It’s all over your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and pretty much everything else you look at on online: people dumping buckets of ice water on themselves in support of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (AKA ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) research. Maybe you’ve done it yourself or helped a friend; maybe you’re one of the contrarians who tend to avoid internet memes like this in general. Regardless of how you feel about it, you can’t deny how pervasive the #ALSicebucketchallenge has become.
The campaign has reportedly raised more than $40million dollars for the ALS Association since it began in late June 2014 and the awareness of both the disease and organization has increased exponentially as a result. This is a great example of a non-profit organization using elements of an inbound marketing campaign to increase their following and grow their support base.
So, what is it about the #ALSicebucketchallenge that has made it so successful?
There is nothing difficult about the challenge which makes it vastly appealing to social media users. The original challenge was to either make a donation to ALS research or dump a bucket of ice water on one's self while nominating someone else via social media using the #ALSicebucketchallenge or #icebucketchallenge hastags to take up the challenge. It’s simple to spread the message and fun for participants to see who will and won’t go through with it.
The challenge started in the pro golf world but apparently got its initial boost into the mainstream when Matt Lauer did it live on NBC’s Today Show (average viewership of around 4 million). At the same time, professional athletes like Sidney Crosby and golfer Greg Norman had taken up the cause, producing and sharing their videos on their networks. From there, celebrity nominations exploded. By targeting these people online and in popular media, it was easy for the campaign to gain traction quickly due to the massive followings these figures have.
The message, with the help of the hashtags mentioned above, has been consistent across all social media platforms but has also allowed participants to put their own spin on it – for example, Bill Gates’ dunking contraption or Lady Gaga’s almost-surreal silent video. Even with the personal takes on the challenge, the core message of a donation to ALS research has remained the same.
When someone participates in the challenge, they join a community that includes some huge celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, David Beckham, and Mark Zuckerberg. Regardless of how you personally feel about the challenge or certain celebrities, you can’t deny the appeal for people to share something in common with those they look up to. On top of that, it creates a connection between people of all walks of life to show in support of a single cause. Hopefully, those connections will continue to generate results even after the meme inevitably plays out.
What do you think of the Ice Bucket Challenge? Did we miss a reason for its success? Let us know in the comments. While you're thinking about it, download our ebook 10 Quick SEOTips to Attract More Supporters to your Non-Profit's Website to see how easy it is for an NPO to grow through its online presence!