Facebook has its fair share of critics, but few can argue with the power of this joining of forces. The World Wildlife Federation has paired with Facebook to aid in raising funds to benefit and protect wildlife. Users can adopt various virtual pets, but instead of the revenue of the sales going to a third party developer, the profits will go directly to the World Wildlife Foundation.
This is an extension of the gift catalog the World Wildlife Federation has had in place on its own website. There are various dollar amounts a user can give, and all symbolic adoptions include an adoption certificate and color photo. At the $50 dollar mark a stuffed animal is included in addition to the photo and certificate. The World Wildlife Federation hopes that adding a social aspect to the giving, with users liking and sharing their adoptions, will urge more people to participate.
“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 Terry Macko, chief marketing officer for WWF.
“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.’”
With over 400 million users, Facebook is the ultimate testing ground for this new fundraising technique. Undoubtedly we will be seeing more of this new kind of venture in the future.
