What We Do

Who We Are

Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) has been serving the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) community and Midwest region since 1998 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. In 2003, CAA opened a chapter at the University of Minnesota—one of the five largest colleges in the U.S.

Today, CAA's efforts extend throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area, various Minnesota college campuses, and nationwide. Our volunteers range from high school and college students to working adults and senior citizens.

Read our core values that guide and define our actions.

Our Mission

We encourage people to cultivate empathy for animals and move towards a plant-based diet.

How we work towards it:

• Educational outreach through tabling, leafleting, literature distribution and postering, writing letters and articles for publications, film screenings, and more.
• Social events such as potlucks, book clubs, dine-outs, camping trips, and volunteer parties.
• Food giveaways and cooking classes to show how delicious vegetarian and vegan food is.
• Hosting speakers who address animal, ethical, and health issues in free public presentations.
• Hosting vegetarian festivals.
  
• Work with community restaurants and university cafeterias to make vegetarian and vegan dining more convenient and available.
• Providing free humane education programs on animal issues to receptive high school and college students though Bridges of Respect.
  
• Help form and assist high school- and college-based animal advocacy organizations.
• Provide online resources such as a free Vegetarian Starter Kit, a worldwide guide to veg-friendly restaurants, and a variety of animal-free recipes.
• Mailing out a weekly e-newsletter alerting thousands of subscribers to our activities, upcoming events, interesting articles, and tasty recipes.

Learn more about our work and campaigns.

More information:

• Meet our board of directors and staff.
• Read our annual reviews for more information on what we have accomplished.
• Learn more about CAA in our frequently asked questions section.
• Read our testimonials to see what others have to say about CAA.
• View pictures from our past events.
• Read our Volunteer Program Policies.
  
• Read our Conflict of Interest Policy.

Please consider donating or volunteering to help continue our work! Also, see our wishlist for things that we need.

Visit us at our Minneapolis office, any weekday. We have tons of free resources, an extensive book and video library, and much more!

See our past events and upcoming events to find out what activities we have done and will engage in.