Your #nomakeupselfie donation to Cancer Research UK could have gone to UNICEF instead

Thousands of dollars that were donated as a part of the Cancer Research UK #nomakeupselfie campaign have accidentally been donated to UNICEF. Several others who donated ended up unintentionally expressing an interest in adopting a polar bear to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), owing to a texting goof-up.

The craze of taking a selfie sans make up had gone viral and supposedly helped raise more than £8m for cancer charities. However, those who texted “DONATE” instead of “BEAT” have found that their money has been sent to another charity. UNICEF uses the shortcode combination of “DONATE to 70099” for those who to donate to us via SMS.

According to a report by BBC , UNICEF has disclosed an amount of £18,625 to be identified as being accidentally pledged. It is now working to transfer the fund back to Cancer Research UK. Mike Flynn, director of individual giving at UNICEF UK, has revealed that it is a genuine mix-up. He reportedly told media persons, “UNICEF believes this error has occurred due to those interested in donating to the #nomakeupselfie campaign sharing the text keyword ‘DONATE’ - rather than the keyword ‘BEAT’ - and the text number 70099.”

Flynn further told the news channel,“We contacted Cancer Research [UK> as soon as we became aware of what was happening. UNICEF and Cancer Research [UK> have agreed that these donations will be received in full by Cancer Research [UK>. UNICEF is also working with all the parties involved so that such a texting blunder won’t happen again.

This isn’t all, the #nomakeupselfie campaign – whose origin is not yet known – has also sparked another misunderstanding. All those who typed ‘BEAR’ instead of ‘BEAT’, owing to the autocorrect, received a reply from WWF stating - Thank you for choosing an adorable polar bear. We will call you today to set up your adoption. However, there is no exchange of money involved as WWF relies on human operators for calling people back to confirm adoptions.