Animal Grantmakers Inc

What it reported doing in 2025

Annual Conference: In October 2025, Animal Grantmakers held its 26th annual conference in Fort Worth, Texas, with approximately 70 participants from the U.S., Canada, U.K., Mexico, and Asia. Given Texas' reputation for everything being bigger there, the conference theme - Bigger and Better, Together - explored new and varied ways to collaborate and cooperate to achieve greater impact on behalf of animals. The conference kicked off on October 15 with two field trip choices: 1) Bat World Sanctuary, a sanctuary accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), and Lake Mineral Wells State Park; and 2) Humane Society of North Texas' Equine Ranch and Saxe Forte Adoption Center (a shorter afternoon-only excursion). It then officially began that evening with a reception at the historic Hilton Fort Worth, where the two days of programming that followed were also held. Featuring experts from academia, science, law, and advocacy speaking on a wide range of animal protection and grantmaking topics, sessions on October 16 discussed: unwantedness and the moral weight of different types of animals; funding to achieve systemic change (drawing on examples of such change for dogs and cats from across the globe); using peer-to-peer grantmaking as the scaling mechanism for lifesaving in companion animal shelters (highlighting several companion animal welfare organizations in Texas); and protecting farm animals in large meat-producing states like Texas. A variety of formats were utilized on day one, including panels, virtual presentations, and several solo "lightning talks" on the following topics: improving animal welfare in aquatic good systems; animals in tourism; mitigating AI safety risks and making AI a positive force for animals; sanctuaries as lifetime care; and protecting animals, protecting people (on the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence). The first day also featured the Fourth Annual Melanie Anderson Lifetime Excellence in Animal Protection (LEAP) Award, which honored two Animal Grantmakers members: Sue Leary, who had just retired as president of the Alternatives Research and Development Foundation, and Andrew Rowan, president of Wellbeing International and a co-founder of Animal Grantmakers. Both winners were recognized for their many decades of impactful animal advocacy, particularly for their work in advancing alternatives to animal testing in medical research, cosmetics testing, and other industries. Members of GFAS, which decided to hold its board meeting at the Hilton Fort Worth earlier in the week, joined the conference on day one (and for the previous day's field trip to Bat World, which it made possible, and the opening reception), creating additional synergies. A nod to Animal Grantmakers' early years and offering an unparalleled opportunity to learn from each other, the second day of the conference was dedicated to: member-led presentations; interactive discussions; and workshops on how to design smart grants and strategies for identifying high-impact opportunities within one's chosen animal cause area. The final session on October 17, a discussion led by Animal Grantmakers President Bethany Heins, reflected on key insights from the conference and celebrated attendees' collective power to improve the lives of animals. That evening, the conference officially closed out with a gala dinner that included a lively and inspiring keynote delivered by American philosopher and New York University professor, Jeff Sebo, on "working together for all animals." A key takeaway was the opportunity for funders to help even more animals by giving 5% to projects / programs each year outside of their traditional focus areas. For example, if a funder is typically focused exclusively on dogs and cats, it could consider giving 5% of its total grants in a given year to causes that help wild horses, whales, mountain lions, or whatever else may be of concern. The highly successful conference attracted funding from

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -20.9%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.65; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -6.7% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings