ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming Grant Program

Funder: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

The ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming Grant Program aims to transform the U.S. food system by promoting humane practices and reducing reliance on factory farming. By funding eligible projects, the program seeks to improve animal welfare, support farmers, and enhance public health. Projects must include educational components to raise awareness about their impact. This initiative reflects ASPCA's commitment to ethical treatment of animals and fostering a culture of compassion and inclusion.

About the Grant
For the fifth anniversary of the Fund to End Factory Farming, we invite projects that challenge the most pervasive myth of factory farming: that it ensures a safe and abundant food supply. In truth, factory farming’s corner-cutting practices and lack of accountability breed unsafe and insecure conditions—for animals, farmers, workers, rural communities and consumers.
Time and again, the safest and most sustainable food system has proven to be the deep network of independent farms across America raising animals with attention and care, while investing in the health of their land, employees and communities.
Below are six critical questions to help complete the story of why the safest and most resilient food system is one without factory farming. Proposals must tie to one of these questions and can be addressed regionally or nationally, for a single species or across multiple types of animal agriculture. Proposed deliverables may take the form of articles, reports, case-studies, community stories, literature reviews, audio or visual media.
What does factory farming cost us? For example, what is the financial cost to Americans and the public sector from environmental damage, zoonotic diseases or human health impacts of industrial-scale animal operations? How often do conventionally produced dairy, meat or egg products command equal or higher prices to (accurately labeled) higher-welfare equivalents? What are the externalized costs that haven’t yet been explored?How do different types of farms impact local economies? What are the socio-economic impacts of independent pasture-based farms—versus industrial-scale livestock farms and feedlots—on local communities? (For example, on local jobs, income, real estate, tourism, farmland retention, taxes, education, infrastructure or food security.)How do farming practices impact food quality? How do the practices of industrial-scale animal farming— particularly those that impact animals' stress and welfare— influence food quality, safety or nutritional value, compared to pasture-based farming practices?Where would investment have the greatest impact? How can relatively small shifts in livestock and poultry subsidies—or investments in infrastructure supporting the livestock and poultry industries— boost the viability of independent, higher-welfare livestock production? Where would public investment generate the biggest improvements for higher-welfare animal farming?What is the current scale of pasture-based farming? How many farms operate outside of the industrial system, particularly in the dairy, pork and broiler chicken industries, where data is lacking? And how can these figures best be tracked over time?How does pet food fuel factory farming, threatening pet health? To what extent does pet food serve as a stable outlet for factory-farmed products and byproducts? What are the economic impacts, and what economic, policy, or infrastructure changes could shift pet food toward higher-welfare sourcing? What differences, if any, exist in food quality, nutrition and safety?
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment by humans. Acting effectively on that belief requires a commitment to fostering a collaborative and compassionate culture and to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We welcome all voices to participate in our advancement of these values in the interest of working together to improve the lives of animals in need.
For more informations, please see FAQs.

Eligibility

Eligible EntitiesThis RFP is open to any U.S. nonprofit, for-profit, or public entity.This opportunity is also available to Canadian registered charities/foundations, public universities, and approved municipalities/public bodies. Applicants must meet ASPCA Grantee Organizational Standards:If a past ASPCA grant recipient, must be current on all reporting requirementsIf a nonprofit organizationMust be an incorporated or organized legal entity in good standing with the Secretary of State in the state where the organization is incorporated or organized
Must have a board of at least 4 members with a majority of independent members with neither board chair nor treasurer receiving compensation from the organization
Charitable registration must be current/active in the state of the Grantee’s primary location (for grants >=$25,000)

Ineligibility

Ineligible:Projects involving or relying on invasive procedures on live animalsIndividuals or teams not associated with an eligible entity listed aboveEntities not based in the U.S. or CanadaProjects that do not contribute to a U.S. transition away from factory farming