“Five Wild Animal Welfare Organizations estimate $3-8M in room for additional funding in 2027” by Rethink Priorities

Summary With new funding potentially entering the effective altruism ecosystem, we wanted to estimate how much more the wild animal welfare (WAW) movement could productively absorb. We asked organizations with a public, dedicated WAW workstream to estimate their own room for more funding (RFMF). Although this does not capture the whole movement, we believe it captures a substantive fraction of it. Summed across the five organizations that took part, the estimates point to room for roughly 3.16 million dollars–8.23 million dollars in additional funding in 2027. The lower range reflects claims about how additional funding can bolster their current strategies, while the higher range reflects claims as to how substantially greater funding could be used to pursue more ambitious strategies. However, we give reasons below for why this might be an undercount. We briefly discuss the merits of a dedicated WAW fund. This could give prospective large donors a clear donation option and help diversify a movement currently concentrated in scientific field-building.Read full report Why Estimate the RFMF for WAW Organizations? There are good reasons to consider directing marginal funding toward WAW. Wild animals outnumber farmed animals by several orders of magnitude. Our understanding of their welfare remains [...] ---Outline:(00:15) Summary(01:29) Why Estimate the RFMF for WAW Organizations?(04:33) The Result(05:27) Scientific Field-Building Remains Important, But WAW Must Diversify(06:52) Does WAW Deserve a Fund of its Own? --- First published: August 14th, 2026 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/HDpwbQjes34gkkgKn/five-wild-animal-welfare-organizations-estimate-usd3-8m-in --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.