Cause area
Leave a legacy for Animal Welfare
From shelter pets to the billions of animals raised on farms each year, a well-directed gift can prevent an enormous amount of suffering.
Why it matters
About 10 billion land animals are slaughtered for food in the U.S. each year, nearly 9.7 billion of them chickens, and many live in conditions that cause serious suffering.
Some programs reach enormous numbers of animals per dollar. A 2019 Rethink Priorities analysis estimated that corporate cage-free and broiler-welfare campaigns affected 9 to 120 years of chicken life per dollar spent.
Sources:
Where an extra dollar goes furthest
These are the kinds of programs our research looks at first in this cause. With a research-guided gift, specific organizations are chosen when your gift arrives, so it can go to what works best then.
Farm animal welfare
Campaigns and legal work for better standards, such as cage-free housing.
Alternative proteins
Research that makes humane food cheaper and better.
Companion animals
Shelters, spay and neuter programs, and adoption.
Wildlife
Habitat protection and wildlife rehabilitation.
Three ways to give to animal welfare
Recommended
Research-guided gift
Your will dedicates the gift to animal welfare and asks your executor to choose the most effective organizations working on it when the time comes, guided by published research.
A charity you name
Leave your gift to a specific organization you already know and trust.
Your own named fund
Start a fund in your name or a loved one's that gives to animal welfare every year. How it works
Sample wording for your will
Our builder fills this in for you. If you already have a will, share this wording with your attorney.
I give ____ percent (____%) of my residuary estate to one or more charitable organizations described in Sections 170(c) and 2055(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, selected by my Executor, to be used for preventing and reducing the suffering of animals. I ask that my Executor consider the research and recommendations published by MyLastWill.org at the time of my death.
Sample language for discussion with your attorney. Not legal advice.
Questions about giving to animal welfare
Can I leave money for my own pet's care?
Yes, but that is a different tool: a pet trust, which every state allows, or a gift to the person who will care for your pet. Our builder focuses on charitable gifts, so ask an attorney about a pet trust.
Can I support a local shelter?
Absolutely. Name it as a specific charity in your plan.
Add animal welfare to your plan
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