The smaller you are, the more strategic you need to be.

Every day, thousands of nonprofits and individual advocates work to end animal cruelty and suffering. But contributions to animal protection organizations account for less than 2% of all charitable contributions, according to Giving USA. With fewer resources, animal grantmakers and advocates need help to make strategic decisions and maximize the impact of their giving for animals.

We’re pleased to introduce the Animal Funding Atlas, an interactive mapping tool that allows users to explore animal-related grants, funders and recipients. The goal of the Atlas was to create a system that can be used to improve one’s knowledge of the animal protection field and the related funding landscape. Specific objectives include helping animal-related grantmakers:

  • Understand what projects are being funded and where
  • Find opportunities for collaboration
  • Identify potential funding gaps
  • Access data for strategic planning and grantmaking

The Animal Funding Atlas currently includes more than 18,000 grants made by 52 funders to nearly 7,500 recipients, representing a total dollar value of about $640 million. Users can get an overview of funding for different types of animals and projects, or dive into the details of a specific grant or recipient. You can also overlay the maps with demographic data such as population, poverty level and ethnicity to deepen your understanding.

One feature of the Animal Funding Atlas that makes it particularly unique and useful is its detailed and animal-centered taxonomy. We developed a grants classification system that includes more than 90 different species categories and 60 different project types, all of which are specific to animal advocacy. These categories, summarized below, allow Atlas users to conduct very detailed searches.

ANIMAL FUNDING ATLAS CLASSIFICATION

Species Categories:

  • Companion Animals (8 subcategories)
  • Equine (4)
  • Animals Used for Food (9)
  • Animals Used in Science (11)
  • Wildlife-Captive (17)
  • Wildlife-In Wild (20)
  • Wildlife-Rehab/Release (15)

Project Types:

  • Education/Awareness (9 subcategories)
  • Wildlife Protection (4)
  • Animal Population Control (5)
  • Animal Care (9)
  • Anti-Cruelty (6)
  • Facilities/Equipment (5)
  • Veterinary Science (8)
  • Human/Animal Interaction (4)

The Animal Funding Atlas is a collaborative tool designed to help not just grantmakers, but also grant recipients and individual donors.

If you represent a foundation or organization that makes grants for animals, we would like to include your grants in the Atlas as we strive to make it as comprehensive as possible. The value of the Atlas increases as more funders participate and share their grants. Please visit the Atlas website and see the “Contact Us” link at the bottom to get in touch.

If you are a grant recipient working for the protection of animals, we encourage you to use the Animal Funding Atlas to see what other nonprofits are working in your region or on the same mission and identify potential funding partners.

If you are an individual donor to animal charities, you can use the Atlas to help maximize the impact of your personal giving. The tool will assist you in identifying under-served areas and finding organizations that best fit your giving priorities.

There are countless ways to use the Animal Funding Atlas to help animals strategically and effectively. To learn more about the Atlas and how to use it, please see our video tutorials.

With a history spanning more than 20 years, the Animal Funding Atlas was created by four Animal Grantmakers members: the Summerlee Foundation, Maddie’s Fund, the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and Tigers in America.