve since similar success levels and challenges amongst both types of groups, and tend instead to focus on the track record, plans, etc of each opportunity discretely, rather than based on the type of group it belongs to.
Mistakes young Western EAA orgs can avoid in growth. A few thoughts: (a) treat employees well and taking management seriously—see e.g. the comments above, (b) focus on just the 1-3 most promising issues / interventions—we see a lot of orgs overstretched trying to do too many things, (c) set and track clear metrics for program success, and drop programs if they consistently fail to meet them—we see a lot of status quo bias to keep doing things that are no longer working.
Viable interventions in China. Mainly I see limited scope for Western orgs to do new work in China—we’re most excited about new Chinese initiatives and international orgs with well-established programs. The things we’ve been most excited about: (a) promoting alt-protein, especially the business opportunity, (b) positive corporate outreach on animal welfare, (c) building the number of EA-aligned Chinese animal advocates.
Thanks for the questions Jose.
Intercontinental consolidated & well-funded EAA orgs: I’m not sure this is the dominant model. E.g. the five biggest groups you’re probably thinking of (THL, MFA, GFI, CIWF, Animal Equality) had combined 2019 budgets of ~$50M, out of a global movement total of ~$180M. I think that’s less consolidation than most movements. That said I don’t have a strong prior on whether international consolidated orgs or smaller local ones are most effective. We’ve since similar success levels and challenges amongst both types of groups, and tend instead to focus on the track record, plans, etc of each opportunity discretely, rather than based on the type of group it belongs to.
Mistakes young Western EAA orgs can avoid in growth. A few thoughts: (a) treat employees well and taking management seriously—see e.g. the comments above, (b) focus on just the 1-3 most promising issues / interventions—we see a lot of orgs overstretched trying to do too many things, (c) set and track clear metrics for program success, and drop programs if they consistently fail to meet them—we see a lot of status quo bias to keep doing things that are no longer working.
Viable interventions in China. Mainly I see limited scope for Western orgs to do new work in China—we’re most excited about new Chinese initiatives and international orgs with well-established programs. The things we’ve been most excited about: (a) promoting alt-protein, especially the business opportunity, (b) positive corporate outreach on animal welfare, (c) building the number of EA-aligned Chinese animal advocates.