Charities Campaign
Here's a tip for charities seeking donations: a new survey shows
that a majority of people favor charities that avoid animal experiments.
Of a random sample of 1,006 people polled, 51 percent agreed with
the statement: “I would be more likely to donate to a health
charity that had a policy of never funding any type of animal experiments.”
Twenty-five percent not only agreed, but strongly agreed with this
statement. This sentiment held across the full range of income levels.
Conversely, when asked, “I would be less likely to donate
to a health charity if I knew that the charity funds animal research
experiments,” 47 percent of those polled agreed. The survey
was commissioned by PCRM and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation
of Princeton, N.J.
The major donors of tomorrow are even more likely to be influenced
by a charity's stance on animal testing. Seventy percent of 18 to
24 year-olds responded that they would be more likely to donate
to a health charity that had a policy of never funding any type
of animal experiments. Among 25 to 34 year-olds, 57 percent agreed
with this statement.
These numbers are not surprising. In a survey conducted last month
for the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, Opinion
Research Corporation found that two-thirds of the females surveyed
responded that they would be more likely to purchase a personal
grooming or cosmetic product after seeing it indicated that neither
the finished product nor its ingredients had been tested on animals.
Just as cruelty-free cosmetics companies have capitalized on this
public opinion, the successful charities of tomorrow will adopt
policies against animal testing. In 1995, Americans donated $23.5
billion to the nation's top 400 charities.
Says PCRM president Neal Barnard,
M.D., “The real breakthroughs in heart disease have been
achieved by using non-animal methods such as epidemiology, in vitro
methods, and clinical intervention. Likewise, the AIDS virus was
identified using cellular methods. Animal tests are unnecessary,
duplicative, and scientifically inaccurate. Potential donors know
that answers to human health problems are not likely to come from
rats and mice.”
The survey also found that 54 percent of people would prefer that
their donations to health charities be used to fund patient care
and education, rather than research.
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