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Design for a Cause

A partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

At Canva, we believe that everyone, everywhere, deserves the chance to create amazing designs that make the world a better place.

With 48% of school age refugee children out of school, we’ve partnered with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency to support refugee education.

© UNHCR/Michael Muller

That's where you come in.

Your creativity has the power to help raise funds to enrol refugee children into quality, primary education across 14 countries.

Join UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Ben Stiller, by sharing your creativity to make a difference and help build a better future for a refugee child.

Get involved

From 27 October 2020 to December 8 2020, your mission is to get creative and share with us your drawings of one thing that makes you smile.

Together with UNHCR, we’ll select winning designs and convert them into Canva elements for sale.

When purchased or used by Canva's millions of users, each element will generate donations for UNHCR's refugee education programs.

With your help, we can raise donations to help fund UNHCR’s important education work and empower more refugee children to get an education—something every child deserves.

Click here to find out more about how you can support refugee education.

How to enter

Designing a better world is simple:

© UNHCR/Hannah Maule-ffinch

1. Get creative

Draw something that makes you smile. Use any medium and let your imagination run wild :)

© UNHCR/Hannah Maule-ffinch

2. Upload your image

Take a photo or scan your drawing, saving it as a PDF or JPEG.

© UNHCR/EAC/Paddy Dowling

3. Submit your details

FIll out the form below with your name, email and address. Don’t forget to attach your drawing.

Submit your Design for a Cause

If your design is selected, we’ll contact you via email and turn your design into an awesome Canva element.

    Drop file here or

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Drawings will be judged by a panel of influential designers and social impact leaders. Judging criteria is based on creativity, imagination, and bringing a smile to the judges faces.

    Yes, the more, the merrier. While only one drawing per person can be selected, the more you submit, the more chances you have.

    Of course, collaboration is always encouraged. Enter individually or with a friend.

    Your prize is using creativity to make a difference… and perhaps becoming a little famous too. Your work will be featured, viewed and hopefully used by millions of people around the world to make a positive impact.

    Unfortunately, no. Due to the high number of entries we often receive, we’ll only be in touch if your drawing is selected.

    No, however drawings by children under the age of 13 may only be submitted by a parent or guardian. If your child’s drawing is selected, we’ll contact you to ask permission to share your child’s name as a winner.

    These terms and conditions contain information on how to enter the “Design for a Cause Campaign” (“the Campaign”). The promoters of the Campaign are Canva Pty Ltd, 110 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 (“Canva”) and Australia for UNHCR, Level 8, 120 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 (“A4UNHCR”), together (“the Promoters”).

    By submitting an entry to the Campaign, you agree to these terms and conditions.

    1.

    Eligibility: The Campaign is open to persons of all ages, worldwide, provided that children under the age of 13 may only have entries submitted by a parent or guardian. Canva reserves the right to request verification of age from any entrant. Directors and employees (and their respective immediate families) of each of the Promoters or their related bodies corporate are ineligible.

    2.

    Campaign Period: The Campaign will run during the period 00:00AM AEDT 27 October 2020 to 23:59PM AEDT 8 December 2020 (“Campaign Period”). Entries received after the last day of the Campaign Period will not be accepted.

    3.

    How to Enter: To enter the Campaign you must complete the entry form at https//canva.com/designforacause and upload your drawing. You may enter as many times as you like, however a limit of one winning entry per person applies. Incomplete or indecipherable entries will be deemed invalid.

    4.

    Prize: 200 winners will be selected. This number may be reduced or increased at Canva’s sole discretion. Each winner will have their drawing converted to a digital element by Canva’s team (“the Prize”). The digital elements will be sold and distributed via the Canva Platform to raise funds for UNHCR education projects until 31 December 2021, following which time Canva, in its sole discretion, may choose to continue distributing the digital elements, or cease to offer the digital elements. No further compensation, reward or benefit will be awarded to the winners for the use of the digital elements.

    5.

    Winner selection: The Campaign is a game of skill. Chance plays no part in determining the winners. All entries will be judged individually on their merits based on creativity, originality and suitability for conversion into a digital element. Judging will take place within 14 days following the end of the Campaign Period. The Promoters’ appointed judges’ decisions are final and binding. No correspondence will be entered into.

    6.

    Winner notification: The winners will be notified by email to their nominated email addresses and must accept their Prizes within 72 hours of notification by Canva. The Promoters will have no liability for a winner’s failure to receive notices due to spam, junk or other security settings or for a winner’s provision of incorrect contact information. Acceptance of the Prize constitutes permission for the Promoters to use the winner’s name and entry for the purpose of promoting the outcome of the Campaign and/or marketing the Promoter’s services.

    7.

    License grant and consent: By submitting your entry to the Campaign you grant to Canva a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, transferable and sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and display your drawing for any purpose in any media and without any compensation, restrictions on use or attribution to you, including the making of any distortions, additions or alterations.

    8.

    Warranty: By submitting an entry, you represent and warrant that your entry is an original work and does not violate any intellectual property rights, moral rights or any other rights of any third party. A breach of this warranty may result in disqualification from the Campaign at the sole discretion of the Promoters.

    9.

    Limitation of liability: To the extent permitted by law, the Promoters accept no responsibility for:
    a. any late, lost or misdirected entries or other communications; or
    b. any Internet traffic congestion or problems with, or technical malfunction of, any hardware or software of any entrant or other persons related to participation in the Campaign.
    Except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, the Promoters and their associated companies (including their officers, employees and agents) exclude all liability (including for negligence), for any personal injury or any loss or damage (whether direct, indirect, special or consequential) arising in any way out of the Campaign.

    10.

    Privacy policy: Canva collects personal information about entrants, including the entrants’ names, email addresses and entries, in order to:
    a. conduct and process the Campaign;
    b. promote the Campaign and Canva’s services; and
    c. provide entrants with information about the Campaign and Canva’s services.

    Personal information submitted to Canva by entrants is held subject to Canva’s privacy policy available at https://about.canva.com/privacy-policy and these terms and conditions. Canva’s privacy policy explains how Canva collects, uses, stores and discloses personal information and how entrants can ask a question or lodge a complaint.

    Entrants agree that Canva may share their personal information with A4UNHCR for the purpose of conducting the Campaign and promoting the outcome.

    11.

    Children’s privacy: Canva will not collect any personal information about a child under the age of 13 without parent or guardian consent. In the event that an entry by a child under the age of 13 is chosen as a winning entry, Canva will contact the parent or guardian via the email address nominated in the entry form to request permission to share the name and any other information of the winner.

    12.

    Governing Law: These terms and conditions and any dispute or claim (including a non-contractual dispute or claim) arising out of or in connection with these terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia and subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State.