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.

To express the great variety of animals facing extinction, from Amur Tiger to Vaquita, WWF decided to invite 10 renowned international artists to create a collection of 10 unique digital artworks. Not only the animals were diverse but also the artists who portrayed them. Each of them with their own style, such as dynamic painting, CGI animation, digital collage, 2D/3D digital painting and so on. The line-up with all the artists was decided on August 2021, 3 months before the official drop and the start of the campaign. All the artists had the opportunity to choose which endangered species they would like to support, according to their own culture and values. This decision was important to create a strong connection between the artists and the animals to be protected. The result was a colourful and varied collection of digital artworks that caught the attention of a wide-ranging audience. A campaign was launched highlighting the drop everywhere. Not only on the most common social networks but also on relevant channels for the NFT community: Twitter, Discord and specialized blogs. The campaign raised more than 250,000.00 euros in proceeds. 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.

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 reach and more than 250,000.00 euros in proceeds. 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.