At Brooke USA, research is the foundation of our accountability to the animals and communities we serve. We use evidence to ask better questions, deepen our understanding of complex issues, and make the strongest possible case for working horses, donkeys, and mules on the global stage.
We know that working equines are engines of community resilience. They secure access to food and water, generate income for families, and make it possible for children to reach school. Protecting them means protecting the people who depend on them.
Measuring What Matters
Brooke USA has made significant strides in data collection directly from the communities we fund. We now capture firsthand information on animal condition, health outcomes, and human livelihoods, giving us a direct line of sight into whether our investments are creating meaningful, lasting change.
Through our data management systems, we track the impact of our programmatic funding to Brooke: Action for Working Horses & Donkeys and other partner organizations. Our focus includes the long-term assessment of new community initiatives, with specific attention to two core questions: Are animal welfare and health improving? And are the lives of the people who depend on these animals being meaningfully enriched?
Staying Informed to Lead Effectively
Sound decision-making requires more than field data. Brooke USA’s team is committed to staying current on the evolving landscape of the nonprofit sector and the issues that most affect the communities and animals we serve. We conduct in-depth secondary research to monitor trends, anticipate challenges, and position our organization for the future.
This research shapes how we think, how we fund, and how we communicate. We translate it into white papers that explore issues of direct relevance to our donors and partners — combining rigor with accessibility to advance the broader conversation around working equine welfare and community resilience.
Our Commitments
We are committed to monitoring and evaluating the key programs we fund, with a strategy built around one principle: using data for greater impact. Our work documents how evidence-based programming drives changes in human behavior and how those changes translate into better outcomes for animals.
Our evaluations capture findings, lessons learned, and impact. They allow us to course-correct when needed and stay the course when the evidence supports it. And they give our donors a clear, honest picture of what their support is achieving.
Our aim is to deliver evidence that our work:
Transforms animal welfare by helping communities thrive and build long-term resilience.
Elevates the visibility and inclusion of working equines within communities and at the legislative level.
Develops sustainable systems that meet the evolving needs of working equines and the people who depend on them.
Looking Ahead
We are building dashboards that will translate community-level data into clear, compelling statistics, making our impact visible and shareable. Over the coming years, this infrastructure will position Brooke USA to plan more effectively, communicate more powerfully, and prove our impact where the need is greatest.
In the long run, our results will help us understand emerging challenges, identify new areas of work, and provide you with valuable data as proof of the progress we've made together.