Faunalytics In 2022: Plans & Priorities

The end of one year and beginning of another — it’s a time of celebration, a time of renewal, a time of possibilities… or let’s be honest, a time when everyone wants something from you and you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed! Your inbox is full of donation requests and annual reports you haven’t had time to look at, while you have plans of your own to make for 2022 and your brain is reminding you about New Year’s resolutions.

We understand that your own plans and priorities are taking precedence right now, so we’ll keep this short and sweet. Below we’ve outlined Faunalytics’ biggest plans for 2022, and what we’re most excited about as we look to the future.

New Research Priorities…

Taking our research in new directions is always exciting! In 2022, for the first time, several of our new projects will focus on legal advocacy. 

In our Anti-Subsidy Lobbies study, we will conduct interviews with global animal protection groups that have attempted lobbying for subsidy reductions or redirection. These interviews will be designed to elicit information about tactics, costs, and difficulties of various approaches. We will provide recommendations about best practices and their cost-effectiveness, with the goal of supporting groups around the world in learning from each other and optimizing their methods. 

In another exciting study, we will examine State-by-State Reactions to Potential Legislative Changes. One of the biggest hurdles to getting lawmakers to support welfare legislation is a lack of data that demonstrates constituent support for animal welfare issues. This study will use representative polls in key states and districts to gauge public support for a range of legislative policies dealing primarily with farmed and wild animal welfare.

In our third project focused on legislative efforts, we will focus on Local Laws as a Strategic Stepping Stone to legislative change at a larger scale. As some of the strongest animal protections exist at the municipal level, the goal of this project is to look at whether local laws have ever led to the passage of similar laws at higher levels of government. We will review the legal literature relating to animal welfare in the U.S. to determine whether local laws have laid the groundwork for future laws at the state and federal levels of government.

Expanding Our Reach…

Faunalytics has big goals and a lot of research questions we’d like to tackle, all of which support our mission to empower animal advocates. In addition to new original research, here we outline a collection of potential—not final!—plans for how we can expand into new resources and regions, thereby reaching new advocates.

New Resources

In 2022, we want to continue expanding our resources to reach more advocates who can use them. While our Communications Manager Jenna is conducting outreach to advocates and academics, our Content Director Karol will be creating a new edition of our Faunalytics Fundamentals series, as well as producing new fact sheets and entries in our popular Faunalytics Explains video series. We will be expanding the range of topics covered in these resources to include wildlife, research animals, companion animals, and the intersection of animal advocacy and human inequity issues. We strive to convey clear, practical take-aways to advocates working in all ways for all animals.

New Regions

Faunalytics supports animal advocates working worldwide, as our Impact Center shows. However, until recently, our reach has been limited by only being able to provide English resources. Following feedback from advocates about how valuable it would be to have key resources available in other languages, we have begun seeking support to offer relevant reports and resources in Spanish, Hindi, and simplified Chinese, with additional resources coming soon in Brazilian Portuguese, Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. 

As pleased as we are about this expansion, language is far from the only thing differentiating animal advocacy in different regions of the world! As an organization focused on the intersection of communications and research, one of our additional goals for 2022 is to launch a Research Ambassador program, with regional representatives across the world facilitating knowledge translation and access to animal advocacy research. We also hope to go a step further in later 2022 or 2023 with a fellowship supporting global researchers conducting foundational work in their home regions where animal-focused research is currently lacking.

Thank you to the A Well Fed World, The Tipping Point Private Foundation, World Animal Protection, and individual donors like you for supporting these new resources.

…And Growing Sustainably!

Just like our research program, Faunalytics as an organization strives to balance new directions with continuing to strive for excellence on what we already do well. 

Filling Out Our Team

In 2022, at the top of our list for expansion is growing our team of researchers and capacity-builders. On the research side, we would love to bring in additional scientists to increase our output and help advocates identify the most effective strategies to end animal suffering faster. Our small team now has researchers with expertise in psychology, animal welfare science, economics, and political science, but additional diversification is always an advantage for producing robust, need-driven research.

Our entire team would also benefit from more support with material review and fact-checking.  With the large volume of resources we produce through the library every year, a dedicated content editor would help us grow while ensuring our work is consistently high-quality. Additionally, an operations assistant would provide administrative support, which would let our leadership focus on organizational strategy, needs assessment, and other vital responsibilities.

Advancing Our Inclusive Practices

In 2021, the Faunalytics team dedicated time to reviewing our organizational programs and processes and identifying areas with room to improve our inclusivity, equity, or accessibility. We worked together to create a specific, actionable statement of commitment, and in 2022, we will continue to pursue the goals set out in it. Especially as we grow, our work for animals must not ignore the many social justice issues that overlap with animal advocacy. Part of that is ensuring that diverse voices are represented in our research. Part of it is following best practices for website accessibility. And part of it is continuing to reflect on where we are as an organization and as individuals so that we can find additional ways to improve. Since mid-2020, the Faunalytics staff have engaged in regular readings and discussions of social justice topics as they pertain to animal advocacy and nonprofit work, and in 2022 we will continue to do so, as well as taking further steps toward inclusivity in our research, content creation, hiring, and other processes.

Refreshing Our Resources

In addition to staff, our sustainable growth goals include ensuring that our resources are always up to date with the latest data, and that the offerings we provide meet the needs of our community.

It’s not enough to create resources—a key part of our mission is staying on top of what we put out, keeping it evergreen. Did you know that we have six Issue Fundamentals, and that every year or two we review, update, and refresh them all with the most recent data? Whether you’re looking for an overview of farmed animals, ocean life, wildlife, or one of our other topics, our Fundamentals have the data you need.

As a small organization, we are in the fortunate position of being able to pivot easily when we receive useful feedback. (For example, we did so in 2021 with the addition of report translations and expanded office hours.) In 2022, we want to expand and refresh the ways that we provide direct support to animal advocates. That might involve workshops about applying research to advocacy, Q&As about our original research reports, further expansions to our office hours, or other avenues. If you have ideas for what you’d like to see, let us know! 

Help Us Help You

We know that this time of year, money can be tight. And most of the plans and priorities we talk about cost money, but you may not realize how much you can help Faunalytics without spending a penny.

All of the following gifts for Faunalytics are as simple as filling out our contact form or sending a quick email to our [email protected] account:

1. Tell us how you use our work. As all of you who work in nonprofits know, demonstrating your impact is a key part of receiving funding. Faunalytics doesn’t work directly with animals, we work with animal advocates. So our impact comes down to you. If you have five minutes, give us some specifics—and know that those five minutes will translate themselves into more funding opportunities for us, and more research for you.
2. Tell us what you need to know in order to advocate effectively. In other words, submit research ideas. What decisions do you need to make as an advocate and what information are you lacking? Are there assumptions you take for granted but have never tested? Is there more you could be doing to improve your effectiveness?
3. Tell us what we could do better. If you learn best in a particular way that we’re not supporting currently, tell us. If you love the idea of a resource we don’t have, tell us. If you want to use a specific report but find it’s lacking something you need, tell us! We won’t be offended, we will thank you.

If you have the means to make a donation, of course we appreciate it! You can also check out our swag, or encourage other advocates to sign up for our research alerts. These small acts of support are just as meaningful to us as monetary gifts. 

Helping us help you is the best gift you can give this holiday season. Thank you for your amazing support throughout the year, and we look forward to speaking with you in 2022!