World Wildlife Fund, Inc.

I donated to WWF on 5/13/2023. I researched a few other nonprofits and found the work they do to be most effective. I don't have a lot to as I think their reputation speaks for itself. But they send too much marketing content. Somewhat frustrating...

I hope this review gives insight.

horrible
wanted to support but they blocked me from their website..
permanently after adding 2 donations to my cart
horrible prices too
for a piece of paper and a plush its 100 bucks
i could get that for 10 dollars
the money doesn't go to the animals anyway
should just have a plush section
or a listing that gives you all the plushes they have
would save so much time
they website is often not working on their side
so i just wasted 30 minutes to not people able to buy anything
should do better
do waste your time donate somewhere else
they dont care about animals and make them commercials sad all the money goes to the owner or government.


i would actually spend the money on animals
i would have a plush section or a listing with all plushies
not give money to myself like the ceo
no money to the government either
they make enough already
wish these folks werent selfish


why are they on this website anyway this says non profits

I donate to this yearly until I someone told me this organization is riddled with scandal in the past few years; and, indeed, there are several different reports about these scandals, from booting native tribes out of lands and then running paid safaris thru the area, human rights violations by the hired 'poaching agents,' one of the org's that pay top officials over $1 million. So please review all your organizations before donating. My grandchildren will be disappointed not to receive (in addition to a donation) their 'adopted endangered animal' this Christmas. But this organization needs to clean up its oversight of hired rangers and ensure no harm to indigenous peoples before I can feel comfortable my donations goes to helping animals and not spread harm to humans and the animals...Here are some links that I have found. There are many other wildlife organizations I do support - Jane Goodall is #1 followed the the Reteti Eliphant Sanctuary, and the Northern White Rhino Conservation/Ol Pejeta Conservancy....so just look to save the wondrous creatures for our grandchildren!!

https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/world-wildlife-fund/
https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/12683

I am proud to regularly donate to the WWF. I have also had the great pleasure of giving friends gifts from the WWF. My friends all thought how original the gift was and non commercial. They were so happy to be part of a story to help animals. They realised it was about being a PART of the story and not the whole story. They were delighted not to be associated with the type of people who think charity is all about themselves rather then then the real beneficiaries: animals and nature.

So I am really amazed at the amount of reviewers here getting annoyed with the gifts they received, or some of the reviewers who thought that the staff were not polite enough. Really?!? Wow!!! These comments say more about the kind of people the reviewers are then it says about the WWF. Don't these reviewers realise it isn't all about them? It's about helping others, specifically animals who can't speak for themselves. Anyway, I will move on, and not dwell on these unhappy reviewers whose comments tell a very revealing story about the type of people they are. This isn't about them after all.

I love the WWF. I think that they are fabulous and selfless. Their goals are wonderful in this world where our human population is selfishly growing and completely out of control while animal populations are shrinking at an ever increasing rate because they are losing their natural habitat through humans grabbing their land for housing, agriculture, or business. Animals are suffering and dying through man made pollution, wildfires, animal trafficking, hunting, etc. The long list goes on what we do to animals, and most of it is horrific. The WWF tries to help animals, educate people, and find solutions that mutually benefit both animals and humans. The WWF tries to educate us all, those of us in cities and those of us in rural areas. They try to help the planet as a whole. They try to stop extinctions from which there is no coming back.

I therefore am proud to donate to an organisation which says this about themselves:
"We are committed to reversing the degradation of our planet's natural environment and to building a future in which human needs are met in harmony with nature."

If that means that I have someone reaching out from time from the WWF looking for donations, I am totally OK with that. It is much easier to endure a request for money or support then what animals and nature itself has been forced to endure daily. I will survive a request but possibly animals or nature won’t succeed in surviving the calamities caused by humans.

I wanted to make donation on behalf of my friends as part of their wedding present. After making the donation the certificate I received was a bit disappointing. The design is too basic and does not look genuine. I will think of another gift for my friends, as even if the intentions are good, the certificate is not in a presentable form.

So, here I wanted to note that, it is very unlikely for me to arrange a similar donation 'for gifting purposes' with the WWF again, nor can I recommend it to anyone. I highly recommend to their media or other relevant teams to check similar organisations' arrangements. The ideal certificate would at least elaborate on who the donation comes from besides the amount of payment and how the donation will be used etc. I genuinely respect the work done by the WWF, and would like to see them doing better with fund-raising initiatives.

I've been a member of WWF for almost 20 years. They are always advocating for animals and when I read articles in Nat Geo and other publications usually they are mentioned as being involved in conservation and education with so many other wildlife organizations, I love how they work with others across the world to save animals!

To board members-I was planning to donate but after reading reviews, I'm not. Why don't you address donor concerns?

I'm not thrilled with this organization. Ever since we made a donation they have bombarded us with junk mail and the money they spend on it could be much better spent on saving animals. They also sold our name to other organizations who also bombard us with junk mail. No matter how many times we have asked them to stop with the junk, it just continues.

Rude college aged volunteers. Wanted me to donate as I walking in the store(Tractor Supply, Norco,CA- 2021) , and one volunteer said some rude joke, couldn't make out what he said and the other volunteer said oh he just said something about you. I assume something about donating? When I told them I already donate online, the guy said oh sorry. I would like to donate to charaties, but i dont think your volunteers should make snide comments about people they are asking for donations from, or try to guilt them. Maybe train your volunteers better and also be transparent about where the money actually goes.

I have been a contributor to WWF since 1985 and believe that, overall, they are the most globally effective environmental organization out there.
Their donor communications, however, could be better. For years I had been a "Partner In Conservation" based on giving several donations yearly that totaled $1,000 by the end of the year. One of the benefits of that status was that I did not receive general appeals, but only the much less frequent "Partner" appeals. Several years ago, I began to receive general appeals. When I asked, I was told I no longer was a "Partner" because the criteria had been changed to eliminate those who did not contribute at least $1,000 in one gift (versus smaller amounts that added up to $1,000). They claimed that It was getting too difficult to track multiple donations to see if they added up to the minimum amount in the course of a year. (Just recently, however, I noticed that they apparently now are able to track such donations; they now claim you can be a "Partner" if you commit to contributing $100 or more each month.)
What is MOST disappointing, however, is that when I was automatically converted years ago to a general member without explanation (until I inquired myself). I am sure it cost WWF more to deal with my phone calls and emails regarding this matter than if they had sent a letter regarding this policy change before it became effective.
That said, I continue contributing to WWF for the sake of the wildlife and natural environments it works to save.

SCAM - never received a bracelet I paid for after I had also donated to save an elephant. Many emails and still nothing. Don’t waste your money donating on this group.

I was looking on the WWF website to make a donation and went to choose a "gift" from the apparel section, however, there were not any sizes available so I used the chat to ask what I thought would be a simple question of when they expected to have more in stock, the chat rep from WWF just kept typing he could only help me with "gift center" questions! Then abruptly ended the chat without a Thank you, I'm Sorry, or How else can I help, or suggest something else...nothing! I thought if this is the kind of rude people being paid there I will donate somewhere else! It was not that they appeared to be out of an item I wanted (which they should remove from their web site if that is the case), I could choose another gift, it was the treatment of myself as a potential new donor. I would love to help the environment and wildlife but will not pay for these employees!!!

Ordered a Koala Bear & donated $55 for it on 12/14. It hasn't even been received at USPS yet, will not get here for Christmas, my daughter will be so disappointed!! Terrible customer service, should have told me on their website that it may take weeks & weeks to get my gift!! Very disappointing!!

They do NOT put money to the animals or people who work in the countries they are supposed to work with. Most of the money goes to pay their management and board. They also turn a blind eye to the atrocities... they’re all about the money. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tomwarren/wwf-world-wide-fund-nature-parks-torture-death

I received mail from WWF in May. On May 23, 2017 I mailed them a check and was supposed to receive 2 cold lunch bags and an online subscription to their magazine. I have received nothing. Today is August 14. I called them last week on Tuesday. they had no record of my donation, however my bank shows it was cashed on June 2. They were going to check into it call me back the next day. No call. On Friday of last week I called them again. Same runaround. They said they would call me back. DO NOT donate to this organization. They are not honest.

I donated towards a symbolic elephant adoption as a Christmas present and got scammed by this nonprofit. They claimed to have sent the certificate, it never showed. They claimed to have sent it again but when it didn't show up and I called the gentlemen claimed to need to talk to his manager to track the certificate and would call me back. He never called back so two days later I called for a refund. After two more calls I still have not been refunded. The symbolic adoption is a scam.

Contrary to many of the reviews here, WWF is an organization which is very much "boots on the ground" - more so than most other large conservation NGOs. That's not saying they could not improve, but they work on long term initiatives, with collaborating with many partners, to make lasting impacts to wildlife through management improvement, laws and regulations, and innovative initiatives.

When considering the amount of overhead for any NGO it's important to consider this in relation to the scale of the company, and also keeping in mind that for profit businesses wouldn't be successful if they couldn't pay their employees a decent salary and spend money on research and development or training of employees or other expenses that are not "boots on the ground" but that make those boots SOOOO much more effective when they are on the ground (and make sure that boots are trampling the correct ground/direction).

Regarding the hunting aspect - well controlled and regulated trophy hunting is one of the best conservation tools out there. As animal lovers we might not like it, but this is the truth. It is incredible brave and forward thinking for WWF to be working on well managed trophy hunting for the long term preservation of species - even though people sitting in their comfy house in the US with their pets don't agree.

Why does the CEO make $495,806????? I am not sending my hard earned dollars to here. Sorry, but that is too much. there are may charities out there that don't spend so much on salaries. That's just not right.

The income statement numbers on Charity Navigator do not match the ones released by WWF (2012 annual report). There is no way to tell then what percentage is spent on programs. How did Charity Navigator come up with the numbers in the income statement?

I am dismayed by the small percentage of donations that go to the programs. If you go to their website, they claim that they spend 84% of their budget on programs . Either that's an outright misstatement or they haven't been checked out by CN lately. My cut-off is 75%, so these people are off my list. Also, staff is too highly paid for a non-profit.
Last year I made the mistake of allowing them to charge an automatic payment against my credit card. In January this year, I called to have that arrangement cancelled, and, in fact, it did not appear on my February statement. But it just appeared on my March statement. Of course, I will have to make another call and have my credit card company disallow this payment. I don't need this.

Like many other reviewers, too much of my donation goes for fundraising (22%), plus the CEO is too richly paid for this type of organization. Didn't know what one reviewer said: that they support hunting ...is that true?? Gave them 2 (vs. 1) star 'cause I do think that they have an impact on some important wildlife projects. I have shifted most of my donation, however, to Wildlife Conservation Network, a very lean, focused, professional organization.

I gave $200 in early 2012 and every few weeks received solicitations for more money. I saved every one of those mailings and their combined weight over a year is a tad more than 3 pounds. I am extremely unhappy and will be giving elsewhere in future.

They do good work to protect wild animals, but not apparently because they want them to live in peace. They
are a pro hunting organization so they want to save wildlife from poachers so rich people can have the
pleasure of killing them on safari. Hard to understand. They seem to have the attitude that animals
are ours to exploit without out any rights of their own.

Too much of their money is spent on overhead and advertisements aimed at getting more donations. They do little "boots on the ground" work and some of their philosophies run counter to true wildlife conservation. EG. They actually support hunting of some endangered species. They also have a tendency to pander to govts such as the Chinese. There are many other organizations out there doing solid work in combating trafficking of endangered species. Those same orgs also more more money into doing actual work and less money into supporting huge administrative overhead.

I love animals and if you love animals you should donate. Habitat Loss and Pollution are the main factors that are wiping out wildlife. WWF helps protect wildlife from these, by helping establish laws, create captive breading facilities, etc...

Although I totally support the cause of helping wildlife and animals in general, unfortunately my experience with WWF was a very bad one. When I called to donate I was told that I would receive a "save the tigers" t-shirt. When I called weeks later and inquired why I never received it the employees were very arrogant and rude to me. They gave me the brush off and talked to me in a very unprofessional and insulting manner and even hung up on me. This left a very bad impression on me and I will never donate to them again. They really need to address the lack of common sense and professionalism of these employees who take the money over the phone.

I can't speak as an insider, but I live in Rwanda and since WWF has managed some of the parks here, the parks have increased revenue for badly needed tourism (it's hard to get people to travel hours to a forest if there is no infrastructure and without tourism, the dire poverty in the area causes people to poach from the forest and take out resources). For example, when I recently went to visit a habituated (understand that does not mean "tamed" or "in captivity") monkey troupe, the tracker was a local woman. There are managed honey gathering and candle making projects that use resources sustainably rather than using the burning-out method which did significant damage to the forest in the past.. I don't know who owns the lodge at the edge of the forest (Gisakura GH) but WWF staff were staying there in very modest quarters. I'll keep paying attention to issues people say about the compensation and the overkill on publicity, but I think they are doing important work in the field.

World Wildlife Fund is the premier global wildlife non profit organization. They work in numerous countries around the world helping endangered species and their habitats. They also have a strong focus on climate change and how it affects the Earth and its inhabitants. They have a heavy involvement in the war on wildlife trafficking. The WWF campaign that touches my heart the most is the one trying to save wild tigers. Wild tigers could become extinct in my lifetime if people don't step up to help. WWF is one of the leaders in trying to save wild tigers by their efforts in saving tiger habitat and trying to stop tiger trafficking and poaching. I an proud to be a supporter of World Wildlife Fund.

These guys tell you how much they care about the animals, but your donations go to the government. I don't like that they have no donor privacy policies.

I am impressed with the work of this organization and as a business leader in the for-profit world, I must say they are incredibly efficient with their expenses. On nearly every "larger" non-profit's reviews one can find multiple comments criticizing the CEO's compensation. However, a CEO of such a large nonprofit organization must be knowledgeable about running a large, sophisticated enterprise. They must have a working knowledge of finance; operations; fund development; marketing; and a myriad of other aspects of running a business. I personally as a donor want to make sure that a competent leader is at the helm. I would be quite frightened to see a $75k/year leader running a $150+M business - this level of individual would likely not have the business acumen to fulfill the requirements of the job. Plus, the nonprofit sector competes with the for-profit sector for top executive talent, where a similarly-situated individual would likely command a compensation package of $1M or greater. Look at the percent of the total budget the CEO's comp amounts to, and at this size organization, it should be less than 2%. Here, it's less than 1/2 of 1% - amazing. I feel better knowing my donor dollars are managed by a fairly-paid executive who can handle the complexities of an organization at this level.

Seem to be good, but not clear on where my money went after I gave it. Would like more transparency.

When I saw the amount of money going to the CEO I will not continue to donate.

I am not a Donor yet. I'm concerned about their expenses. I'm also upset that when I called to donate, I was surprise to hear that the Adoption fee per month was higher than mentioned in the TV Ad. I'm not calling this bait and switch but its close. I have no problem with the token gifts as the one women seemed to be. She should realize the first payment will cover whatever they send and they will have the monthly donations from then on. What she should be concerned about is the Expenses they call out! Salaries appear high. This unfortunately is the trouble with a lot of charities, to many fat cats at the top, no pun intended.

Hello, just saw a tv commercial regarding endangered tigers and decided to check out wwe.org. I was happy to see that a claimed 80+ cents of every dollar goes towards the conservation efforts, but appalled however at finding out what the CEO's yearly earnings are... If you're listening wwe.org, reduce that salary and you'll have my contribution... Yes, I am living what I preach. I've taken a 33% hit in my salary due to the down turn in the economy by starting over and taking an entry level position in public service, but can still live a comfortable life by cutting back on some unnecessary expenses... and as I ready to sign my name up to help a tiger out there, I find myself disgusted at the CEO's salary...

WWF claims to have spend millions of USD over the years in Madagascar, yet, nothing to show for it. They tried very hard once to kick out De Heaulme, who owns the Berenty Reserve out of his own property! They would rather see the poorest among the poor (Mahafaly, Antandroy) being kept this way rather than see them developing real sustainable projects for it would harm their message (wildlife is endangered everywhere you look)

I am not sure how high to rate WWF and that is why I am writing, because I have a question on what has been bothering me. I would like to know where these "free" gifts come from. Are they donated to WWF or is WWF buying them and if so how much of our donations are going to the purchase of these "free" gifts. That is my main concern as well as the salary of the CEO, but if someone can tell me that part of my donation is not going to give "free" gifts out, which I never accept, then I might feel better about donating. Can someone answer this question for me?

I notice that two prior reviews also criticize WWF for their INCREDIBLE avidity for my supplemental donations, and that they are similarly alarmed with the frequency and persistence of these requests.

My concern is actually with two sub-topics of the WWF marketing effort.

1) Do we really ONLY care about pretty, anthropomorphic, dewy eyed animals occasionally interspersed with bold, proud and gorgeous carnivores? The photographic theme of WWF's materials is much too glamorous and cute, without ANY true naturalistic view of the humble and non-statuesque critters who might need saving.

2) I give to 70+ charities (social, political, environmental, service-sector) and NOBODY pushes out as much swag as WWF. With your donation, we'll send you greeting cards, calendars, hats, tote-bags, umbrellas, T-shirts, letter-stickers, shoelaces, plush toys, and ash-trays (ok, maybe not ash-trays). Every year, I review their Charity Navigator ranking, expecting there to be some recognition that they have become a tax-exempt wholesaler for environmental trinkets and NOT an environmental organization of impact or utility. It's AMAZING that they maintain a 4-star rating, and endangers my trust in Char-Nav.

I am a very long term donor and am familiar with the good work of this NGO. However, I agree with the previous review that they are RELENTLESS with their mailed solicitations. Further, they had the to my mind amazing chutzpah to send a solicitation saying, in effect, we will cease our onslaught of mailings if you promise to donate on a monthly basis! It reminded my of National Lampoon's cover "Buy This Magazine or We Will Shoot this Dog!" If you want to donate to an organization with a very similar mission but without ANY mailings and more restrained email communication strategy, I recommend the Wildlife Conservation Society. WWF really needs to get their solicitations under control -- I fear that my $100 just about pays my postal bill, and you don't want your donors feeling that way!

Like many of the existing reviews there are some pros and cons of supporting WWF. I definitely agree that they spend way too much on advertising/fund drives. I have called and requested that they send less mail but to no avail. I get at least two copies of Focus and additional mail on what feels like a monthly basis. The other side is that I feel like they do good work. The pros outweigh the negatives but I feel like the donor community must hold them more accountable or the inefficient behavior won't be changed. I will say that if I hear of another animal and environmental charity doing the same kind of work more efficiently, I will not hesitate to direct my funds to away from WWF.

Met the head of administration in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. When I challenged him about driving around the city in a fully kitted out Toyota Land Cruiser - his reply was that the vehicle reflected his status in the organization. He then when on to say that without such visible signs of power, the Africans wouldn't respect him. couple those remarks with some very interesting corporate policies, and almost 23% expenses, this 'charity' should be avoided

The Good: Being one of the largest organizations whose purpose is to protect Our Earth and Our Fellow Earth Inhabitants has it's privileges. They seem to have more pull and clout after many years of experience, being based in DC, and have a gaggle of seasoned lobbyists. 83% of all donated monies goes to a cause close to my heart...

The Bad: Being so large they are definitely more wasteful than their smaller counterparts. Executive pay is much too high and the advertising expenses are too high (wish they would cut my mailings in half as I already plan to donate yearly). 17% is too high for "other" expenses.

In my book the good outweighs the bad and I will continue to donate but also look for, and participate with, smaller local organizations as well.

AMAZING!!!! i have no more to say...they are just amazing

According to the Wall Street Journal;
"This year, chief financial officers at companies with $500 million or more in sales are projected to earn between $257,500 and $370,500 in average annual base pay, according to a 2008 report from staffing firm Robert Half International Inc. "
In 2008 the WWF had a total revenue of $151M. Carter Roberts, President of the WWF, received $465,427 in base compensation. That's 25% more than the high end base salary of CEOs of companies with over 3 times the revenue.
"Helping the environment" is good business.

WWF is a joke. They were formed by hunters and their lack of caring for animals shows. They actually support Sea World.....this is a corporation that makes it's millions by imprisioning marine mammals. Send you money to groups that actually care for animals, like Sea Shepherd, Center for Biological Diversity, etc.

l would like to give my vote of confidence to the WWF who have done amazing things to help the Environment and Wildlife.

I became aware of the need for environmental protection and change in the 1980's. I was aware of some of the big environmental groups, but what caught my attention with WWF was when they purchased land in the rain forest in South America to help stop the slash and burn culture. Since then I have donated to them because what better way to help the earth than to protect the very ground and plants that grow from it.

While travelling around the globe I have seen first hand many of the negative effects we are having on our environment, not to mention on our own livelihoods. I think the work WWF is doing to support and encourage communities to live and run sustainably is inspiring. After learning about WWF I joined them on facebook (so I'm able to keep up to date with their ongoings) and choose to work for companies that strive to be ecologically friendly. It isn't all about money, it is also about what we do in our day to day lives to help.

I am extremely impressed with World Wildlife Fund. They function with high quality on so many levels - they have fantastic marketing and innovative events (such as EarthHour)to create awareness, they are donor responsible (they communicate well with their donors), and they are completely on target with their activities which match their mission. Their commitment to helping our planet is huge!

i have always liked WWF because it makes people stop and think about what they are doing. they do a great job getting people to know what they do. if i say something about 'WWF' they all know what it means.