Posted on May, 12 2015

Today WWF launches its first ever emoji-based fundraising campaign to help support the organisation’s work to protect precious species and their habitats.  The launch of the campaign, which will be run on Twitter, comes just ahead of Endangered Species Day on Friday 15 May.
 
The idea for the #EndangeredEmoji campaign was sparked by the discovery that 17 characters in the emoji alphabet represent endangered species.  WWF is seeking to translate the popularity of these characters into donations. Emoji have been used over 202 million times on Twitter since they were integrated into the platform in April 2014. The number is increasing daily.
 
#EndangeredEmoji will be run through the official @WWF Twitter account and at http://endangeredemoji.com.  Here’s how it works:
 

1. WWF will tweet an image showing all 17 Endangered Emoji. To take part in the campaign all twitter users need to do is retweet the image.

 

2. For every Endangered Emoji the user then tweets, WWF will add the local currency equivalent of €0.10 to a voluntary monthly donation.

 

3. At the end of each month, users will receive a summary of their Endangered Emoji use and can then choose how much to donate.

 
Adrian Cockle, Digital Innovation Manager at WWF International said: “When it comes to fundraising, giving people a simple way to donate is key. By using one of the world’s biggest social platforms to highlight endangered species, we’re hoping to raise vital funds for their conservation as well as raising awareness globally.”
 
The emoji alphabet, the standardised set of digital pictograph characters used in communication globally, contain the following characters which represent endangered species:
 

Spider monkey Giant panda Asian elephant Galapagos penguin Antiguan Racer snake Bactrian camel Tiger Sumatran tiger Green turtle

Amur leopard Siamese crocodile Bluefin tuna Blue whale Western gray whale African wild dog Lemur leaf frog Maui’s dolphin

 
This campaign is launched a month after WWF Global Ambassador Andy Murray used emoji to celebrate his wedding to Kim Sears, receiving more than 14,000 retweets.
 
Influential digital supporters will help to publicize the campaign by retweeting the original image to their followers, including Xavier Di Petta, creator of @EarthPix and @HistoryInPics. He comments, “Emoji is the first global language and I love that people all over the world can get involved in protecting our planet and the animals we share it with.”
 
The campaign was developed with advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy London and technical partner Cohaesus.
 
Notes to editors:
The estimate that Emoji have been used over 202 million times on Twitter since April 2014 is according to the website emojitracker.com
For further information:
Michael Storey, Media Officer, WWF International, mstorey@wwfint.org
 
About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
 
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