Primarily WWF Russia activities are funded by private donations. But charity in Russia is still at the initial stage. People seldom donate for charity and even more seldom for environmental charity. More than 50% of Russians have never made donations for any charity, more than 80% do not donate for environmental causes because it is not part of the Russian mass culture yet, the majority still believes that this should be rather done by the State.

Those who have donated were often doing it on an impulse, donating to buzz- cause of the moment. But scarce one-off donations could not be sufficient for solving such problem as saving endangered birds from extinction. WWF needed a constant inflow of funds intersective of the media interest and social buzz. This was extremely challenging as only 2% of donors used automatic subscriptions for regular monthly donations.

Birds Records is the first ever music label that transferred the streaming model to the charity.

We turned birdsongs of endangered species into music samples and made them available to artists for free, on condition that all proceeds go to fund bird protection. It became the basis for our record label Birds Records.

Birds Records - the first ever non-profit music label.

We recorded the birdsong of endangered species and made music samples out of them. We made them available to musicians for free, on condition that all the money earned from streaming went to the WWF to protect birds.

With the help of the Birds Protection Union, we recorded the birdsong of endangered species and made music samples out of them. We made them available to musicians for free, on condition that all the money earned from streaming went to the WWF to protect birds.

We launched Birds Records with the track “Dich” from popular musician Ivan Dorn. It burst into the charts and went viral on YouTube soon after release. Birds Records became the most discussed topic in the press and on social media. Russia’s most popular late-night show dedicated a whole segment to Birds Records.

After this initial success we received more than 500 tracks from popular and upcoming artists – they use bird’s samples and share singles by streaming platform The best of them was released as the second album.

Streaming revenue from the singles generates money for birds via WWF.

We changed the donation model to simply clicking the “play”. Our solution provided WWF with a stable income to protect birds while people listen to music. Such positive experience opens new prospects for charity globally as our financial fundraising model is applicable to many sectors.

Birds Records became one of the most successful campaigns of WWF Russia and already increased donations by 65% in comparison to previous birds’ project. The money collected is used for restoring the habitat of Far Eastern storks.

First stage (12.2019 – 03.2020)

• ‘Dich’ released

• 2 mln. contacts of PR coverage

• +73% WWF website traffic increase.

• 1.2 million views on YouTube; 1 mln of listenings on platforms

• 1 mln rubles donation,

Second stage (04.2020 – 04.2021)

• The second single ‘Birds’ released

• 2 mln views on YouTube; 1,3 mln listenings on platforms

• 1,26 mln rubles donation flow