Chantal Taly Russell
5 VIRAL
FUNDRAISING
EFFORTS FOR
CHARITY

Fundraising for charities is a
noble thing to do and should
always be applauded.
Hundreds of committees and
groups spend countless hours
trying to organize successful
fundraisers to help their cause
and excite the community
around them.

Over the past decade – and
really, it’s all thanks to the
Internet! – there have been a
couple of standout fundraising
efforts that captured the
world’s attention.

Here, we’ll take a look at some
of the most successful viral
fundraising campaigns of all
time.

ICE BUCKET
CHALLENGE

At first there was some backlash
about the viral-ness of the
campaign that challenged others
to either donate to ALS research or
pour a bucket of ice water over
their heads. While many thought
that the challenge was seen as
more of a social fad, the ALS
Foundation ended up raising
nearly $100 million dollars from
the campaign.

The mixture of a fun yet
humiliating challenge and raising
awareness for a difficult disease
was a perfect match, and this viral
campaign proved to be powerful –
and certainly more than just a
bucket of ice.

MOVEMBER

Men’s Health Magazine started the
Movember movement in 2003,
where the month of November is
dedicated to men’s health issues.
The concept behind this viral
campaign is pretty simple and
happens to be one of the
campaign’s slogans: “let it grow.”

To help spread awareness of men’s
health issues, men are encouraged
to let their mustaches or beards
grow for a full 30 days without
shaving. The successful movement
has raised over $559 million, and
while watching guys struggle with
their facial hair is comical, that
number is nothing to laugh at!

HUMAN RIGHTS
CAMPAIGN

The people behind the Human
Rights Campaign took Facebook
by storm with their viral profile
picture project. This movement
and gave users the chance to show
their support for the Defense of
Marriage Act within California’s
Proposition 8, by replacing their
profile picture with a red square
that had a pink equal sign in the
center.

They say a picture is worth a
thousand words, and this
movement certainly used that to
their advantage. This small gesture
went viral almost instantly, with
over 10 million people worldwide
interacting with the image only
within weeks of its introduction.

#NOMAKEUPSELFIE

Social media sites Instagram and
Snapchat saw a trend in 2014 that
had celebrities and blue collar folks
alike sharing selfies with the hashtag
#NoMakeUpSelfie. The idea behind
these fresh-faced images was to show
support for those battling cancer and
to raise awareness for research. In
only months, the campaign
successfully raised millions of dollars
in both the U.S. and Britain.

BATKID

In one of the most
heartwarming viral campaigns
of all time, the Make-A-Wish
Foundation set out to make one
young boy’s dreams come true
in 2013. News spread quickly
that 5-year-old leukemia
survivor, Miles Scott, wanted
nothing more than to save a
damsel in distress and fight
crime in Gotham City (in reality,
San Francisco) as Batman – and
that’s exactly what he got to
do.

As the hashtag #SFBatkid spread
quickly online, thousands of San
Fran citizens flocked to the streets
to show support for Batkid’s battle
against The Riddler, The Penguin,
all while fighting alongside
Batman himself. Even then
President Obama congratulated
Batkid on his bravery.

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