Fundraising is a complex, multifaceted art. Fundraisers have to know their audiences, compose targeted messages that will tap into the psyches of those audiences and convince donors to part with their money, for a greater cause.
Social media has been alight in the past few weeks with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a fundraising, and awareness-raising, campaign for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The largely Facebook-fueled initiative challenges people to pour ice water on their heads, film and post the stunt on social media and nominate others in their place; those who don’t accept the challenge are encouraged to donate to the ALS Association.
The challenge went viral quickly; a simple scroll through most Facebook users’ newsfeeds likely revealed post after post of ice-bucket videos. As the campaign took off, so too did complaints about it, as videos were interspersed with posts decrying the bothersome nature of the videos. Surely, the barrage of videos became tedious. And surely, many of the people making the videos may not have been doing so out of pure benevolence, and many may not even know what ALS is.
But, that doesn’t overshadow the success of the campaign: There have been more than 9-million online mentions about the initiative this summer, about 1.5 million of which were Facebook videos of people taking the challenge. And, in just the first three weeks of August, the ALS Association has received more than $31.5 million in donations — compared to less than $2 million in the same period last year. Regardless of the motivation of some of the participants, the effort has been wildly successful in generating needed funds, and drastically heightening awareness about ALS; even if only half of the 9-million mentions resulted in people learning about the condition, that’s still a major success in familiarizing the public with ALS — which can lead to enhanced fundraising in the future.
Another fundraising effort was born this past weekend, this from a rather unlikely source: Miley Cyrus. When Cyrus won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year on Sunday, she sent 22-year-old Jesse Helt to accept on her behalf and to call attention to the issue of youth homelessness.
Yes, Cyrus’ past antics can be labeled questionable at best, and few would look to her as a role model for youth. And who knows how much PR spin was involved in this move. But again, the result is what matters: Nearly 14-million people watching the VMAs got to hear Helt’s speech about what it has been like being a homeless youth. Helt directed viewers to Cyrus’ social-media platforms, where she is hosting a fundraising campaign for My Friend’s Place, an L.A.-based homeless youth shelter.
Ice Bucket Challenges may be annoying. And Miley Cyrus may be annoying. But they’re getting results, and that should be celebrated.