Picture, if you can, the year 2000.

Despite widespread jitters, the “Y2K bug” had failed to topple civilization as we know it. Scientists developed the first draft of the human genome and sent the first resident crew to the International Space Station. Plus it was a leap year, giving everyone 24 extra hours and another reason for optimism. You could even keep your shoes on while going through airport security. It was an exhilarating time to be alive.

Something else happened in 2000: a couple of grassroots activists in Seattle started a tiny non-profit with the goal of using research and effective messaging to help animals. It was originally called ARMedia, but today the group is known as Faunalytics.

Origin Story

Prior to starting Faunalytics, I was a grassroots activist in Seattle, Washington, the birthplace of grunge music, Starbucks, and 137 unique types of rain. I worked with (and eventually co-coordinated) the Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN), which is still going strong today. Back in the late 1990s, we did some protesting, but outreach was our primary focus and most years we handed out tens of thousands of vegan booklets.

All of our effort amounted to no obvious impact for animals, and that bothered me.

My first reaction was to misread the problem. I decided the issue was that booklets and fliers were the wrong medium. We would take our message to the masses through PSAs, radio, television, and this newish thing called the internet. We would even produce better booklets and fliers and let local groups add their own branding. Our change of tactics was slightly novel, but it also missed the point. Our problem was actually much bigger: we didn’t know what would work.

Within three months of privately “launching” ARmedia (short for Animal Rights Media), we pivoted. Sure, the cost of what we envisioned for ARmedia had been outrageous, especially in those days. But we pivoted mainly because we had no idea how to make our advertisements, booklets, or other outreach materials persuasive. Why? Because there was no research on what works to convince people to make animal-friendly choices.

At the time, I was working at Microsoft — you may have heard of them. I had just moved into a research manager position and was running surveys and focus groups, mainly with developers. My days (and too many evenings and weekends) were devoted to gathering, interpreting, and recommending actions based on user research.

You can learn a lot in a short amount of time when you work 14-hour days. But the most important thing I learned is that animal advocates needed these tools far more than any software company.

EAA Version 1.0

Even before going public, ARmedia was renamed the Humane Research Council (HRC) and became a research think tank on a mission to use data to help animal advocates be as effective as possible. We intentionally chose a vanilla, institutional-sounding name to give our research more credibility among people neutral or hostile toward animal protection. From day one, our work covered the full breadth of animal protection topics while devoting most of our resources to improving advocacy for farmed animals and veganism.

To my knowledge, HRC was the first organization dedicated to the pursuit of Effective Animal Advocacy (EAA), the outgrowth of Effective Altruism (EA) focused on animals, before either of these terms had entered anyone’s lexicon. The early years were admittedly rough and tumble — we were under-resourced, under-skilled, and still figuring things out. But we were laser-focused on our mission to provide evidence to help animal advocates increase their effectiveness, especially for those animals who are used in the greatest numbers and suffer the most.

HRC’s initial programs involved conducting research on behalf of partners, maintaining a library of third-party research, and doing independent studies when funds permitted. In the early 2000s, there was so little focus on effectiveness and so little funding for research that we relied heavily on the income generated from “client” work for other animal-related non-profits. We started our research library in 2004 with a couple dozen external studies — it has since grown to more than 5,700, the largest resource of its kind in the movement.

We may have adapted our programs slightly over the years (see below), but we have always been dedicated to helping animal advocates be as effective as possible.

Taking Flight

In 2015, we renamed HRC as Faunalytics to better reflect the work we do and distinguish ourselves from other HRCs like the Human Rights Campaign and Hillary Rodham Clinton. There were a few naysayers, as there always are, but most people loved the new name and logo, as well as the new website and library interface we launched at the same time. Later that year, Faunalytics became an Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) “standout charity” and our work began to be recognized by the effective altruism community. A new phase had begun.

Over the next eight years, Faunalytics grew by an average of almost 40% per year and increased our team of researchers, librarians, and operational staff to double digits. We also shifted from client-focused work to conducting more independent studies. That shift allowed us to prioritize research projects that serve as many advocates as possible and share the results widely. Since 2016, Faunalytics has completed more than 50 independent studies to inform animal advocates on a variety of important topics.

We’re proud but also humbled by the growth we’ve experienced. That growth is thanks to our many wonderful supporters, from those who saw the vision since the first day to those who found us more recently through ACE or other EA sources. It’s also thanks to the amazing, dedicated work of the Faunalytics staff, volunteers, and board of directors. I’m delighted with what the team has accomplished (see our 2024 Year in Review for a snapshot) and the impressive culture of mutual respect and shared purpose we have created.

Celebrating A Milestone

This month, Faunalytics turns 25 years old. In the modern animal advocacy movement, 25 years is a pretty long time! That’s a quarter of a century (and more than half of my life) devoted to figuring out the most impactful ways to help as many animals as possible. We’ve made a lot of progress over that time, but many more questions remain unanswered. Research remains an essential part of helping create an effective movement.

To help us continue providing insights to advocates, please join me in becoming a monthly donor — maybe a $25 monthly donation in honor of Faunalytics’ 25 years of advancing effective animal advocacy? Click here to support Faunalytics’ work.

Also this month, I turn 50 years old. As I reflect back on the past 25 years of being involved in effective animal advocacy, I’m blown away by the incredible progress the movement has made for animals. But I also know that our biggest successes are yet to come and unless cryogenics becomes viable, and soonish, I may not be around to see those gains. But I believe Faunalytics has helped plant the seeds that will someday spread and grow to create a world free of unexamined and unavoidable suffering.

I remain on the board of directors and actively involved with the organization, but I resigned from the Executive Director position in late 2019. Those who have led Faunalytics since that time deserve all of the credit for making the organization what it is today, including Brooke Haggerty (Executive Director), karol orzechowski (Resource Director), Caryn Ginsberg (Board President), and Dr. Jo Anderson (Research Director until mid 2024). It has been wonderfully gratifying to see Faunalytics thrive under different leadership.

Whether it’s been 25 years or 25 days, thank you for being a part of this journey with us. I know everyone at Faunalytics appreciates your tireless work for animals.

Next week: Che Green shares hard-won lessons and insights from his decades-long journey supporting the animal protection movement in becoming more data-driven.