Faunalytics’ 2020 Year In Review

In this annual report, our Executive Director Brooke Haggerty looks back on how we navigated a tumultuous — but very productive — 2020 at Faunalytics.

Author: Brooke Haggerty | Published: December 9, 2020

2020 has been a truly remarkable year. In spite of everything that’s happened, there’s still so much to celebrate. Plant-based sales rose, shelters saw an increase in adoption and foster rates, and wild animals had an opportunity to thrive. Vietnam banned wildlife trade and China reclassified dogs as pets, not livestock. Ag-Gag laws were struck down in two more U.S. states and Denver repealed a decades-old ban on pit bulls. Thanks to advocates’ tireless work, more and more companies are going cage-free. And although we experienced setbacks too, it’s important to recognize and celebrate the victories.

Faunalytics has been a part of the animal protection community since 2000, with our research serving as a map that illuminates the clearest path to victory for advocates. We’ve accomplished so much in the last twenty years and this year was no different: we completed seven research projects, began work on five more, added 200 new studies and more than 50 blogs to our Research Library, and produced new Fundamentals and educational resources. We also welcomed new team members, developed an exciting strategic plan, and updated our Prioritization Process to maximize our impact through 2021 and beyond.

A growing number of advocates are turning to data, and research is in the spotlight like never before. This year our work was featured or mentioned in the New York Times, Sentient Media, One Green Planet, Our Hen House, VegNews, Vegconomist, Reader’s Digest, the ASA Animals and Society podcast, Defender Radio, Vegan World Radio, and more! Read on to find out what’s got everyone talking, including what we accomplished in 2020 and a sneak peek of what we have planned for 2021!

Original Research to Support Animal Protection

Faunalytics’ original studies provide actionable and insightful data to improve animal advocacy. This year, led by our experienced researcher director Jo, we produced seven major research projects.

The animal protection movement is only as strong as its advocates. In The State of Animal Advocacy in the U.S. and Canada, we examined the experiences of advocates to determine why people leave their roles within the movement, or the movement in general. The study touched on important topics including harassment, discrimination, and burnout, and highlighted the most common causes of turnover, how marginalized groups are impacted, and what we can do to retain advocates in the movement.

Our ground-breaking Animal Product Impact Scales identified the animal-derived food items that cause the most farmed animal suffering and death in order to feed the U.S. each day. The numbers are truly staggering and reveal which food formats should be prioritized by alternative protein companies and avoided by consumers to make the biggest impact for farmed animals.

As a pandemic swept the globe, our COVID-19 & Animals poll was among the first to gauge the U.S. public's understanding of this virus and its connection to our treatment of animals used for food. We found that only a small minority of people could identify the source of the pandemic as related to wet market conditions. Fortunately, a substantial proportion of respondents supported restrictions to prevent future outbreaks.

We investigated one of the most disputed topics in veg*n advocacy: the debate about whether to ask people to Reduce or Go Veg. By testing the two strategies against one another, we found that advocating for meat reduction led to more meatless meal purchases, largely because almost four times as many people were willing to pledge to reduce than to cut out meat entirely. Although it may not be the end goal, for many people reduction is a necessary first step on the way to veganism.

Although farm sanctuaries primarily serve to rescue and shelter animals, many also engage in public outreach. But are they effective? Conducted in partnership with Farm Sanctuary, A Farm Sanctuary Tour’s Effects on Intentions and Diet Change revealed that going on a sanctuary tour can indeed positively influence people’s attitudes and dietary choices. The study demonstrated the power of a well-run sanctuary and the overall role that sanctuaries can play in vegan advocacy.

Case studies can provide interesting insights that can get lost in “big-picture” datasets. In our report The Rise of Veg, The Fall of Meat, we looked at the veg sales data from a campus café over the past five years and found an encouraging upward trend. The results also showed us that having a range of default veg items on a menu could be a key driving factor in the rise of veg orders.

Our landmark study Beliefs About Chickens and Fish & Their Relation to Animal-Positive Behaviors uncovered what the U.S. thinks about these animals and whether people are willing to protect them. Although the majority of people agreed that chickens and fish can feel pain, stress, and need room to explore, less than half were willing to sign a welfare reform petition and even fewer were willing to reduce their meat consumption. Therefore, incremental advocacy focused on commonly held beliefs may be the most effective strategy.

We firmly believe that the best decisions for animals are based in data and informed by high-quality research. That's why one of the first things Fish Welfare Initiative does when embarking on a new project is to check Faunalytics to see what research is available.

Haven King-Nobles

Fish Welfare Initiative

Animal Advocacy Research Library

Our online Research Library houses over 4,300 animal-related study summaries as well as an array of visual resources, including our data-driven Faunalytics Fundamentals infographics and Faunalytics Explains video series. Our talented Content Director Karol spearheads the creation and curation of these resources.

Faunalytics’ Research Library is an encyclopedia of information on nearly every animal-related issue. This year we summarized 200 new studies and wrote over four dozen blogs on topics including companion animals, wildlife/conservation, animals used in research, farmed animals, zoonoses, veg*nism, social norms, fundraising, effective animal advocacy, and more.

Our newly updated Global Slaughter Statistics and Charts document how many animals are slaughtered for food every year based on United Nations FAO figures. These detailed charts provide a visual overview of the latest data on the global slaughter of cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, and fish. For a video summary, check out this overview by The Cranky Vegan.

While written reports are helpful to some, we know everyone has a unique learning style. With this in mind, we launched a new initiative: Faunalytics Explains, a video series where we share takeaways from important animal advocacy studies. Each video is under two minutes and offers key insights that can improve your campaigns and tactics.

We published the fourth and fifth editions of our data-packed Faunalytics Fundamentals series. Our visually engaging and easily shareable Wildlife Fundamentals and Zoonoses Fundamentals join our ever-growing resource hub of infographics on companion animals, farmed animals, and animals used in research.

Direct Support of Animal Advocates

As a capacity-building research organization, our goal is to make research accessible and understandable to all advocates, not just academics. This year our team provided personalized, one-on-one support to over five dozen advocates and organizations directly through our office hours. We offer assistance and guidance on research design, strategy, and data-driven advocacy.

This year we introduced our live study Q&A sessions following the release of select research projects. By engaging with our audience in a personal and interactive way, we hope that advocates will be better positioned to apply our research findings directly to their work. Furthermore, our research director Jo now co-leads RECAP (Research to End the Consumption of Animal Products), a group whose purpose is to facilitate collaboration among researchers in animal advocacy.

Creating an effective survey can be challenging. Jo shared ideas to adjust some of our questions to make sure we get the information we need to make the best decisions. I’m enthusiastic that these changes will help us make a difference.

Zoe Weil

Institute for Humane Education.

The Impact of Your Support

Nonprofits evaluate impact in countless ways. Performance indicators like lives saved or animals adopted are straightforward enough, but what if your work is indirect? Since the impact of our services is indirect, impact measurement is a little more challenging. We’ve created a detailed overview of our measurement and evaluation process, and below are a few examples that outline or illustrate the ripple effect of our work.

Before we even begin an original research project, our research prioritization process helps us identify studies that have a high potential impact for animals. This year we revamped and revised our process to ensure our research is sourced and selected with input from animal advocates so that our results can and will be used widely.

Once our work has been published, we evaluate our impact in several ways. One of the most important tools we have for self-evaluation is our annual Community Survey, where we solicit feedback directly from our audience and stakeholders.

We also track our web and email analytics closely. In 2020 alone our original research has been viewed over 25,000 times, and our collective resources have received over 500,000 total pageviews. Currently, our research newsletter has an open rate 16.8% higher than industry average.

We value our relationships in the animal advocacy community and we’re proud of every testimonial we receive from our supporters. In honor of our 20th anniversary this year we shared 20 Ways Faunalytics Has Supported The Animal Protection Movement. You can also visit our Impact Center for further details on how Faunalytics has made a difference.

Our Commitment to an Equitable Movement

This year also brought an extraordinary racial justice awakening throughout the U.S. and the world. Major corporations and small nonprofits alike made commitments to take diversity, equity, and inclusion seriously, including animal protection organizations. Indeed, animal advocacy has the potential to be so much more effective when we include more voices at the table and consider how our efforts connect with other social justice movements. I had the opportunity to attend Encompass’ inaugural DEI Institute, which provided training and resources to help us analyze and act on our own opportunities for improvement.

For starters our team transformed our SMART goals into SMARTIE goals, reviewed and updated our policies, and began making a stronger effort to circulate research that addresses fundamental inequalities within animal protection. We’ve increased our coverage of underrepresented advocates, highlighting studies about the experiences of vegans of color, cultural barriers to veganism, and the experiences of vegan women over 50. We’ve also continued to cover global animal advocacy, summarizing studies from Brazil, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and an important study on how people in Asian countries feel about wet markets. This is part of an ongoing effort to ensure the topics we cover reflect the perspectives and priorities of all advocates.

The Team Behind the Data

We’re a small but mighty team here at Faunalytics, and this year we welcomed two new board members, a new staff member, and a research practicum student! We’re pleased to share that Sarah Hanneken, Legal Advocacy Counsel at Animal Equality, and Steve Schuster, CEO of Rainier Communications, now add to the wealth of experience our Board of Directors brings to Faunalytics.

Earlier this year Casey Riordan joined our team as our new Communications and Development Manager. With degrees in Animal Studies and Social Psychology and years of experience in public relations, Casey oversees our advocate relationships, increasing our impact by bridging our work to the animal protection community. You can meet the rest of the Faunalysts by checking out our team page or 20 Fun Facts about Faunalytics video!

We are also fortunate to have the support of dozens of dedicated volunteers, who write and edit articles in our research library and contribute to a variety of special projects. Don’t miss our 2020 practicum student Joy McLeod’s detailed analysis of how advocates got their start in animal advocacy, just one example of the many volunteer contributions to our work this year.

The practicum placement was one of the highlights of my academic career to date. I learned so much about advocacy, statistics, writing, presentation, organizational dynamics, and DEI issues.

Joy McLeod

Research Practicum Student

Looking Back, Charging Forward

While we celebrate the important work we’ve accomplished this year, we’ve already begun laying the groundwork for 2021 and we can’t wait for the year ahead. Through our original research program, we’ll investigate the relative effectiveness of different approaches to advocacy, cultural barriers and supports to advocacy in China, Twitter trends in animal protection, and we’ll carry on our line of research to reduce the suffering of chickens and fish. Later in the year we’ll also set our new research agenda! Learn how we choose our study topics (and how you can participate in the process) here.

We’ll also continue to bring you the important resources that you count on: new studies and blog posts added to our library five times a week, new Fundamentals, and new Faunalytics Explains videos. Our office hours will remain open so that we can provide one-on-one advice to advocates with questions on anything from survey design to the latest statistics. With your support, we’ll grow our research team and bring you even more data and analyses to apply to your advocacy. Stay tuned for next week’s blog to learn what we have in store for 2021!

I support Faunalytics because their research guides the decisions made by leaders at the top organizations working to help animals, and can amplify the effectiveness of those organizations. Every dollar they get has an exponential effect in terms of how many animals can be positively impacted.

David Meyer

Adopt-a-Pet.com

Our mission is only possible with your support. As a nonprofit organization we rely on your contributions to produce the important research and resources that the animal protection movement relies on. Give with confidence knowing that Faunalytics has been named a Standout Charity by Animal Charity Evaluators and has been awarded a Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. With an exciting and growing number of advocates and organizations turning to data-driven strategies, we’re asking you to help Faunalytics soar into 2021.

Thank you so much for supporting effective animal advocacy. We’ve built incredible momentum and we look forward to all we will accomplish for the animals together in the year ahead. Happy Holidays from the Faunalytics family to yours!

Save to Library

Author: Brooke Haggerty

Brooke Haggerty has over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and serves as the executive director here at Faunalytics. Previously, she served as the executive director and later as a board member for the Foundation for Animal Care and Education, and also worked as a humane educator and later as a campaigns director for the Animal Protection and Rescue League. Brooke is a former board member and programming chair for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of San Diego, currently serves on the board for HandsOn San Diego promoting community volunteerism, and actively volunteers with her alma mater's student mentorship program. In 2022, she was named one of "40 Top Business Leaders Under 40" by the San Diego Business Journal. Brooke has an MA in Human Behavior, a BA in English, and certifications in Marketing and Nonprofit Management.