WWF Adoptions: Frequently Asked Questions

Our adoptions are symbolic for donating and supporting our conservation work with a particular species. We chose the word ‘adoption’ because it implies responsibility and care for the future of an endangered species, as opposed to 'animal sponsorship' which could suggest a more disconnected and distanced approach. The animals we follow as part of the adoption will always remain in the wild. By adopting an animal, you will be supporting a whole group of these animals, rather than one individual. Donations from our adoptions go both directly to support the species adopted, as well as to fund our wider work to protect nature and our planet. Included in our standard species adoptions is an optional plush toy of your chosen species and field notes on the animal which includes a keepsake photograph, fantastic facts about the species, information about our conservation work, a certificate and a postcard. Our Under 12’s species adoptions include a colouring-in activity ‘wrap’, an optional plush toy of your chosen animal, a certificate, an interactive booklet about your chosen species, a postcard and information about what we do. We will send you three updates a year in Spring, Summer and Autumn about your chosen species and how your incredible support is helping.

Thank you so much for your support! You can set up an adoption easily online – please see further information on our payment options below. Alternatively, you’re welcome to call our friendly adoption team on 0800 035 5929 (open 7 days a week - 8am to 10pm) and they’d be happy to help you set it up over the phone. 

You can choose to set up an adoption for yourself, or as a gift for someone else. If you’re setting it up as a gift and would like the initial welcome pack to be sent to you so that you can gift it on, make sure to select the ‘send welcome pack to my address’ option during the checkout process. The future updates will automatically go to your recipient's address unless you let us know otherwise.

Direct Debit

If you have a UK bank account, a Direct Debit is a great way to support us; regular gifts by Direct Debit mean charities have a consistent, predictable income, so we can plan and budget better across our conservation projects.

Please note, a Direct Debit is an ongoing payment. You can cancel at any time either through your bank or by letting us know through the details on our Contact Us Page.

Please note we are unable to accept Direct Debits from a non-UK bank account – please see our one-off payment option below.

One-off Donation

You can set up an adoption with a one-off donation which will ensure the adoption runs for one year. When your adoption is due to come to an end, we’ll let you know and ask if you’d like to renew it.

The minimum for our species adoptions starts at a Direct Debit of £3.00 per month or as a one-off donation of £36.00 -  you can set an adoption up easily online, or by giving our friendly adoption team a call on 0800 035 5929 (7 days a week - 8am to 10pm).
 

For deliveries within the UK, your adoption pack should arrive within 2-3 working days, though please allow up to 5 working days. If you live on an island or in the Highlands, your pack may take 1-2 days longer to arrive. You can also opt to cover the cost of your own postage and make your donation go even further.

For deliveries to Europe, please allow 21 working days.

For international deliveries outside of Europe, please allow 4-6 weeks.

From 1st January 2021, due to several new conditions applied to items sent from the UK to the EU and worldwide, a mandatory phone number is now required for all orders that will be delivered outside of the UK.

Deliveries outside of the UK may be susceptible to customs duty charges which are outside of WWF’s control. We ask that you make allowances for any charges that may be incurred as WWF cannot be held responsible. We cannot provide tracking for deliveries outside of the UK.

Please note, if you've purchased an adoption as a gift, you can choose for it to be sent directly to you or to the gift recipient. If you choose have the gift sent direct to the recipient, you'll still receive a written confirmation of your purchase. This may arrive several days before the gift recipient’s pack arrives.

If you haven’t received your adoption pack within the suggested timeframe, please contact us through the details on our Contact Us Page and our Supporter Care team will be happy to help.

We have eleven endangered species available to adopt. These include Giant Panda, Elephant, Rhino, Tiger, Snow Leopard, Jaguar, Orangutan, Gorilla, Penguin, Turtle and Polar Bear.

Further information about these species can be found here.

There are so many species and habitats around the world that need help and we to take a comprehensive approach in supporting both the species and the habitat they live in, which aids all animals in that location. For example, by supporting a Sea Turtle, you’ll be helping us protect other marine wildlife and their surrounding habitats, such as the coral reefs that they inhabit and need to survive.

When agreeing on which should be the priority species we work on, we must consider ecological, economic and cultural importance, feasibility of success in aiding them, and where other organisations work so we can cooperate with them.

It’s fantastic to hear that you’d like to renew your adoption! Thank you. You can renew your adoption easily online or by contacting us with the details on our Contact Us Page. If you've received a form through the post with your latest update, you can complete this and return it to the address provided and we’ll do the rest.

Thanks for keeping us up to date! Please see our Contact Us Page and if you scroll down a bit, you’ll see a list of our web forms. If you fill out the one that’s most in line with your query, we’ll get it all sorted and get back to you as soon as we can to confirm.

Alternatively, you’re welcome to give our team a call on 01483 426333 (Monday to Friday - 8am to 5pm | Saturdays - 10am to 4pm).

Please bear in mind that, due to Data Protection reasons, we may need the direct permission of the payer to make certain changes. If you’re unsure, just give us a call and we’ll advise you.

If you haven't received your welcome pack within the given delivery time frame, please contact us using the details on our Contact Us Page and our Supporter Care team will be happy to help.

Your adoption certificate will be the first leaflet at the front of your adoption pack and you can also download an online certificate if you would prefer. If your pack doesn’t contain a certificate, please contact us on the details on our Contact Us Page and we'll be happy to send you a replacement.

If the welcome pack won't arrive in time for a special event such as a birthday, you can print or email a personalised gift certificate online to give while you’re waiting for the pack to arrive.

One-off Donation

Under charity law, WWF-UK is not permitted to refund donations but understands there may be instances where it is necessary. For example, if a duplicate adoption has been set up in error or a credit/debit card has been used fraudulently.

As part of our Supporter Promise, we engage with supporters with empathy and understanding, developing lasting, loyal and trusted relationships. So, if you do need to discuss your donation, please contact us using the details on our Contact Us Page and our friendly Supporter Care team will be happy to have a chat, see what’s happened and do our best to resolve it for you.

Direct Debit

Under the Direct Debit guarantee, you are entitled to a full refund of the amount paid from your bank if an error is made with your Direct Debit. You can make a Direct Debit Indemnity Claim directly with your bank who will immediately refund the amount directly back into your account. If you think an error has been made, please contact us on the details on our Contact Us Page and our friendly Supporter Care team will be happy to help you resolve this.

You can choose whether you’d like to receive standard adoption updates, or under 12 adoption updates. To change the updates, you would like to receive, you can switch your update online or you can contact us using the details on our Contact Us Page and our Supporter Care team will be happy to help.

If you have questions about bulk adoptions or are unsure how to complete your order, please contact business@wwf.org.uk.

Our corporate adoptions are developed for businesses, community groups & schools of any size to gift multiple adoptions. To gift an individual adoption, please visit support.wwf.org.uk/adopt-an-animal.

We only offer bulk adoptions to the UK and Ireland. If you would like to order multiple adoptions and send the welcome packs to addresses in Europe or the rest of the world, please contact business@wwf.org.uk.

Yes, the welcome packs can be sent either to your recipients’ addresses, or directly to your chosen address to be given out from there. In these instances, the pack will include a label on the outside with the recipient’s name and who the gift is from, so that your recipient still gets the animal you’ve selected.

Each adoption gift you order costs £40 which includes the cost of delivery.

We will send out your recipients' welcome packs as quickly as possible, and they should arrive at your chosen address within 2-3 weeks of your order being confirmed. Please allow up to 4 weeks over the festive period (November-December), as Royal Mail are especially busy at this time.

Tracking information can be provided on request.

Yes, all welcome packs will include a letter confirming that the recipient has been gifted an adoption from your company – please note your company’s name will be taken directly from the file and details uploaded to our website.

Every adoption includes an optional cuddly toy, welcome pack, adoption certificate and regular updates on how an adoption is supporting our vital work. Please note, that your gift recipient will only receive updates if you have shared their details with us.

There is a maximum limit of 500 adoptions per bulk adoption order. If you need a larger quantity, please contact business@wwf.org.uk.

We’ve had to take a hard look at all our adoption products and both the lion and dolphin adoptions have become less cost-effective than we’d like – that means there’s less funding to put towards our work protecting them. We want to make sure we are making the best use of your donations so we have made the decision to stop recruiting new dolphin or lion adopters and will phase out the product by the end of October 2022. We will continue to help protect these animals through different, more cost-efficient, methods.

Lions, dolphins and their habitats, still need protecting. We will continue to fund and support many projects of work with the aim of conserving both lions and dolphins, as well as the landscapes they live in. We will just no longer be offering these iconic species as a choice of species to adopt.

We are still working to protect all wildlife; we fund many programs across the world. Many of those we have in place for lions/dolphins will still be carrying forward to the best of our ability, they will just be funded in a different manner.

WWF’s activities have been designated as “undesirable” by the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office. As a result, WWF-Russia is no longer part of the WWF network. This means that WWF is no longer able to fund the work we used to support in Russia, including through the Amur leopard adoption.

There are at least 125 Amur leopards in the wild, living in Russia and China. They are critically endangered, but their population seems to be stable and increasing. The Amur leopard is expanding its range in China, and WWF China will continue to work to help enable this expansion. In Russia, the Land of the Leopard National Park and other organisations will continue to conserve Amur leopards in Russia, building on the strong foundations that we and others have helped to create.

The best way to help support Amur leopards at this challenging time is either through a WWF tiger adoption, another WWF adoption or becoming a WWF member. Tiger adoptions current funding will continue to help conservation work in WWF supported tiger landscapes, which in the case of China, contributes to reducing the threats faced by both tigers and Amur leopards (such as poaching and habitat fragmentation) and improving the opportunities for range expansion for both Amur leopards and tigers. Any changes to how your adoption money supports our different WWF programmes will be communicated with you within your regular adoption updates. Alternatively, by becoming a WWF member, you will support increasingly important work to help improve policies which impact on wildlife.