ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
108
17
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: New York, NY
Founded: 1866
Mission: The mission of the ASPCA, as stated by our founder, Henry Bergh, is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Edwin Sayres.
Edwin J. Sayres was recently named president of the ASPCA, having previously been president of the San Francisco SPCA since November 1998. He came to the SF/SPCA with more than 27 years of experience in the animal welfare field. As the director of PETsMART Charities, Inc. in Phoenix, he administered the Grants Program, distributing more than $3 million to local…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
26.23%
Total Revenue:
$117,222,668
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
520 Eighth Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10018, USA
Twitter:
Story:
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world. Our organization was founded by Henry Bergh in 1866 on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans, and must be protected under the law. Headquartered in New York City, the ASPCA maintains a strong local presence, and with programs that extend our anti-cruelty mission across the country, we are recognized as a national animal welfare organization. We are a privately funded 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, and proud to boast more than 1 million supporters across the country.
Expert Reviews of ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals's work in general public awareness and advocacy is very impactful and familiar to most people; what is less known is the very important work they have done in researching, identifying, and promoting best practices for animal shelters. That work has shaped much of modern animal sheltering.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
They have a strong marketing and fundraising division. They have impactful commercials featuring Sara McLaughlan, Willie Nelson and other celebrities that have raise awareness about animal abuse and neglect. Additionally, experts agree that their leadership is solid.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Experts agree that the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals must be clearer in its fundraising efforts. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been criticized by some organizations for raising money outside of New York and not making it clear that they are not affiliated with local SPCAs.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Cohesion |
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They provide grants and aid to local stakeholders, creating a united front to best serve their mission. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals uses their influence as a national organization to make an impact on a local level in many cities around the US. They do a wonderful job of having regional staff who have relationships with smaller organizations so they can address specific needs in each area. They invest in projects that make a difference and have a lasting impact. | ||
Collaboration |
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They have worked collaboratively to aid in disaster response. | ||
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Their work building collaborations in communities has been great. They support the collaborations holistically building the overall strength, progress and sustainability of all the individual organizations and the collaboration as a whole. | ||
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They are involved at the community level and assist by providing expertise, resources and money. | ||
Communication |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is often a responder to large-scale animal rescues and disasters and has a fairly good website that educates the public. | ||
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They are more involved on a national level and do a lot of good educational stuff. The first textbook of animal shelter medicine came out of them. | ||
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Their ASPCAPro web site is a wonderful resource for professionals, easy to navigate. I have implemented programs based on information available on the site and refer colleagues to it often. It has helped me to grow in many ways. | ||
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Their $100K Challenge is building knowledge of new ways to save more animals and ASPCApro.org is sharing all that great knowledge | ||
Effective Advocacy |
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals's work in general public awareness and advocacy is very impactful and familiar to most people; what is less known is the very important work they have done in researching, identifying, and promoting best practices for animal shelters. That work has shaped much of modern animal sheltering. | ||
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They support legislative changes in a variety of states, provide response and support for disasters, and increase funding to local groups. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals provides broad based national support and advocacy for domestic animals. They provide support to local organizations; advocate on local, state and national levels for animal welfare; and educate the public about the plight of unwanted animals. They are a well respected organization in the animal welfare community, and have the history and experience to have great impact. | ||
Effective Marketing |
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They are the founding humane organization in our country. They have an excellent track record and excellent advertising campaign. | ||
Excellent Services |
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Their emergency animal rescue operations are particularly strong. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals not only aids the public in providing humane care to companion animals but also offers a behavior service and poison hotline. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is the leading organization in the country offering training, leadership and support for local animal welfare organizations, primarily those involved in direct care through animal sheltering, rescue and anti-cruelty efforts. They also provide leadership in the development of new knowledge in these areas, most notably in veterinary forensics and shelter medicine. Although the organization is involved in some level in advocacy around other animal welfare issues, they have emphasized their role in guiding and supporting on-the-ground local animal welfare work, and as a result have influenced many communities indirectly through their training, coordination and standard setting efforts. They also provide a unique service to pet owners, veterinarians and animal shelters nationwide through their animal-focused poison control hotline. | ||
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They provide high quality emergency response services driven by local efforts. | ||
Experience |
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Their longevity, experience, national recognition, and leadership in wide range of animal welfare issues are striking. | ||
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They have strong professional skills in the science of boots on the ground animal protection. They offer significant direct assistance to local agencies in a limited number of jurisdictions. They provide good resources online for all to benefit from. | ||
Expertise |
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They have a clear understanding of the challenges of animals homelessness and dedication to finding model solutions with the opportunity to duplicate programs throughout the country. | ||
Funding |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is strong in its education and its funding capability. | ||
Fundraising |
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They reach out to a broad base of donors and have a large pull in animal medicine protocol for shelter animals. This organization provides relief for communities experiencing natural disaster. | ||
Grassroots |
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This organization makes significant contributions to the betterment of animals in animal shelters around the country by providing grants on a grassroots level, provides leadership shelter medicine education and support, rescue to large scale disasters and helps to improve the investigation of animal cruelty. | ||
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Their grass roots sheltering and education are strong. They are involved in the direct rescue of animals and involvement of science policy areas such as farm animal housing and links between abuse of humans and other animals. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is one of the few organizations that is actually on the ground getting their hands dirty in helping animals. | ||
Great Outreach |
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The work they are doing with their partner community programs in actually getting out into the world and having an impact helping local non profits find ways to be more effective and partner with other local organizations to have a bigger impact. | ||
Great Programs |
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Their shelter work is particularly strong. They are the leaders in helping shelters all over the US. They help with funding, education programs, training programs, supply materials, and research, supporting major farm animal welfare programs and other national initiatives. | ||
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Their spay & neuter programs provide more support for populations under 240,000. They offer a good range of support for other animal issues, emergencies, fighting & hoarding. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals offers a wide range of programs that can impact local as well as national/regional problems. | ||
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They are highly involved in supporting spay & neuter and also very active in fighting animal abuse. | ||
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They are the oldest organization established to improve animal welfare issues nationwide. Throughout the past five years, they've initiated specific "Community Partnership" programs that work intrinsically with local organizations. Once a community is selected (thru an application process) the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals provides teams of experienced animal welfare professionals to assist the community in evaluating the pros and cons of existing or needed programs to improve animal issues unique to the community; then a strategic plan is created for a 3-5 year period; they then assist with funding these programs and work closely with the organizations to implement successful results. | ||
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The ASPCA has the most impact on enhancing the effectiveness of animal sheltering and intervening effectively in animal cruelty. | ||
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Their outreach programs and training for animal welfare professional are second to none. They seem truly willing to work collaboratively. | ||
Great Reach |
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They have serious national impact in the limited capacity of promoting shelter care for dogs and cats. They also have broad impact and significant resources put into national operations. | ||
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Of late, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has stepped up their operations to assist animal welfare organizations across the country. While national organizations have traditionally had impact at the federal level, the real work has been done locally, by smaller local organizations. The ASPCA has delivered programs and grants to local groups, strengthening those groups and furthering the cause of animal welfare. | ||
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Their work on disaster rescue, dogfighting, prosecutorial assistance, education, shelter support is widespread. | ||
Great Research |
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals uses original research and field experiences to define best practices and then to invest heavily in community assistance to implement and monitor these practices in partner communities. This process is leading to a constant elevation of the standard of care in animal welfare nationally. The ASPCA is also the most effective emergency responder in disasters and large-scale cruelty cases. | ||
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I am specifically aware of their efforts to improve the health and welfare of companion animals. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has supported university teaching efforts, actively advocated for increased recognition of animal cruelty, promoted strategies for enhancing the health of homeless animals and supported non-invasive research regarding homeless animal health and well-being. | ||
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This organization collects and provides a great deal of accurate information to assist in the health care and well being of the animal population. | ||
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Innovation |
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With a focus on companion animals in New York City but also nationally the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has lead in numerous areas of innovation. They have demonstrated how to reduce euthanasia and trial programs in a key US market. Their work to put veterinary forensics on the map is a key example of a reinvention of tools to help combat animal cruelty. 'Animal Precinct' , featuring an ASPCA investigator was the first reality show to help popularize careers working to save animals. Their leadership support of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs is visionary; creating new non-surgical means of birth control for animals will transform our ability to save animals lives. Their work with mentor communities to help reduce euthanasia is commendable. | ||
Legal Impact |
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Their work in veterinary forensics has changed the way animal cruelty cases are handled and has improved the quality of cases presented in court. | ||
Partnerships |
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has promoted law enforcement for the protection of animals for more that 100 years and shares this success with organizations on a national level. | ||
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Being a part of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals's partnership I have seen first hand the difference that this has made in our community towards our goal of creating humane communities for at risk animals. Since 2007 , the ASPCA has stewarded the collaboration of the four major animal welfare organizations in our community and ten other communities across the USA. This collaboration has strengthened all of us as we worked together to raise the life release rate from a little over 50% to over 90%. In addition, the ASPCA has helped our partnership create and maintain strong "safety net " programs for the animals at high risk of entering shelters. | ||
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Their direct consultation with select (but relatively few) local organizations improves their ability to effectively deliver local services with greater impact than would otherwise be possible. They provide resources to local organizations to improve adoption success and live release rates for sheltered animals. They have led successful legislative efforts and have been advocates for measurable outcomes for agencies sheltering animals. | ||
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They lead focused coalition building in cities around the country to improve the delivery of animal services to the community. | ||
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They mentor smaller non profit organizations. | ||
Raising Awareness |
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does many things well but their most important contribution in recent years has been the difference they have made and continue to make in raising public awareness about animal cruelty and in developing protocols for effective investigations and prosecutions. The Animal Cops program on Animal Planet has encouraged members of the public to pay attention to, and to report, incidents of animal cruelty. Their veterinary/legal team has traveled the country training veterinarians and humane officers about how to document cases, make them stick, and successfully achieve guilty verdicts. They are in the process of developing a program of animal forensics to add to this list of legal skills and achievements. | ||
Reputation |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a recognized national leader in animal welfare, rights and protection. They provide valuable support to all of us working in this area. | ||
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They have a strong national reputation, especially for research and mission development. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals appears to be the most well known animal welfare organization for having an impact during national disasters and large, high profile animal cruelty cases. On the shelter level, the ASPCA probably offers the most support of all the national organizations. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a great reputation. | ||
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Their quick responses to disasters such as Joplin, MO, are stellar. | ||
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They have a strong national reputation and good relationship with local humane/welfare groups. | ||
Saving Lives |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has directly impacted the live release rate of companion animals from shelters across the nation by providing funding, consulting services, and direct staff support to shelters and smaller non-profits through their Community Partner project. Without this project, these shelters would likely not be saving the lives of as many animals as they are now. | ||
Sound Strategy |
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While the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does not work on farm animal issues - which is where the most suffering occurs - they are incredibly strategic about the work they do for companion animals. They seek to professionalize the field of shelter and rescue workers and they closely evaluate all of their key programs and campaigns. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is taking a proactive approach by selecting entire communities to advance the capacity of the participating partner organizations through direct funding and consulting support, to address community-wide pet overpopulation and needless euthanasia. | ||
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They are focused on making a difference for animals in multiple ways: legislation, direct care, support to smaller nonprofits, and community wide planning. | ||
Training |
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Their work with Companion Animals and the nation's animal shelters to improve animal welfare and to help professionalize the staff of these shelters has been remarkable. | ||
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They provide training, education materials, research results, and collaboration opportunities to all animal welfare organizations across the US. Because of their lengthy history and seasoned approach to the elimination of pet overpopulation, they have much to share, and they do so freely and frequently. | ||
Great Response to Disasters and Emergencies |
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They have a lot of funding and is doing a great job in NYC. They are working to make a difference in other areas but not sure how much success they are having. They have started to focus more on the spay/neuter message and that is important at being effective. They are great in responses to disasters and emergencies. | ||
Effective Fundraising |
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They are a national group that makes many grants. They take many hits for fundraising in local communities -- frankly, they should promote themselves by telling the public the good they do through grantmaking. | ||
Veterinary Forensics |
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The ASPCA has been especially successful at fighting animal cruelty. Their veterinary forensics team has re-defined how cruelty investigations are conducted. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Sound Strategy |
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Their strengths are research and development. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a great team of talented folks that understand the plight of our stakeholders: animals, shelters and the public. They develop comprehensive plans that target specific communities, "hot" issues and support those in need. These programs include shelter grants, educational opportunities for all, disaster response, community planning and even motivational campaigns. | ||
Excellent Marketing |
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Their marketing impacts animal welfare non-profits nationwide by spreading the message there is a need in every community. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a good Internet marketing program, but I do not feel its leadership or staff is as well known as HSUS. Its finances seem sound, but I have no basis for thinking that other than what I see it doing via the ASPCA e-mail list to which I am subscribed. | ||
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They have very good marketing campaigns that seem effective. They are increasing support/grant/opportunities/education for local groups. | ||
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They have a strong marketing and fundraising division. They have impactful commercials featuring Sara McLaughlan, Willie Nelson and other celebrities that have raise awareness about animal abuse and neglect. The leadership is solid. | ||
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They marketing strategies are strong. The message is consistent. They have recently acquired a stronger and better educated work force which will have tremendous impact on animal welfare nationally. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has strong funding and advertising. It is a role model for new organizations. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has made serious impact through their emotional television commercials to enlighten viewers to the plight of animals in shelters through no fault of their own. They DO at the local level in New York City so they can put their money where their mouth is. They are both thought and action leaders. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has become a leader in marketing and fundraising through quality TV commercials and social media. They are raising millions of dollars annually through their campaigns. | ||
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Through its Mission Orange community partnership programs, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has invested significantly into several areas across the country in order to save more lives. They fund and foster collaborative efforts within each community which is a refreshing and successful strategy for bridging the gap between multiple local animal welfare organizations. Their marketing is very effective--at least for name recognition. They are well branded. The ASPCA is a very strong resource for shelters and for individuals. | ||
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They are best known for their strong marketing and publicity. | ||
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They are good at marketing and always willing to question their impact. | ||
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Their marketing and ad campaigns have resulted in tremendous donor support. This increased income has allowed them to provide additional services to the sheltering community. | ||
Broad Reach |
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They have a broad reach and collaborative nature. | ||
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They are widely recognized and have very broad reach. | ||
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They've re-established their organization to reflect the goals & mission of positive changes that can occur for animal issues on local, state & national levels. They have a strong established leadership, management, and funding resources to "re-invest" in community animal organizations that have a local positive impact. | ||
Strong Staff |
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals demonstrates amazing leadership. The staff lead by example and are some of the most motivating individuals I have worked with. They are experts in animal welfare and readily share their knowledge with individual organizations. | ||
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The key strength of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is the deep experience of staff in shelter management. They have walked the walk! | ||
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They have compassionate, dedicated and knowledgeable staff and leadership. They also have a great track record and a long history of helping animals. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is highly organized with teams of staff specializing in a variety of areas and ready to mobilize as needed. For instance, the ASPCA is able to mobilize a small army of workers to assist with animal issues during a natural disaster. Another team that they use is a training team, or a variety of training teams that will provide training, sometimes at no cost, to local organizations or coalitions of local organizations. This team approach of highly trained, skilled and knowledgeable people has a large impact nationally. | ||
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Their veterinarians are extremely knowledgeable and always willing to consult on cases. | ||
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They have knowledgeable staff in many aspects of sheltering, behavior, exotics, research and legislation. | ||
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has strong and knowledgeable staff in a number of areas. In addition to the legal skills groups the ASPCA leads the nation in working to rehabilitate animals who have suffered great mental and physical harm. They were critical in the assessment of the Michael Vick dogs. The ASPCA also often plays a leadership role in convening the leadership of the humane community to discuss emerging issues, to resolve movement-wide disagreements, to advocate for improved movement professional standards. One such example would be the Asilomar Accords. | ||
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They have a long standing record of work in animal welfare. They have a strong and diverse staff. They have some focus on research and some focus on local problem areas. | ||
Strong Leadership |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has excellent leadership. | ||
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They are strong with their connectedness, leadership, research, advocacy, and teaching. | ||
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The leadership of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is very knowledgeable and compassionate. They are passionate about providing safe and secure homes for pets. | ||
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They have been particularly successful in recruiting good talent around their programs. They are also responsive to the need to have a "face" within the diverse communities in which they work, allowing staff to work from home in multiple locations throughout the country as well as assigning staff as needed for long term assignments to assist with special local problems such as post-Katrina rebuilding efforts. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has strong leadership that is committed to the cause. | ||
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I have been most impressed with the leadership of the veterinarians, legislative and other staff that directly work with animal shelters issues. The issues include health of animals in shelters, legislation and community outreach regarding cruelty in animals. | ||
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CEO Ed Sayres is a strong leader with a strategic plan for growth and increased impact, and is supported by a really capable, accomplished staff. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals's focus on understanding the data/science behind reducing euthanasia and animal cruelty is important. In this field, emotional appeals can sometimes supersedes science. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has strong leadership focused on making an impact. | ||
Strong Educational Effort |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a good educational effort and does a very good job of marketing. | ||
Effective Operations |
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They run very effective operations in emergency response and excellent marketing. They respond swiftly and work effectively with local agencies. | ||
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They are quick to respond to emergencies around the country. | ||
Long History |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a long history and has cultivated great brand awareness. | ||
Financial Stability |
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Marketing and financial sustainability are strengths of this organization. | ||
Great Community Involvement |
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They are into community involvement--truly think globally and act locally. They are mainstream enough for most people to support, effective on the ground, and have an extensive grassroots shelter network. They are mainly oriented towards action, not just discussion. I consider them a real success in terms of thinking globally and acting locally. | ||
Strong Programs |
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The run actual programs in New York City that give them the expertise to help other organizations. They go into communities and partner with existing organizations to multiply their impact. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a clear vision of the future needs in animal welfare and they work to create new and better programs to fill these needs all the time. Programs like Meet Your Match have dramatically changed the way shelters adopt out animals and has reduced the return to shelter rate by 46%. ASPCA's outreach programs like the poison control hotline and their emergency response team are invaluable to pet owners in crisis. | ||
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They have excellent staff training and programs. | ||
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They offer a broad set of programs such as adoptions, cruelty investigations, veterinary care, fostering, behavior programs, disaster response and mitigation, animal transfers, and more. They also have a long history: many years to gather information, learn from mistakes, work through societal trends, and begin to analyze all this and present it to other organizations to magnify their efforts through others. | ||
Excellent Fundraising |
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They have excellent staff and a great CEO, and incredible fundraising skills. They use their fundraising skills for actual programs. | ||
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They are excellent at fundraising, and their staff has on-the-ground experience that makes their guidance and support very relevant to those running shelters or animal welfare agencies. | ||
Balance |
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They strike a nice balance between what they do support. | ||
Leader in its Field |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals appears to put money into supporting shelters around the country, which is important as a national leader in shelter efforts. | ||
Solid Funding |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has incredible resources and potential. | ||
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has deep pockets and the ability to fundraise nationally. | ||
Innovative Leadership |
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has populated its departments with leaders who are the most innovative and data-driven in the country. As such, the ASPCA is challenging dogma and creating new paradigms to lead the field of animal welfare, particularly in animal sheltering. Another strength is its ability to communicate with external stakeholders. Through effective dissemination of original research reports, continuing education webinars, and examples of best practices, the ASPCA serves a critical purpose in elevating the effectiveness of the sheltering industry. | ||
Innovative Programs |
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Expertise of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is brought into local areas to work with and coordinate data collection and problem solving. They have innovative program implementation with financial support to achieve desired outcomes. | ||
Supporting Other Organizations |
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They provide leadership, marketing and support to many of the smaller organizations that lack the resources. | ||
Raising Awareness |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is great at advertising and promoting the plight of abandoned animals. | ||
Strong Network |
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has national recognition, available funding, a fabulous network of staff and consultants who are positioned throughout the US. They are attempting to look holistically at community problems and make the largest impact. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Clearer Communication |
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They need to clarify their position as a group. The average member of the public doesn't know they aren't an umbrella organization to the 500 "American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of X county". | ||
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They could improve the clarity of their message to the public and to shelters around what their focus is and is not. | ||
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Their animal poison information center is on a fee basis and not free to those in need. Their fundraising leaves the impression that they deliver direct services locally across the United States when those services are actually delivered by local agencies with no affiliation to the ASPCA. | ||
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I would vehemently stress to them to be transparent with the public about how their money is spent. Many average citizens who support the ASPCA think that their donations are somehow helping their local animal shelters which is not the case. | ||
Fundraising Tactics |
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They seem to take advantage of the confusion between what local SPCAs do and what the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does. The two are not related. They should make this difference clear for donors. | ||
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They mislead people with their fundraising. They provide very little support at the local level but lead donors to believe otherwise. | ||
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O
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Fundraising can create confusion for local Humane Societies/SPCAs. They should continue to increase funding/grant opportunities for local groups. | ||
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N
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They could be more active on a local and state level as far as legislative changes. They only have the one organization in New York which is misleading from a fund raising point of view. | ||
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F
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Their local programming in New York City was for most of the past century their primary focus. As they have expanded nationally to address their broader mission (and the scope suggested by their name), their local efforts have not kept pace with their national outreach. As a result, they sometimes send an inconsistent message for those who interact with their shelter and/or now much abbreviated programming in New York City in that it doesn't always measure up to the scope and standards set by their national training and consulting efforts. | ||
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N
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They have a very high fundraising cost percentage and they market shamelessly outside of their primary area of operation. The benefit they bring does not equal the cash they cart off from local communities. | ||
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N
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Their fundraising appears manipulative. | ||
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N
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I will fault the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on their fund raising techniques that make it appear to the public that they are doing the work in a local community where in fact the work is largely done by local organizations. Most local groups report that potential donors are likely to think that when making a donation to the ASPCA the money goes to a local, private not for profit. The ASPCA could also improve on their collaboration with other national groups. As wonderful as the individuals are, the "corporate" approach seems to be to not collaborate with the other big players, whether those players are corporate or not for profit. | ||
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R
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also fund raises for their causes and sometimes their fund raising efforts are down-right annoying. | ||
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N
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Be truthful in fundraising by eliminating the easily formed perception based on current content in direct mail and television that they deliver local services and that local SPCAs are "chapters" of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Their only shelter is in New York City. Increase the scope and depth of their already existing collaborative efforts with other national organizations. | ||
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N
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Local funding solicitation sometimes confuses public. | ||
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R
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In this time when donor dollars are more scarce for everyone the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been criticized by some organizations for raising money outside of New York and not making it absolutely clear that they are not affiliated with local SPCAs. In these times perhaps greater sensitivity to the struggles of all humane organizations would be beneficial. | ||
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F
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They need to improve their local public relations to build credibility among peers. The organization is criticized for raising funds in communities where it does not have a presence. | ||
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O
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They can at times appear to have all the answers and don't listen to the ideas and input from others. They do not make it clear to the American public that they are a shelter that cares for local animals in the NYC area. When they run national ad campaigns, donors get the impression that they either care for animals all over the US or that shelters throughout the US benefit from the donations that are given to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals I believe, and have heard others voice their concern that it's not ethical for ASPCA not to give full disclosure in their ads. | ||
Greater Reach |
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N
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The work they are doing has thus far been limited to a group of communities that is small in the grand scale of things. They need to recreate their efforts in a way that can reach additional communities easily. | ||
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N
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Their spay & neuter support is more limited to mobile units. They need to not rule out the stationary models. | ||
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O
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They should expand reach of organization more on a national level; expand coverage of animal welfare areas. | ||
Better Marketing |
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O
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Although American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a great name, I cannot personally tell you what they have done recently. It could improve by attaching itself to a campaign. | ||
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N
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Often the good works of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are overshadowed by organizations with larger budgets. | ||
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N
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals needs to learn how to work with other organizations on a larger scale and be more factual when making national awareness statements. Some of their statements are assumptions and theories that really do not aid in animal welfare. | ||
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N
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I think they could improve their website and resource materials they provide for others. | ||
Educational Focus |
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R
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There needs to be more education in factory farming. If consumers don’t understand the inhumane practices of factory farming, the practices will persist. | ||
Local Impact |
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O
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I would like to see more involvement at the local level. | ||
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R
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They should put more focus on making a difference locally such as in shelter outreach. | ||
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O
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They need to understand field level issues better. | ||
Advocacy |
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O
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It would be good if American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals could increase and improve its state-level lobbying efforts. | ||
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N
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Would be nice to see a greater campaign component to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' work, whether within their natural sphere of influence (say, puppy mill campaigning) or in an expanded way (fighting cruelty in entertainment or zoos, for instance). | ||
Working with other Organizations |
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N
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Although they have the experience, they sometimes forget the challenges of the local organizations. | ||
Board Improvements |
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O
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The board is getting micro-managerial - requesting detailed widget counting reports from professionals whose time would be better used aiming at the mission. They are demanding numbers for ephemeral (but important) work which could be qualified in better ways from outside observers. Let the workers work. They tend to be star makers - promoting a few individuals to a level where they are set up to fail. | ||
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N
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Their board interferes in everything and tries to micromanage every aspect of the organization. The board can't make up its mind as to what the organization should be and some want the organization to be a copy cat of the HSUS instead of letting it be its own organization. | ||
More Central Control |
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R
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They could use a little more central processing of info and explicit positions. Slightly stronger central control might increase effectiveness at a national level. | ||
Program Focus |
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N
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They should spend more of that money on dogs and cats, this is what people donate it for. | ||
Better Communication |
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R
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There is a substantial silo effect within this large organization such that expertise and resources are not readily shared between departments. | ||
Expansion |
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O
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Training in rural less populated areas would be helpful. | ||
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N
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I would like them to expand their partnership communities. Austin has gained so much under their leadership. Find a way to have the disaster response team include more people that can help the owners of lost pets. | ||
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N
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They should add more communities to their Partner program and make more of an impact. One concern is usage of proprietary of donors in each market. | ||
Too Much Politics |
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O
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There appear to be a lot of politics involved in the work that is being done--this doesn't help the local shelter trust them as an organization. | ||
More Innovation |
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N
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This nonprofit could be stronger in leading new strategies for prevention of animal homelessness if they were open to innovative or untested ideas outside the realm of traditional sheltering. This nonprofit could also do a better job of reaching outside animal welfare and making the case for animal protection within a broader range of social services - making animal protection more relevant to people who aren't "animal lovers". | ||
Leadership Engagement |
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N
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The top leadership seems disengaged at times. | ||
Not Effective |
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R
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For an organization of its size and influence, ASPCA doesn't do nearly enough work when it comes to farmed animal protection. | ||
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N
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Although one of the oldest animal organizations in the country, it is no longer an animal welfare organization. They push shelter animals to the exclusion of well-bred cats and dogs from responsible breeders. In the long run this is a disservice to the public looking for a pet. | ||
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N
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Given the vast wealth of this agency they have limited success in terms of actual results. They have fabulous TV commercials but have not achieved much in terms of actual animal lives saving, which ought to be a substantial measure in animal protection. | ||
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N
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The only strength I see in this organization is its name recognition. Contrary to conventional wisdom (and evidently the knowledge of those answering the survey), it runs only one animal shelter, in New York City. It should more accurately be called the Manhattan New York SPCA. The organization relies on people all over the contrary mistakenly believing that it is affiliated with their local SPCAs or humane societies when it is not. It fundraises based on the public's mistaken understanding of its role and impact. The organization spends a whopping 20% (or roughly $20 million/year on fundraising), pays its CEO an exorbitant sum, and trickles down a little to a small number of other organizations. Also contrary to conventional wisdom, the ASPCA does not support reforms and lifesaving efforts at local shelters. It nearly always backs old-guard, regressive shelters that engage in mass killing of shelter animals despite readily available alternatives. In my view, the ASPCA is little more than a scam. | ||
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N
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The only strength this organization has is in its aggressive marketing and fundraising agendas. | ||
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O
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Some strengths are certainly the size and capacity of the organization. Because the organization is so big and well-funded it would be hard for the organization not to have an impact. However it is questionable whether there is good return for their size. There appears to be no way to measure impact against size, a pound for pound evaluation. If measured pound for pound, I think it would be found that many smaller groups outperform the ASPCA. Impact is of course inherently difficult to measure in advancing causes, as much work relies on the gradual change of public opinion which facilitates changes in policy and changes in behavior toward animals over-time. | ||
Broader Scope |
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N
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Broaden their scope of work to help other species of animal more than just companion animals. Open their shelter up to receive more animals from the NYC area. | ||
Distribution of Funds |
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N
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Fundraising appears to be their strongest point but it is not clear what they spend that on. At least in our city, they do not reward the groups who do the majority of the work. Their stated objectives do not match their work plans or support. | ||
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O
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I am terribly disappointed that this group represents itself as though it supports local level shelters and spay/neuter clinics. I think people often give to this organization and the HSUS believing that they are supporting their local shelter. Their advertising does nothing to clarify this--in fact it continually reinforces this view. I concur that they have a big impact, but I do not believe they do with the donated funds what donors believe they do. | ||
Leadership
Edwin Sayres
President
President
From the Nonprofit
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