WildAid Review

I remember flipping through a magazine a year ago or so, and coming across an article about a new line of hair products that Kate Hudson was promoting.  It was to benefit WildAid, an organization I’d never heard of, but whose work got me jazzed up.  (It must be from the years I spent devouring Jane Goodall books as a child, but my ears prick up just a little bit when I hear about endangered species.)  Anyway, I loved the tagline for the campaign- “David Babaii for WildAid celebrates the nature in beauty and the beauty in nature.” 

Amen to that.

To learn about the many supporters and partners WildAid keeps (from individuals to corporations to governments to NGOs) click on the “About WildAid” link at the top tab bar and then choose “Supporters” on the side menu.  Here, WildAid recognizes people who donate $10,000 and more, and $1,000 and more by name.  Additionally, a sub-menu pops up from “Supporters” that allows a surfer to peruse through lists of foundations, corporate partners and government and nonprofit partners.  It seems that the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund are big foundation supporters, while companies like CBS, PAX, NBC and CNN offer their support as well.  USAID, US State Department, Oceana, and WWF are a few government and nonprofit partners that WildAid recognizes.

At the bottom of the WildAid site, there are buttons with direct links to the organization’s pages at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Change.org.  I looked at my top four-- but Change.org is also worth checking out, it’s quite a vibrant page as well! 

Facebook has 3,500 fans, and an active wall of posts from both WildAid and their supporters, while Twitter is a bit smaller, with 337 followers and tweets that seem to be updated weekly or so with lots of links to petitions, newsletters and other articles pertinent to WildAid’s work.  Their YouTube channel is very vibrant (YouTube is typically the quietest of the social networks).  I’m assuming this is because WildAid videos feature a bevy of celebrities that support their work- from Kate Hudson to Yao Ming.  WildAid’s MySpace is very neat, and full of great tools like banners that their 2,469 friends can add to their own pages.

On the righthand side of the website, there is a “Stay Informed” link that takes a visitor to a “Registration” page which prompts you to enter your email to sign up for the mailing list.  Without any online platform beyond their social networks, there are no other options for individuals to make themselves known to the organization as a joiner.

There are no blogs or forums on the WildAid site to encourage knowledge sharing between supporters and staff, but instead, lots of archived articles at the “News & Events” tab.  Choices for sifting through content include “WildAid in the News, Wildlife News, Updates from the Field or Newsletter Archives.”  These articles are static, aside from the option to “share” them via a share button on the top righthand corner.

At the “Take Action” tab there is a link titled “Volunteer/Internships” which offers information for those interested in offering their skills to the organization.  The page says that volunteers are needed in the San Francisco office during work hours with needs ranging from general office work, data entry, logging video tapes and scanning slides. Otherwise, an interested supporter can inquire to local representatives by emailing a cover letter detailing your interests and attaching your resume.

The top tab bar at the WildAid website features a “Donate”  link that highlights quite a few ways for supporters to give financially to the organization.  WildAid accepts gifts online, by phone or mail, from “monthly supporters”, as stock, life insurance, real estate, corporate or workplace giving.  There is also information at these pages regarding corporate partnerships and in-kind giving, as well as a magazine fundraiser and a box linked to “Get Wild Gear”.  A notable aspect of these “Donate” pages is an option to click on “Where Your Money Goes,” which links you to a page that is basically a pledge from WildAid to use your money in the most effective manner.  It’s a nice touch that many nonprofits don’t offer to their supporters.  Also, it is highlighted throughout these pages that 100% of the online contributions go “directly to the field.”

There is a “News & Events” tab that highlights upcoming events on the main page.  There is information regarding the events, and RSVP contacts, but not any interactive features such as maps, nor is there a calendar that supporters could potentially add to or edit with their own events.  There is a list of downloadable files to what seem to be campaigns featured in print media, but when I clicked on these links they were broken, so I’m not entirely sure what they offer to web surfers.

WildAid seems to place a heavy emphasis on online advocacy, which is housed at their “Take Action” tab.  These pages offer links to sign a number of online petitions and pledges to protect wildlife, as well as links to specific campaigns such as the “End Tiger Trade” initiative and “Shark Finning and Long-line Fishing” campaigns.  There are also lists of affiliates and links to other organizations with similar missions as WildAid (Ocean Conservancy, for example), along with an “Awareness Checklist” which offers supporters information to educate themselves (and others) on how “local threats impact the global ecosystems”. 

Recruitment is touched on at the website with tools such as “share” buttons and “tell a friend” pages that allow a supporter to send a template email to friends from the website. 

When I searched for booster-level opportunities throughout the WildAid site, I uncovered a number of disjointed avenues towards greater engagement for those interested.  “Friends of WildAid” seem to be organizations that “boost” WildAid and have similar missions, but it is unclear exactly how these organization engage.  Also, from the “About WildAid” tab, there is information about job openings under “Careers” that encourage those interested to send in resumes to contacts provided.  Additionally, there was a bit of information regarding internships at the “Volunteer/Internships” tab-- interns must work a minimum of 12 hours a week for 3 months-- but it is unclear if these are paid internships or perhaps internships for college credit. 

When I searched for booster-level opportunities within action-categories such as knowledge sharing (writing blogs or starting forum threads), volunteering (leading volunteer efforts in a local community), donations (starting a fundraiser page), events (hosting a dinner or other event), advocacy (circulating a petition), or recruitment (multiplying the membership of an organization by recruiting new members), I was unable to find specific tools or pathways on the WildAid site that would encourage or support these types of actions.

From the “About WildAid” tab, you can find information regarding the founders, Steve Trent and Peter Knights, the Board of Directors and International Board, and the Team (staff members).  Kudos to WildAid for providing photos and informative bios on all stakeholders, it was nice to get a feel for the people whose hard work goes into running this organization.