Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY
THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,428,258 to it, the largest being WILLIAM C BORST TRUST UW ($262,500). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 42
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $38M
What The American Anti-Vivisection Society does
Mission
Since our founding in 1883, the mission of aavs has been to unequivocally oppose and work to end the use of animals in science and to oppose all forms of cruelty to animals. We achieve our mission by monitoring and investigating scientific uses of animals, exposing the inherent cruelty in animal experimentation. We then present reliable information and an informed viewpoint for advocating public policy changes. We provide resources to students, parents, educators, other nonprofit organizations, the media, policy makers, and members of the scientific community to advance the use of alternative, non-animal methods in schools and laboratories worldwide.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Activities include legal, public policy, and educational advocacy to help animals used in laboratories, along with publications and action alerts that provide members and supporters with timely analysis and effective advocacy tools. In 2025, aavs engaged in research, analysis, and action on issues involving animal experimentation, federal oversight and enforcement, and the advancement of human-relevant, non-animal methods, especially in federally funded biomedical research. This work included public policy advocacy and analysis concerning birds and other animals used in research who have historically received inadequate legal protection, as well as scrutiny of government implementation and enforcement of animal welfare requirements. A quarterly magazine, a-v, and a monthly online newsletter distributed to members and supporters provided reliable information, unique insights and analysis, and opportunities for public engagement. In 2025, aavs also provided substantial grants to sanctuaries to expand capacity and care for animals released from laboratories. This critical support included additional funding to help offset rising veterinary costs. An annual grant was also made to…
$1,077,551 spentof which $417,946 as grants58% of program spendingAavs's animalearn program works to end vivisection and dissection in the classroom by advocating for and promoting humane science education policy. Its highly regarded free lending library, the science bank, provides effective non-animal alternatives for all grade levels, from elementary school through advanced training for health professionals. In 2025, the science bank continued to fulfill increasing numbers of requests for humane education materials. Animalearn staff host demonstrations at educator conferences, exposing teachers and school administrators to innovative alternatives to the dissection of frogs, cats, fetal pigs, and other animals. Educational materials also inform the public about the harms of animal use in science education, including ethical, environmental, health, and long-term cost concerns. Outstanding humane educators and students were publicly recognized by animalearn in 2025 and presented with awards consisting of non-animal dissection alternatives and humane science resources.
$309,745 spent17% of program spendingAavs manages the leaping bunny program of the coalition for consumer information on cosmetics (ccic), which is chaired by aavs president luke klein. The leaping bunny program provides a highly valued and trusted service for compassionate consumers seeking products that are not tested on animals. Through its cruelty-free standard and internationally recognized leaping bunny logo, the program certifies companies producing cruelty-free cosmetics, personal care products, and household products. The list of more than 2,300 certified companies is made publicly available at no cost on leapingbunny.org and through smartphone apps. Program staff oversee annual recommitments by certified companies and conduct audits of selected companies to help ensure compliance with the standard. The program also continued development and implementation of the leaping bunny china qualification program, requiring certified companies to permit audits of relevant registrations in china by ccic-selected experts in order to help ensure that animal testing is not conducted in response to that country's regulatory system. Consumers were informed through active social media engagement and a popular monthly online…
$472,340 spent$143,001 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,859,636.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $36M to $30M (−17%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
39% of THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (74% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $51k → $158k.
13 of 42 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 42 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
50% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 25% · 2019 22% · 2020 42% · 2021 48% · 2022 31% · 2023 32% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
40% of THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY draws 85% of its grant income from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 15 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $705k arriving through sponsors registered in 12 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 717 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 717 animals nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 39 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Alternatives Research and Development Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY?
- THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,428,258 to it, the largest being WILLIAM C BORST TRUST UW ($262,500). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 42 organizations giving $1,428,258 in grants to THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY, 30 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY?
- WILLIAM C BORST TRUST UW is the largest funder on record, with $262,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 42 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing