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Frequently Asked QuestionsThis page contains answers to questions we often recieve about Vegan Outreach. For answers to your questions about veganism see the Q & A page.
How do I order copies of Why Vegan?Copies of Why Vegan as well as other Vegan Outreach publications and merchandise can be ordered from the catalog. How much do copies of Why Vegan cost?We ask for a contribution of 5-20¢ per booklet, plus shipping, whenever possible. If the full amount is not possible, any donation helps us to continue to print and distribute copies of Why Vegan, minimizing the amount of time between printings when we don’t have copies on hand. All donations will directly influence the number of people who read Why Vegan. Vegan Outreach does not exist to sell these booklets, but rather to bring about widespread veganism as quickly and efficiently as possible. Second, the costs are variable, depending on how many we had been able to afford to print in the last run. Our total costs are ~20 cents per Why Vegan distributed. That comes out to:
Separate from the printing costs, the shipping costs are very different -- for example, 300 booklets shipped UPS ground right from the printer to someone cost only ~$0.03 each to ship. However, to send one Why Vegan as part of our Vegan Starter Pack to someone requesting information costs $0.99, in addition to the shipping charges of the booklets from the printer to Pittsburgh. Many members of Vegan Outreach feel compelled to "pay" for the copies of Why Vegan they order. Sometimes activists with limited money hold large events, or distribute large numbers regularly, and we try to send them what they need even though they can only pay for a few copies. On the other hand, we are dependent on donations to be able to print more copies. If everyone paid exactly for what they ordered, our distribution of Why Vegan would, quite literally, be about 1/4 of what it is now. We would never be able to reach out to anyone new, or supply booklets to people with limited funds but unlimited opportunities (the majority of our distribution network). Where can I sign up for the Vegan Outreach newsletter? Is there a membership cost?If you would like to receive the quarterly Vegan Outreach newsletter, send us your mailing address. We do not have membership fees -- we believe that anyone who is vegan, is working towards becoming vegan, and/or is trying to spread veganism should be able to be on our membership rolls (as long as we hear from them every year or so, w/ or w/o financially contributing. Not everyone who falls into our membership categories is able to contribute a fixed amount. You can read back issues in the newsletter archive. How can I find animal-friendly groups in my area?Start at GreenPeople or the World Animal Net Directory for Animal Rights groups and the International Vegetarian Union for vegetarian groups. How can I get a job with Vegan Outreach?At this time, VO does not have any employment opportunities. Before you make a decision of working for another group, let me try to prevent some grief and disillusionment for you. Ask yourself, "What would I do with my life if there were no animal suffering?" If you can answer with a career that holds your interest and that you would like to do, then I would follow whatever path is needed to pursue that career and do animal advocacy in your free time. If your gut feeling is that nothing holds your interest but working for animal rights full-time, then by all means pursue a job within the movement. Many people contact us because they've had enough of the business world and want to be able to help the animals full time and make a difference in their career. The animals need people doing local public outreach in all areas of the country. This type of outreach is done in people’s spare time without pay. Even though you may not like your job, this type of a life can be more fulfilling than working for a national animal rights organization. You can do the type of activism you like with no one else telling you what to do and how to do it. Working for a national organization will often relegate you to menial or ‘go fer’ tasks, and you will feel as frustrated as you do in your current job except that you will probably be making less. The exceptions to this rule are people who really click with the group they are working for and people who have special or long-developed talents that are highly valued and hard to come by. People usually develop these talents by doing activism in their spare time for many years. My suggestion is to try to discover on your own what type of activism you like to do and where your talents can help the animals most in the long run. Once you have discovered this, if you feel like a national group could help you in using your talents, then investigate working for them. Talk to current employees to get different opinions on how it is to work for a particular organization. When not working for a potential employer, you may be treated with respect. But upon employment, you may be surprised that you are treated disrespectfully. Be aware of this possible change in attitude. Don’t feel bad about confronting them about the treatment or leaving if it continues. One career that could help animals would be to do medical research that doesn’t use animals. Any grant money that you receive could take money away from animal experimentation. Don't let the fact that you might have to touch an animal product in some minor way in training for a career automatically prevent you from doing a career where, in the end, you can actually help animals. See also Living in a Non-Vegan World and Vegan Is as Vegan Does.
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