WWF and W+K London launch the first emoji-based fundraising campaign to help support the organisation’s work to protect precious species and their habitats, ahead of Endangered Species Day on Friday 15 May.

The idea for the global #EndangeredEmoji campaign, which is run entirely through Twitter, 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 and the number is increasing daily.

#EndangeredEmoji will be run through the official @WWF Twitter account and at www.endangeredemoji.com. 

Here’s how it works:

  • @WWF tweet an image showing all 17 Endangered Emoji. To take part in the campaign, all twitter users need to do is retweet the image.
  • For every Endangered Emoji the user then tweets, WWF will add the local currency equivalent of €0.10 to a voluntary monthly donation.
  • 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 contains the following characters representing 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 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 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 technical partner Cohaesus.