Alongside global warming and climate change, species conservation is one of the biggest issues of our time. For years, WWF Germany has been working to conserve the world’s biological diversity. Due to the rapid progress of species extinction, it is currently more important than ever to draw attention to the critical situation. But how can we communicate this well-known problem in a new way and raise donations?

2021 was a breakthrough year for digital art. A lot of hype surrounded Non-Fungible Tokens, which generated record revenues and made headlines around the world. The NFTs market is huge, and people have been buying these artworks for an incredible amount of money, due to their rarity and uniqueness. WWF decided to turn the hype into help, by using NFTs to protect something that is equally unique and irreplaceable: endangered species. For the first time, NFTs became NFAs – Non-Fungible Animals. In collaboration with international artists, 10 digital artworks were created to support the fight to save 10 endangered species. All NFAs were limited to the exact number of animals left in the world. Non-Fungible Animals established a new fundraising system, raising money with every drop and generating an extra 10% of royalties every time an NFA is resold. Non-Fungible Animals – Turning limited artworks into unlimited donations.

The hype around NFTs was used to raise awareness of a new acronym – NFA – and steered the discussion on digital artworks towards the important issue of species conservation. With Non-Fungible Animals, WWF was able to draw the attention of a younger audience and various types of media, influencers, the crypto community and the whole society to the cause. The campaign connected the topic with everyone who wants to support biodiversity and even reached people who had not been impacted by WWF previously. The campaign’s eventual success was based on both the creativity of its idea and the meticulous execution down to a micro-level: mass media communication and crypto-specific communication were treated with equal importance in the tailor-made target-group approach. To achieve true impact, the news and messages were strategically placed with relevant journalists and influencers as well as key opinion leaders in the crypto and animal protection fields.

Non-Fungible Animals was launched in October 2021 and distributed locally and globally through Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, WWF Homepage and newsletters, highlighting the drop everywhere. Not only on the most common social networks but also on relevant channels for the NFT community. It included the creation of a dedicated discord channel, several Twitter Spaces events for audio discussions and live Q&A with crypto fans from the whole world. The campaign has featured artists and artworks, as well as the partnership with the green blockchain Polygon for environmentally friendly NFTs, making the entire process as energy-efficient as possible. For the sale, a website was created, including a special feature: using the payment provider MoonPay, every buyer was able to purchase digital artworks by simply using a credit card or Apple Pay. This solution made it even easier for everyone to join and support the cause.

Non-Fungible Animals established a new fundraising system, turning limited artworks into unlimited donations – and changed the conversation about NFTs highlighting an important topic for the whole society. The result: over 65 million media reach and more than 250,000.00 euros in donations. The total amount of the sales will be allocated to the respective project offices so that they can continue the work on the ground and preserve species conservation. Every time an NFA is resold in the future, WWF will automatically receive 10% of the net purchase price. This will enable WWF to continue receiving funds from the profit participation even after all the NFAs are sold. Up to now, two artworks have been completely sold out, making the price for one of the rarest species (the Vaquita artwork) increase more than 2700% of its value in the market. The next drop is already being planned.