Wild Animal Initiative Explained

Wild Animal Initiative
Logo Alt:Logo of Wild Animal Initiative
Abbreviation:WAI
Defunct:-->
Type:501(c)(3)[1]
Registration Id:EIN 82-2281466[2]
Status:Charity
Focus:Wild animal welfare
Location City:Farmington, Minnesota
Location Country:United States
Region Served:Global
Leader Title:Executive Director
Leader Name:Cameron Meyer Shorb
Revenue:$605,883[3]
Revenue Year:2020

Wild Animal Initiative (WAI) is a nonprofit organization focused on supporting and producing academic research on improving wild animal welfare. It is one of the charities recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators.

History

WAI was founded in 2019, as a merger of the organizations Utility Farm (founded in 2016 by Abraham Rowe) and Wild-Animal Suffering Research (founded in 2017 by Persis Eskander).[4] Its stated mission is to "understand and improve the lives of wild animals," by studying natural causes of pain and death for animals, such as natural disasters, disease, and starvation.[5]

Abraham Rowe was the Executive Director of WAI until 2019,[6] after which Mal Graham became the leader of the organization.[7] In 2022, Graham took the role of Strategy Director, and Cameron Meyer Shorb became the Executive Director.[8]

In 2021, WAI received a grant of $3.5 million from Open Philanthropy to support research on wild animal welfare.[9] In the same year, WAI launched a research fund for high-impact wild animal welfare research, with the intent to "distribute over $3 million to academic research projects designed to understand and improve the lives of wild animals".[10] WAI received a further $6 million grant from Open Philanthropy in 2023.[11]

Reception

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), which rates the cost-effectiveness of projects that work on improving animal welfare, rated WAI as a "top charity" in 2020, meaning that in their view, donating to WAI was one of the most effective ways to help animals. WAI is the only group not working on farmed animal welfare to ever receive that rating.[12] [13] WAI retained its "top charity" status in 2021 and 2022.[14] In 2023, after ACE moved away from categorizing its charities as "top" and "standout", it was categorized as a "recommended" charity by the organization.[15]

WAI has been awarded a four-star rating with a score of 98% by Charity Navigator.[16]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wild Animal Initiative Inc.. Internal Revenue Service.
  2. https://eintaxid.com/company/822281466-wild-animal-initiative-inc/ EIN tax ID
  3. Web site: 2021. Wild Animal Initiative's Reporting of Programs, Financials, Leadership, and Culture (2021). 2021-12-07.
  4. Web site: Transparency . 2022-11-22 . Wild Animal Initiative . en-US.
  5. Web site: About us. 2021-06-24. Wild Animal Initiative. en-US.
  6. Web site: Wild Animal Initiative is hiring an Executive Director. 2021-09-05. Wild Animal Initiative. en-US.
  7. Web site: Matthews. Dylan. 2021-04-12. The wild frontier of animal welfare. 2021-06-24. Vox. en.
  8. Web site: Cameron Meyer Shorb now serving as Executive Director. 2022-06-28. Wild Animal Initiative. en-US.
  9. Web site: 2021-06-15. Wild Animal Initiative — Animal Welfare Research. 2021-06-24. Open Philanthropy. en.
  10. Web site: 2021-07-02. We're launching a research fund. 2021-10-18. Wild Animal Initiative. en-US.
  11. Web site: 2023-07-20 . Wild Animal Initiative receives $6 million grant . 2023-07-25 . Wild Animal Initiative . en-US.
  12. Web site: Samuel . Sigal . 2019-12-03 . Want to help animals? Here's where to donate your money. . 2021-06-28 . Vox . en.
  13. Web site: 2020-11-24 . Announcing our 2020 Charity Recommendations . 2021-06-24 . Animal Charity Evaluators . en-US.
  14. Web site: Ormandy . Elisabeth . 2022-11-22 . Announcing Our 2022 Charity Recommendations . 2022-11-22 . Animal Charity Evaluators . en-US.
  15. Web site: Ormandy . Elisabeth . 2023-11-08 . Announcing Our 2023 Charity Recommendations . 2023-11-10 . Animal Charity Evaluators . en-US.
  16. Web site: Rating for Wild Animal Initiative Inc. . 2024-08-07 . . en.