World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officially launched its first, non-profit gift catalog on Facebook today. WWF's Gift Center on Facebook allows supporters to make a donation and select a symbolic animal adoption from a list of more than 100 species, ranging from favorites such as tigers, pandas, and polar bears to a new barn owl, brown pelican, and a tub of cubs among many others. Species adoptions and all other items in WWF's gift catalog, including WWF-branded gear and apparel, are connected to Facebook's “Like” and “Share” features, enabling supporters to create virtual “wish lists.”
“We are offering our members and other supporters on Facebook a unique opportunity to support WWF's conservation work while demonstrating to friends and family their commitment to protecting our planet's most amazing wildlife and wild places,” said WWF's chief marketing officer, Terry Macko. “Our new Facebook Gift Center is an innovative way to educate and fundraise and it allows people to have fun by giving, getting, 'liking' and 'sharing.'”
The Gift Center is built into Facebook's iframe, providing supporters the ability to make a donation without ever leaving Facebook's site – and the process is powered by WWF's existing Gift Center website.
WWF has used a multichannel approach to fundraising for years, launching its first online Gift Center in 2004 on its website at www.worldwildlife.org/giving. Since that time, annual online giving has grown to approximately $12.5 million.
“Combining online fundraising and social networking is a challenge and opportunity for many non-profits,” said Macko. “We recognize that our members and friends want more convenient ways to become involved with WWF, learn about our conservation efforts and support our work. With this new application, the first of its kind for non-profits, we are providing that opportunity.”
All symbolic adoption donations made through the gift catalog come with a formal adoption certificate, a color photo of the adopted species and a species description card. Adoptions of $50 or more come with a soft animal plush of the adopter's choosing and are shipped free to anywhere that the United States Postal Service delivers. Symbolic adoption donations levels range from $25 to $250, with gift proceeds directly funding WWF's on-the-ground conservation work addressing threats such as animal poaching, pollution, climate change and habitat loss.
WWF will soon launch an interactive feature that will help supporters identify the perfect species to symbolically adopt. This online quiz, called “Find Your Inner Animal,” will be available in WWF's Gift Center on both Facebook and its own website, www.worldwildlife.org. On Facebook, WWF supporters can also become “friends” with various species in the gift center. As “friends” of those individual species, which at this time include tigers, pandas and polar bears, supporters will receive timely updates on WWF's conservation work related to the species.
