Giving Compass' Take:

• Marc Gunther, writing for Nonprofit Chronicles, interviews founder and executive director of Faunalytics, a research organization that assists animal advocates in becoming more effective changemakers.

• What are the challenges in animal advocacy? Why are some campaigns more substantial than others? 

• Read more about how to make an impact on animal welfare. 

Again and again, Americans have been told to eat less meat, or to stop eating meat altogether. The message has been delivered by doctors at the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the Mayo Clinic, by environmentalists at the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, by Paul McCartney, Food Inc and Michael Pollan’s Food Rules and, of course, by animal protection groups ranging from PETA and The Humane Society of the US to The Humane League and Vegan Outreach.

Is anybody listening?

New research from Gallup indicates that the number of Americans who identify as vegetarians or vegans has remained flat for two decades. The percentage of vegetarians and vegans has been stuck at about 5 or 6 percent since 1999. For anyone who cares about farm animals, this is discouraging news. It is, arguably, a sign that animal advocacy is failing, although we can’t know for sure. Without animal advocacy, meat consumption might be growing even faster.

In any event, the rise in meat consumption is a reminder that we don’t know as much as we should about animal advocacy and, for that matter, advocacy of all kinds. What messages persuade people to change their minds about eating meat–or about climate change, immigration, gay marriage or global poverty? How can advocacy become more effective? Not enough people in the worlds of philanthropy, nonprofits or social justice are thinking systemically about these questions.

Che Green spends lots of time thinking about how to improve advocacy on behalf of animals. Green, who is 43, is the founder and executive director of Faunalytics, a research organization that is intended to help animal advocates become more effective.  Recently, I spoke with Che Green and Caryn Ginsberg, Faunalytic’s board chairman, to see what lessons, if any, can be drawn from nearly two decades of research at Faunalytics.

Read the full interview about animal advocacy work by Marc Gunther at Nonprofit Chronicles.