FACT’s 2025 Annual Impact Report
We are proud to share with you FACT’s 2025 Annual Impact Report. This week’s blog is the introductory letter in the report from Harry Rhodes, FACT’s Executive Director. To help us continue making an even bigger impact in 2026, please consider donating to our work.
2025 was a transitional year for FACT, which ended on a positive note, as we plan for an even better, more impactful future.
In early 2025, we decided to close down our Chicago office, where FACT had been based since it was founded in 1982. For those of you who have moved and downsized a house, you know what this effort requires. FACT had collected many file cabinets’ worth of records and had kept everything from its early years, including every small receipt for every purchase. This was in addition to books, pictures, and a random collection of stuffed chickens that had been used for demonstrations over the years.
The move entailed an all-staff effort. I spent several weeks helping out, joined at times by Samantha and Steve, and by FACT’s Chicago-based Board members, Elaine and Gail. Charlotte, our last Chicago-based staff member, was the stalwart worker in this effort, making sure that everything was gone by the end of August.
We downsized from a three-room office, with meeting space and closet space, to a shared one-desk office in Washington, DC, in the offices of one of our partners, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). Slowly, we have been adjusting, and believe that in the long run, this is a good move for FACT.
As the year progressed, we focused on looking to the future and ways to increase our impact on the health of our food system, with a focus on humane farmers and their animals, and advocating for safe and healthy food. We have not conducted a strategic plan since the COVID days, five years ago, and decided that it was time to start another strategic planning process.
At this time, we were fortunate to receive a bequest of $300,000, which enabled us to expand our annual budget and initiate this strategic planning process. We are very grateful for this unexpected gift and for all of our long-time supporters who include FACT in their planned giving. We are fortunate to receive funding from bequests every year and want all of our supporters to know how impactful these gifts can be.
Towards the end of the year, we received a grant to hire a new communications manager. This is a position we have discussed for many years, but this was the first time we received the needed funding to hire someone for it. Every year, FACT creates high-quality materials and reports, including our FACT Sheets and videos. We have an active online presence through our website and social media. We reach thousands of people through our efforts, yet we think we can do better.
We believe that everyone should know about the important work that we are doing at FACT to change the way in which food animals are raised, to offer a real alternative to animals living in confinement on factory farms. We want to reach out to more consumers and help them make more educated food choices when they go to the grocery store.
We look towards 2026 with excitement that it will be a good year for FACT, and that our impact on animal welfare and the food system will continue to grow.
We invite you to explore the full report to see what we accomplished together and where we’re headed next.
📄 View the 2025 Annual Impact Report
📄 View the report, including the names of our 2025 donors