Cast your vote to help raise $500,000 for the Conservation Leadership Programme

In a great example of collaborative conservation, the three Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) partners have joined forces to try and secure US$500,000 for CLP through Microsoft’s #UpgradeYourWorld competition.

Until 23 August 2015, the public is being asked to vote for their favourite NGO. The organisation that gets the most votes will win half a million dollars as well as Microsoft technology and services.

Unfortunately, because CLP is a collaboration rather than a legal entity in its own right, it is not eligible to enter. For that reason, the three partner organisations – Fauna & Flora International BirdLife International and the Wildlife Conservation Society – are joining forces to make a bid on CLP’s behalf.

How to vote

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is representing CLP in the competition, so we are asking our supporters to back CLP by voting for them in one of the following ways:

• Tweet this message: I #vote for @TheWCS to #UpgradeYourWorld
• Post (or comment on) an Instagram photo with this text: I #vote for @TheWCS to #UpgradeYourWorld
• On Facebook, comment on this Microsoft post with the following text: I #vote for @Wildlife Conservation Society to #UpgradeYourWorld. Before posting, check to make sure that ‘Wildlife Conservation Society’ has been tagged, it will have a blue box around it if it is tagged. If not, please retype it and select the appropriate page from the available options.
• Click on this link and enter @TheWCS into the voting bar (which is about halfway down the page). You can then choose to cast your vote on Twitter or Facebook.

Please note that, for your vote to be counted, you must include: #vote, #UpgradeYourWorld and @TheWCS on Twitter and Instagram, and #vote, #UpgradeYourWorld and @Wildlife Conservation Society on Facebook.

You can vote once a day on each of your social media accounts until 23 August 2015 (23:59 Pacific Time). If supporters from all three organisations join forces to vote and encourage their friends to do the same, we could be in with a real chance of winning.

Why vote for CLP?

With thousands of charities out there, we know how hard it can be to pick a favourite, so here’s why we think CLP should get your support:

1. It’s about wildlife AND people: Torn between helping people and helping wildlife? CLP is about both of these things – by supporting CLP, you will help bright young conservationists from developing countries get the skills they need to become environmental champions.
2. CLP projects address real-world conservation problems: From whale sharks to wild roses, and from snow leopards to storks, funding distributed through CLP helps conserve some of the world’s most iconic and threatened wildlife – learn more.
3. The multiplier effect: CLP is not about supporting a single project or species. It is about creating a network of highly dedicated and able conservationists who can tackle new environmental challenges as they arise and inspire others to follow their lead.

To date, CLP has supported 2,500 emerging conservation leaders. Your help will allow us to continue this vital work long into the future.