Recommended Vegan Pledges, Challenges, Starter Guides, and Mentorship Programs

When you’re engaged in vegan outreach and someone expresses interest in taking the next step, it’s important to have a call-to-action ready to support them. Vegan pledges (also called “veg pledges”) are designed to motivate and guide people who wish to explore veganism further.

Most vegan pledges are now online, and it’s easy for people to sign up directly via mobile phone or a tablet device. Some pledges offer downloadable sign-up forms that you can print and display on your outreach table. If these forms aren’t accessible via the organization’s website, you may request one. Alternatively, consider creating your own simple form for the pledge you wish to use and then feed the sign-ups you gather back to the organization.

Vegan challenges are similar to vegan pledges and appeal to people who like to step up their accountability.

Vegan pledges and challenges typically come with a free online starter kit and often pair participants with a vegan mentor. For those curious to learn more but not yet ready to commit, we’ve included stand-alone starter guides on our list, some of which do not require a sign-up.

All resources listed below are offered free of charge unless otherwise noted. We have also indicated which resources are offered in languages other than English.

Find more tips and information on how to improve the effectiveness of your outreach in our Resources section.

Vegan Pledges

30-Day Vegan Pledge, The Vegan Society – This UK-based organization helps more than a thousand people each month go vegan and stay vegan with tips and support. Participants sign up with their email address to receive 30 days of advice on all aspects of a vegan diet, including lots of healthy and easy recipes. There’s also a free VeGuide app, which provides daily videos and tracks progress over the 30 days.

Plant Pathways, JewishVeg – This organization encourages and helps people to embrace plant-based diets as an expression of Jewish values of compassion for animals, importance of health, and care for the environment. They offer free resources and communal support, including a six-week email series with recipes, guidance, and optional activities; a supportive and welcoming Facebook group to share stories, ask questions, and get advice; a monthly discussion group exploring eating veg in a Jewish context; and free, anytime access to one-on-one or group consultations with Jewish Veg staff.

Pledge to Go Vegan, PETA (US) – Participants sign the online pledge to go vegan to help save nearly 200 animals each year, reduce climate change and world hunger, and become healthier. PETA Asia also offers the pledge.

Summer Vegan Pledge, Animal Aid – Participants receive a welcome pack full of recipes, nutritional advice, shopping tips, regular updates throughout the month, and more from this UK-based organization.

Veganuary – Veganuary inspires people to try vegan for January and throughout the rest of the year. Participants who sign up for the pledge receive 31 daily emails with recipes, meal plans, and helpful tips, such as where to get essential nutrients and how to stock their cupboards. They’ll also receive a celebrity cookbook.

VegWeek, Animal Outlook – Even when it’s not officially VegWeek, aspiring vegans can sign this online VegPledge to show they’re strongly committed to exploring the positive impacts of vegan eating.

Vegan Challenges

10 Weeks to Vegan, Vegan Outreach – This guided challenge provides weekly emails that include easy and filling recipes, helpful hints, nutrition info from a registered dietitian, and more. The challenge is offered in language-appropriate, tailored versions for 50 different countries.

21 Day Plant-Based Health Challenge, Plant-based Health Professionals UK – This 21-day challenge is designed to help you easily transition to a plant-based diet, become healthier, and feel more energetic. Sign up to receive recipes, nutrition advice, and motivational tips from nutrition professionals.

Challenge 22, Animals Now (bahasa Indonesia, Croatian, English, Hebrew, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese) – Throughout this 22-day vegan experience, participants receive recipes and personal guidance from mentors and clinical dietitians. Challenge 22 is the flagship project of Animals Now (formerly Anonymous for Animal Rights), an Israeli NGO that promotes animal protection and cruelty-free living. Sign-up includes recipes, tips, videos, a private Facebook group, and lots of motivation.

VeganerUdfordringen, Dyrenes Alliance (Danish) – During this 22-day vegan challenge, participants receive recipes, tips, and help from experienced vegan coaches.

VeggieChallenge, ProVeg – This 30-day challenge encourages people to eat vegan for their bodies, the planet, and the animals. Those who sign up receive daily tips, recipes, and support. The challenge offers language-appropriate, tailored versions for Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and an international audience (in English).

Vegan Starter Guides and Kick-Starts

African American Vegan Starter Guide, By Any Greens Necessary and Farm Sanctuary – Best-selling author, public health nutritionist, and long-time vegan Tracye McQuirter shares 40 pages of inspiration, including Physician Milton Mills, MD, on why it’s healthier for African Americans to eat plant-based food; pediatrician Ruby Thomas, MD, and chef Rain Truth on raising children vegan; Olympic skier and lifelong vegan Seba Johnson on why one should go vegan; what to eat; how to make a vegan diet affordable; eating out and socializing; saving animals and the environment; highlights of African American vegan history; and 15 simple, healthy, and delicious recipes from renowned black vegan chefs. You can download the guide as a PDF, or up to 500 printed guides can be ordered for no charge.

Descubrir La Comida, Animal Equality (Spanish) – Enter your name and email address to download this guide with vegan Mexican food recipes, nutrition info, shopping tips, and inspiration to help you go vegan. You will also receive daily motivational and informative emails over a month.

How Do I Go Vegan? – With resources like their Fast Meal Plan, Product Guide, recipes, a mentorship program, and more, this site aims to show that going vegan can be easy.

How to Go Vegan and Como Ser Vegano (Spanish), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) – Step-by-step online guides on what to buy at the grocery store, how to plan your meals, and where/how to order vegan at restaurants. New and aspiring vegans can also sign up to receive a free, printed Vegan Starter Kit full of recipes and information. Multiple printed copies of PETA’s “Vegan Starter Kit,” “How to Go Vegan Guide,” and “Como Ser Vegano” can also be ordered for a nominal charge for distribution by activists.

Io Scelgo Veg, Essere Animali (Italian) – Io Scelgo Veg invites people to change the world, starting at the table. Email sign-up allows visitors to download this guide to better choices for their health, for the environment, and for animals.

Love Veg, Animal Equality (International) – Click on “Getting Started” for an introduction to plant-based alternatives, tips for finding support for a vegan lifestyle, and discussion about getting your protein, achieving peak athletic performance, and eating out as a vegan. The website also offers a one-week sample vegan diet plan, recipes, in-depth discussion about the reasons to go vegan, and compassionate dining options. You can select from language-appropriate, tailored content for Brazil, Germany, Spain, India, Italy, México, the United Kingdom, or the United States.

Million Dollar Vegan – The Million Dollar Vegan campaign seeks to engage with world leaders, institutions, and individuals to inspire positive dietary change. Participants who sign up with an email address receive 31 daily newsletters, a Vegan Starter Kit, plant-based recipes, and a comprehensive Health & Nutrition Guide.

Vegan Action Starter Kit – The attractively designed Plant Based Treaty starter kit is a 32-page downloadable PDF with nutrition information, weekly meal plans, grocery lists, Q&A, lots of great tips and information for healthy vegan eating, resources, and suggestions for taking action for animals and the planet.

Questão Animal, VEDDAS (Portuguese) – Rather than offering a download, this site itself is a starter guide with information about veganism, tips, ideas for food substitution in recipes, and more.

Start Your Plant-Based Journey, Humane League – This simple site outlines the steps to going vegan and offers a sign-up to receive emailed recipes.

TryVeg, Animal Outlook (US) – This website offers a 20-page Vegan Starter Guide, free to download with an email sign-up. The guide includes nutritional information, facts about farmed animals, and details about the environmental impact of our dietary choices, along with easy recipes, meal ideas, tips, and more.

Vegan Kickstart and El Kickstart Vegano (Spanish), Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) – This program offers meal plans, recipes, and advice from nutrition experts. The program is provided as an app available from Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

Vegan Starter Kit – This is a website that helps people navigate to resources on various aspects of vegan living. It offers recipes, resources for vegan clothing and products, basic information about animal testing and animal-derived ingredients, and learning resources based on the Abolitionist Approach.

Vegan Starter Kit, AgireOra Edizioni (Italian) – This guide (available by email as a PDF) covers subjects such as vegan shopping, health, recipes, clothing, and answers to common questions.

Vegan Starter Kit: Respecting Animals Means Going Vegan, International Vegan Association – This 28-page guide to veganism provides a discussion on why we ought to be vegan, nutrition basics, easy and healthful vegan recipes, and lots of information about living and growing as a vegan and an advocate for animals. You can read it online, save it to your computer or other device and share it with others, or request printed copies for yourself or to use in your advocacy.

Your Guide to Going Vegan, Animal Aid – Download a PDF or order up to 30 free copies of this guide to animal-free shopping, cooking, and eating tailored to readers in the UK.

Vegan Mentorship Programs

These programs are designed to help new vegans or people interested in adopting a vegan lifestyle. They pair the aspiring vegan with an experienced vegan who provides guidance and support.

Challenge 22, Animals Now (bahasa Indonesia, Croatian, English, Hebrew, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese) – More than 400 mentors from all around the globe are available to help you in your vegan journey.

How Do I Go Vegan? – You can reach out to an abolitionist vegan mentor for personal guidance on the practical aspects of going vegan.

LIVE (Low-Income Vegan Education) Mentorship Program, Chilis on Wheels – This program says it is the first of its kind to take cultural and socioeconomic differences into consideration. The program recognizes that our identities affect how we approach the choices we make, and a transition into veganism is no exception. The 21-day program offers daily informative emails and a cost-effective meal plan and matches you with a mentor of a similar background to assist you on your journey into a new vegan lifestyle.

New Leaf Vegan Mentor Program, Catskill Animal Sanctuary – Your mentor will answer questions, share information and resources, discuss challenges, and celebrate your successes. They’ll help you with shopping, meal creation, dining out, nutrition, networking, communicating with others, and more, for as long as you need them. This program’s mentors work with mentees all over the world.

New to Veganism, Empathy for All Animals (EFAA) – This program is offered in your choice of English, Italian, French, or Spanish, over 4 to 6 weeks. The recommended time is a 30- to 60-minute phone or video call once a week, in addition to emailing or messaging your mentor throughout the week if you have any questions or concerns. Mentors can assist you with sharing resources, helping with peer pressure and social situations, assisting you with health and nutrition, helping you know what to eat and which products to substitute, and more. You will be paired with a mentor based on availability, language, knowledge, and desired goals.

Vegan Mentor Program, Vegan Outreach – Get connected via email with a volunteer mentor who’ll help you with anything from navigating the grocery store aisles to figuring out how to respond when people ask you questions. This program has at least 1,350 mentors in 50 countries, and more than 6,300 mentees have been matched. You can also volunteer to become a mentor. Sign-up is in English, but you can communicate with your mentor in your preferred language.

If you’re interested in more ways to expand your vegan advocacy efforts, please visit our growing library of resources.