Project summary

We can't determine if charitable resources are being used effectively without monitoring and evaluating our programs and learning from the results. Even generally highly cost-effective programs might play out differently in a different context, or when the current context changes. Unfortunately, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) remains an underutilized practice in the animal advocacy space. This lack of consistent MEL application limits our understanding of whether or how animal and food systems advocacy projects are achieving change for animals. Without these insights, there's a risk of investing time and resources in programs that may be less effective or even net-negative.

The Mission Motor works to increase the adoption of MEL practices within the animal advocacy community. By providing support, training, and resources, we help organizations gather reliable, actionable data, identify areas for improvement, and test different tactics and strategies. We also foster collaboration through a MEL sub-channel on Hive Slack and by giving presentations and workshops. Our goal is to enhance the impact of current projects while building a deeper understanding of what works for animals in the long run.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

We aim to contribute to an animal advocacy movement that is more data driven and in which more cost-effective interventions are being implemented.

We will achieve this goal through training and supporting organizations to use MEL, collaborating with funders and researchers on how to optimize findings from MEL, and community-wide sharing of knowledge and best practices.

How will this funding be used?

The funding will be used to develop, implement and test different paths of spreading MEL through the animal community, working with different stakeholders such as implementing organizations, funders, incubators, research organizations, and animal advocates interested in MEL.

Our draft budget for 2026 is between 661k and 998k USD. With the minimum budget will continue our current training and support work, aiming to build MEL components for 30 to 54 organizations and support another 6 organizations to build robust MEL systems and in-house capacity, up to a level where they can sustain their MEL system independently and benefit from it for multiple years. With the upper budget, we can extend the more in-depth capability and structure building to 12 organizations and trial more complicated MEL support such as multi-stakeholder MEL and evaluations.

Through the Manifund EA Community Project, we aim to raise 9.5k USD. This will help us build further runway and broaden our funding base.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

In 2025, demand for our support almost tripled compared to 2024. The Mission Motor’s support resulted in increased MEL knowledge and attitude, with partner-organizations completing 19 changes to processes and programs by the end of the year, and another 17 changes in progress.

Our team:

• Nicoll Peracha, Director with over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, primarily on management and organizational development.

• Jamie Spurgeon, Program Lead and MEL Advisor with 6 years experience in MEL, evaluating animal charities and researching the impact of interventions.

• Laurel Lunn, senior evaluation and research specialist with over 13 years of cross-sector MEL experience.

• Koushik Raghavan, experienced MEL Advisor with a research and teaching background.

• Katie Plathonoff, a Program Design and MEL specialist with over 12 years of experience working on animal advocacy and development & peacebuilding programs, with a focus on building MEL capabilities and culture.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

If organizations do not engage sufficiently with the MEL training and resources created, this will risk making improvements to their programs. According to animal organizations, lack of capacity to engage with MEL is the most important barrier to uptake of MEL. We aim to mitigate this through high levels of direct contact and by focusing resources on organizations that showcase a willingness to practice MEL and potential to increase capacity for this topic.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

Our funding for 2026 is allocated by Coefficient Giving (experimental grant), Craigslist Foundation, EA Animal Welfare Fund, Effectiv Spenden, Stray Dog Foundation and private donors.