Why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Wins

TakeTwo has been watching the ALS #IceBucketChallenge closely.  Its success is absolutely breathtaking. They have raised nearly $91.6 million dollars more than in the same period of time last year.   We want to shake the hands of the people behind it.  Seriously. (We do, however, acknowledge people’s concerns about the excessive use of water through the campaign.  The ALS Association staff likely did not foresee this level of success, and therefore did not even consider the amount of water that would be used…something to learn from for sure).

Here is what we’ve observed and want to share about this fantastic fundraising and awareness raising effort:

• This what social media does best.  People are sharing with and involving their friends, filming themselves in creative ways, and joining in on a viral/national conversation.  It is a fun, easy, dynamic act.
• Some fundraising and nonprofit professionals have attempted to pick apart the effort, pointing out its weaknesses and inefficiencies.  These are the facts – the effort is wildly successful and will likely break all social media fundraising records. It sets a new precedent.  It, unquestionably, raised awareness about ALS.  People have shared on their personal videos how they’ve looked up the disease after being challenged and learned about its horrible effects.  We’ve seen videos of people’s personal stories of the devastation of the disease.  We need not deny this amazing campaign.
• There are a number of factors behind the success of the campaign that are less obvious:
  1. The cause behind it is not controversial.  It is easier to get viral support for a cause with a clear cut, uncontroversial mission.  Many nonprofits have much more difficult missions to sell – issues challenged by stigma, controversy, and misconception.
  2. ALS Association was already raising over $1 million monthly (or at least in the same period last year).  The organization had an excellent donor and social media base with which to start a viral social media campaign.

The big questions that remain for us:

• The ALS Association has to keep the good energy going – they have to manage their influx of funds well and put the money to very good use.  The world is watching them now.  Leadership might want to consider getting an advisory group together of experts in ALS – and financial management –  to come up with a plan for how to best use the funds.
• How can nonprofits use what was learned by this historic social media moment?  We don’t think it can really be repeated. But, we can all use bits and pieces of what occurred this last month to shape our social media efforts.  Ultimately it comes back to the golden rules of social media fundraising: you need a strong audience and donor base to begin with and you need a dynamic act through which your audience can participate in your work – i.e., people need to do something to give.

We will continue to watch how this amazing campaign unfolds and hope it generates even more goodwill, sharing, and donating for this worthy cause.  We all have something to learn from how this plays out.