We need to hold corporates accountable - here’s how THL UK would use marginal funding to reduce farmed animal suffering

By Gavin Chappell-Bates, Molly Archer-Zeff @ 2025-11-17T13:43 (+33)

In the spirit of “Marginal Funding Week” for the 2025 Giving Season on the EA Forum, we’d like to share with you The Humane League UK’s (THL UK’s) need for additional funding, what we would do with it, and how you can have a real impact on reducing the suffering of animals raised for food. 

We’re currently seeking funding for our 2025 match giving appeal. We’re hoping to raise a total of £100,000 to help us achieve our goals and continue fighting for animals long into the future. 

Structure of the post: 

1. Our situation
2. How we would use extra funding
3. Our match giving appeal
4. Why give to THL UK
5. Conclusion

Our situation

We’re facing a funding gap of £290k this financial year (April 2025-March 2026). We also continue to seek long-term funding to continue our work and give us greater financial stability.

We currently receive an annual grant from The Humane League (THL) in the US, which we continue to reduce as part of our long-term plan towards greater financial self-reliance. The next financial year will be the first time that our directly fundraised income is set to surpass our grant from THL, bringing with it a significant leap in our fundraising targets. In addition to this, shifting priorities within the movement means that some of our historically largest funders may not financially support our work next year. This means that we will need to bring in more income ourselves than ever before, whilst our grants from THL and others are reducing. 

To prepare us for the challenge ahead, we must fulfil our funding goals for this financial year, as well as continue to grow our UK supporter base, and secure longer-term funding.

If we do not receive the funding budgeted for our work this year, we would need to either scale back some of our activities or draw on our reserves. Our reserves are intended in case of emergency and, having extended our policy recently, we are at the lower end of our reserves policy so ideally would like to increase this, rather than reduce the amount we have. Therefore, we are reliant on donations during our match giving appeal, and in the future months, to ensure activities go ahead as planned and to support the successful long-term financial health of THL UK.

How we would use extra funding

We’re holding corporates accountable:

At the heart of how we would use marginal funding is our ongoing fight for chickens — both against the suffering of chickens raised for meat (often called Frankenchickens) and the confinement of caged egg-laying hens.

Since our work started in 2016, the THL UK team has worked to secure corporate commitments that meaningfully improve animal welfare. Through persistent campaigning, we’ve pushed companies to adopt cage-free policies and sign on to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) — a science-based set of standards designed to improve the lives of broiler chickens.

Across the UK, more than 90% of chickens raised for food are fast-growing breeds. These birds have been bred to grow so rapidly that their bodies often cannot support their weight, leading to pain, immobility, and immense suffering for millions. Meanwhile, around 7 million hens remain trapped in cages, unable to spread their wings or engage in natural behaviours.

We are now at a critical juncture in this work. In the UK, 77 cage-free commitments are due in 2025, and 128 Better Chicken Commitments in 2026. Encouragingly, 85% of cage-free commitments have already been fulfilled, and most of those due in 2025 are on track. Our immediate focus is on pushing the remaining laggards to deliver on their promises.

For the BCC, 38 companies are currently publishing progress, and we’ve seen particular success in securing more space for chickens. However, the adoption of slower-growing breeds remains a major sticking point. Only Waitrose and M&S have met this requirement so far. Without continued external pressure and public accountability, many companies could fall short of their commitments. If these deadlines pass unfulfilled, and there are no consequences for failure, it could undermine the movement's approach to securing corporate change for animals and put our future efforts and impact for animals at risk. Additionally, retailers are currently the main blockers and will become our main focus again in the next year. We are currently in the process of restrategising with the intention of getting movement amongst the retailers which will in turn start the necessary shift we need to see in the whole industry and allow for the fulfilment of other commitments. 

Additional unrestricted funds would be allocated where they can have the greatest impact at the point of receipt, most likely supporting our cage-free accountability campaigns and BCC work ensuring we see the adoption of slower growing breeds. These campaigns are central to ensuring that companies follow through on their animal welfare promises and deliver tangible improvements for millions of animals.

Marginal funding now would also place us in a stronger position heading into the next financial year. Our 2026 fundraising targets will increase significantly and we currently lack confirmed funding. A strong financial performance this year is therefore critical, and additional funds would help us to continue our work for hens, chickens, and fishes in the year ahead. 

Our 2025 match giving appeal

To help us fund our vital work for farmed animals, we will be running a match giving appeal aiming to raise £100,000. 

Between 24th November and 2nd December, donations made to THL UK will be matched by two generous donors, each offering £25,000, for a total matching pot of £50,000. Our match funders are existing donors, with these commitments eliciting the largest gifts these donors have made to THL UK to date. We explored the possibility of finding new match donors but were not able to this year given our limited pool of prospects.  We hope that the appeal this year will be an opportunity to attract new donors to our cause, as well as giving us a larger pool of prospective match funders for future appeals. 

As our largest fundraising campaign of the year, our match giving appeal offers an opportunity to close our funding gap and double the impact of your donations. This appeal is important for keeping our campaigns on track and closing our funding gap. 

Every gift received matters profoundly: we are committed to a ‘true match’, meaning our funders match only the donations we receive. 

You can donate to our appeal in two ways: 

1. By making a one-off donation via our campaign page between 24th November- 2nd December.
2. By setting up a monthly donation during our campaign. Monthly gifts set up during the appeal will be eligible for match funding for the first 12 months. If you’re already a monthly donor, you can take part in our match giving appeal by increasing your regular donation. 

The easiest way to donate is via our dedicated online page between 24th November and 2nd December. You will be able to access the link via our website from 24th November. We will also add the links to this post. 

However, if you wish to give another way, or have any questions about donating, please contact Molly, Major Gifts Coordinator (marcherzeff@thehumaneleague.org.uk).

A favour to the EA Forum team: It is important that the EA Forum team can track how much funding they are directing to the organisations involved in the 2025 Giving Season. This helps to measure the impact of Marginal Funding week and its financial benefit to organisations. To help with this, we ask that you please email Molly if you have read this post and decide to donate to our work as a result.

Why give to THL UK 

1. We know that our tactics work. We have a history of taking on the world’s largest food companies and winning. Thanks to our efforts to hold companies accountable, many commitments have now been fulfilled and companies are reporting on them. As a result, 4/5 hens are now cage-free in the UK.
2. We focus on broiler chickens, hens and fishes as they are farmed in the largest numbers and have relatively few protections. The scale and the suffering these animals face mean we can have a significant impact through targeted and incremental welfare improvements.
3. Our history of successes has not only directly impacted the lives of millions of animals in the UK, but has also helped lead the way for other animal welfare programmes across the globe. As well as focussing on our own domestic priorities, as part of the OWA, we are a key player in ensuring progress for animals in Europe and beyond. A donation to THL UK, therefore, has an impact on both domestic and international animals.
4. Whilst we’re still a fairly young organisation, we have already achieved some big wins for the animals. This is one of the reasons why we, as part of THL, are recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) as one of the most effective animal protection organisations in Europe and beyond. As part of the evaluation process, ACE applied its cost-effectiveness assessments to our cage-free and Better Chicken Commitment accountability work. It was estimated that THL’s overall cage-free work is likely to help 11 egg-laying hens per dollar and 46 broiler chickens per dollar.
5. If you’re interested in our efforts to enshrine farmed animal welfare into UK policies and laws, then you may wish to consider giving directly to THL UK. Although we receive a significant annual grant from THL (an independent non-profit registered in the United States), the money is subject to U.S. laws regarding lobbying. As such, this funding from THL cannot be used for lobbying or legislative work, such as our case challenging the legality of fast-growing breeds of chicken and our lobbying work to introduce stunning laws for farmed fishes at the time of slaughter.
6. Donating directly to THL UK may allow you to increase the value of your donation. If you are a UK-based donor then your gift may be eligible for Gift Aid, which can increase the value of your donation by 25%, maximising its impact.  

Conclusion 

THL UK needs your support to continue our current work for farmed animals. We are committed to making the biggest impact with every pound that is donated to support our mission but with such a tiny proportion of charitable donations going towards farmed animal welfare, our resources are limited. Marginal funding will ultimately ensure that we can continue our vital work to end the suffering of farmed animals, particularly focusing on the welfare of chickens and fishes. With so many animals suffering in factory farming systems at this very moment, our work is urgent. Every pound you donate helps to improve lives. 

The Humane League UK is a registered charity in England and Wales working to end the abuse of animals raised for food. 

THL is the only organisation to have been recommended in every one of ACE’s ranking periods. Their continued endorsement underscores our effectiveness and commitment to creating a better world for animals. They have evaluated us to be an ‘exceptional’ example of effective advocacy:

“With a strong track record, global credibility, and robust risk management, THL appears well placed to secure lasting welfare improvements for farmed chickens around the world.”

Our vision is that by 2050, we've stopped the worst and most widespread abuse of animals raised for food, and they’re treated with far greater compassion.

• Our theory of change
• Our strategic priorities 2024-27
• Our 2024-25 annual report

Thank you for taking part in Giving Season and considering our marginal funding post. The EA community has played, and continues to play, an important role in funding our vital work for farmed animals. Many of our successes are the result of your support.