Started in 2018, Panda Paddle is World Wildlife Fund’s one-of-a-kind paddling event where participants fundraise to support WWF’s global conservation efforts.

Due to COVID-19, we have decided against holding an in-person event this year to ensure the safety of our participants, volunteers, sponsors and staff. While we’ll miss seeing everyone in person this year, we hope the virtual paddle will be a way to keep this great community of nature loving SUP enthusiasts together! Be sure to share you paddle experience on social media using the hashtag #PandaPaddle and tagging @pandapaddle so the community can follow along!

Fundraising is not required for to participate in WWF's Virtual Panda Paddle Event. However, you will receive a fundraising page upon registration and we encourage you to fundraise for the world's waters, wildlife, and wild places. When you fundraise for World Wildlife Fund, not only are you raising crucial funds to support our global conservation efforts, but you are also spreading awareness of WWF's mission. We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to protect the future of nature. There is no fundraising minimum, but a gift in any amount is much appreciated and goes a long way.

We have a few options for you to participate!

Recreational Paddle — this non-competitive option is great for people who are looking for an opportunity to get out on their favorite local body of water and spend time enjoying the nature surrounding them while raising money to help protect our planet’s oceans, waterways, forests and wildlife. The body of water, distance you paddle and what you paddle on is entirely up to you!

Virtual Competition — if you’re looking for a little bit more of a challenge, you can sign up for our 5K race, 10K race or both. With these options, you’ll need to use a fitness tracker of your choice to keep track of your time and distance and send us a screenshot of the results by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 16, 2023 so we can compile the results and announce the best times!

We have a few options for you to participate!

When you sign up for the virtual competition, you'll select the race distance you'd like to compete. Then on the event weekend, August 4-13, choose a day you'd like to paddle and use a fitness app to track your distance and time. Instructions on how to share your race results will be sent to all registered participants and we'll tally up the results and let you know how you placed later in the week.

You can use any fitness tracking app or device that you prefer. If you don't have one installed already, here are a few options to consider.

Strava

Waterspeed

Relive

A personal fundraising page is generated for you during registration. You will use this page to fundraise for WWF and get a tally of all the funds you personally raise. The money you raise can qualify you to earn some exciting thank you gifts!

For those of you participating on a team, each person on your team will have their own fundraising page to collect donations, and you'll also have a team page where the totals of everyone is added together. The person who creates the team is the Team Captain. Donors may choose to donate to your personal page or to donate on behalf of the team.

Donations made to a team page don’t count automatically towards any individual’s fundraising effort when determining if they have qualified for a thank you gift. If you would like team donations to count towards someone’s fundraising efforts, the team captain must reach out to us at PandaPaddle@wwfus.org to make that request.

During registration, you will be asked if you would like to create a team, join a team or participate on your own. Click “Join a Team.” followed by the “Next Step” button. You will then be prompted to input the Team Name and click “Search”. Your friend’s team name should appear, and you can click “Join”. If your friend created a Team Password during registration you will be prompted to input that information on the next screen. Follow the rest of the registration steps and you will be all set!

If you've already created your Panda Paddle page and want to join a team, email PandaPaddle@wwfus.org and we can help you!

Log in to your Panda Paddle Center to access tools to change and edit your page in the Personal Page section. To get to your Panda Paddle Center, log in at the top of this page, and then click on the “My Panda Paddle Center”. After you make your changes, be sure to hit save before moving on.

Your Panda Paddle page will help inspire people to donate to your fundraising efforts, so it's good to take a moment to share your own passion for conservation and why you’ve decided to take a stand for nature. Your page will feel more authentic and make people excited to support you if you update your page and share your reasons for getting involved in your own words!

Some style hints:
• Try not to type your story in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. This makes the page difficult to read and is the web equivalent of SHOUTING.
• Make sure to spell check your page before publishing.
• Start a new paragraph after every few sentences. Your page will be much easier to read and your donors will thank you!

You can update the name and description by logging in to your Panda Paddle Center.

Yes, please do! This page should reflect you and your personality as much as possible. Your page can display two photos and one video. To update these, go to your Panda Paddle Center.

Go to your Panda Paddle Center. Scroll to the center of the page, and there is a box that says your progress. Click "edit goal" in the top right-hand corner of that box. Type in the monetary amount that you're wanting to raise. Make sure to click save before exiting the page.

When registering for Panda Paddle, a webpage will be created for you to raise funds to support WWF’s conservation work. You can then send that webpage to family and friends and they can securely donate to support your fundraising efforts. Making a donation—and a difference—is as easy as clicking a button.

Also when you register, you’ll automatically receive an email that you can forward to your friends and family that includes a link to your fundraising page.

You can find even more fundraising tools after registering by going to your Panda Paddle Center. There you can connect your fundraising page with a Facebook Fundraiser, use our email templates to message friends and family, make changes to your personal and team pages and adjust your fundraising goal. Need more help check out our fundraising toolkit or email us at PandaPaddle@wwfus.org.

Yes, donating to your own page is a simple, fast way to generate momentum toward your fundraising goal. You don’t have to give big—just give something. Whether it’s $5 or $50, your donation sets an example for the friends and family you’ll be asking for donations.

Go to your Panda Paddle Center to connect your page to Facebook or to send emails to friends and family.

To connect your page with Facebook, click the “Connect Fundraiser to Facebook” button and you should be all set!

To send emails, click on the email section at the top of the page. You will be taken to the suggested messages page, where you can click on versions for a standard form message. You may want to personalize your message and tell your friends more about your page. To create your own message, click on Blank Message and type in the text box.

Once you find a Panda Paddle member whose page you would like to make a gift to, click on the donate button to make a gift of any amount through a secure form. Once your donation is complete, it is counted toward that person’s fundraising goal.

Once you find a Panda Paddle member whose page you would like to make a gift to, click on the donate button. You will be asked to fill out a form with your donation amount and information. In this section you can check the box that reads, “Please don’t include my name in the public donor roster.” Please note the person who you donate to will be notified that you gave a donation, your name just won't appear in any public recognitions of your gift. If you would like a different name to show up when you make a donation, you can enter it into the field that reads, “How would you like your name to appear in the donor roster?”

The funds you raise through your Panda Paddle page go toward supporting WWF’s global conservation efforts, including protecting endangered species, preserving threatened species, and addressing global threats such as deforestation. Thanks to the donations made through your Panda Paddle page, WWF is also working to empower people to conserve resources, while improving their livelihoods.

No worries! All you need is the email address that you used to register. Go to the Forgotten Password page. Enter your email address and we will email you your account login information to that address.