Compassion in World Farming's Case for Marginal Funding

By Cory Cerussi @ 2025-11-18T22:02 (+6)

TL;DR: Compassion in World Farming U.S. aims to raise $100,000 by the end of December. These funds will support corporate engagement and campaigns focused on retailers that are falling behind on their cage-free commitments, amplify farmer voices to federal lawmakers in the fight against the dangerous EATS Act, and jump-start initiatives to drive systemic improvements for chickens raised for meat. 

• $10,000 could help us build grassroots volunteer initiatives, creating a pipeline for animal welfare leadership through new internships and fellowships.
• $15,000 could support our campaign work and recover costs associated with the recent farmer fly-in which brought more than 200 farmers to Washington, DC to speak out against the EATS/Save Our Bacon Act.
• $20,000 could support organizing costs for cage-free campaigning – including against one of the largest grocery retailers in the U.S. 

Compassion in World Farming is the world’s oldest organization dedicated to ending the cruel practices that enable industrial animal agriculture. Our storied history includes major victories that banned veal crates in the EU, banned the live export of animals from Great Britain, expanded access to cage-free eggs to an estimated 4.6 million families in the U.S through WIC, campaigned for the EU to recognize the sentience of animals, and garnered over 1,000,000 global signatures on our petition to end factory farming for a more sustainable future (the END.IT campaign). 

Compassion in World Farming uses a strategic mix of public policy and corporate engagement and campaigns to create a kinder world for animals by reducing global reliance on industrial animal agriculture. Our global priorities include removing all farmed animals from cages, exposing the brutal nature of live animal exports, preempting the establishment of industrial octopus farming, eliminating inhumane farming practices including eye stalk ablation of shrimp, tail docking of pigs, debeaking of hens, and live-shackle slaughter of chickens. 

The Challenge Ahead

Compassion in World Farming plays a critical role in holding the government, companies, and industry leaders to account while working towards a healthy and sustainable food system. In the U.S., state and federal agencies tasked with regulating health, safety, and environmental impact of food production are woefully under-resourced and, increasingly, working hand-in-glove with the corporate interests that put profit over animal and human welfare. The federal government in the U.S. is poised to set back the animal welfare movement decades by: increasing slaughter line speeds, weakening oversight of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, further deregulation and subsidies for concentrated animal feeding operations, and mass layoffs at the Department of Agriculture among many other programs that help get healthy food to people who need it most.  

Pillars of CIWF Programmatic Work 

1. Improve the welfare of animals in the factory farm system by using corporate and public policy campaigns to reform animal agriculture and the industries that support it.
2. Transform the food system to end factory farming by using campaign strategies to replace factory farming with climate and nature-friendly agriculture, reduce consumption of animal-sourced foods, and increase the consumption of plant-based foods. 

CIWF U.S. Goals 

• Defeat the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression/Save Our Bacon Act in Congress
• End the use of cages for hens, gestation crates for mother pigs, and veal crates for calves.
• Prevent the establishment of industrial octopus farming in the U.S
• Develop, organize, and execute a revitalized strategy to improve the welfare of broiler chickens with an emphasis on slow-growing breed adoption.
• Hold U.S. companies accountable for failing to meet public commitments for chicken welfare standards. 

Upcoming Opportunities to Close the Compassion in World Farming U.S. Funding Gap 

As of November, CIWF U.S. is working to close a $400,000 funding gap needed to sustain our U.S. campaigns through March 2026, the end of our fiscal year. These unrestricted dollars are vital: they allow our team to respond quickly to legislative threats, drive corporate accountability, shift public awareness, and advance higher-welfare standards across all major farmed animal sectors. 

To help close this gap, CIWF U.S. has several upcoming opportunities that could leverage your investment with matching initiatives: 

Giving Tuesday 

This year’s Giving Tuesday campaign centers on pig welfare, one of the most neglected and politically contested areas of farmed animal protection. We are taking on: 

• Corporations that still utilize gestation crate confinement
• Ongoing legal and political threats to Prop 12
• The widespread use of ractopamine, a harmful growth drug banned or restricted in 160+ countries but still used in the U.S. 

Our goal is to raise $25,000. Thanks to a generous supporter, we’ve secured a $10,000 match, but we still need $15,000 to unlock the full match and reach our target. 

Leadership support at this moment will directly strengthen our capacity to defend animals facing the very worst conditions in the industrial pork system. 

Year-End Match 

We are also seeking a $50,000 match commitment for our Year-End Campaign. This funding supports the full scope of CIWF U.S.’s work and enable us to respond strategically where and when it is needed most. 

Flexible funding is critical to sustaining our U.S. program work, supporting rapid-response efforts, and ensuring CIWF can maintain momentum across all campaign areas. 

CIWF U.S. operates as a distinct 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with program staff dedicated to campaigns across the United States. If you are an individual interested in being part of an upcoming matching campaign, or would like to learn more about Compassion in World Farming’s activities, please contact U.S. Philanthropy Manager Kate Hrysiuk.  

If you advise a trust or foundation and would like to learn more about Compassion in World Farming, please contact Cory Cerussi, Compassion’s U.S Senior Foundations Manager.  

On behalf of the whole team at Compassion in World Farming, we want to extend a huge thank you to the EA Community for prioritizing farmed animal welfare and supporting Compassion in World Farming. We are grateful to continue this work alongside members of the EA community.