Editor's note: The following content was supplied from a recent e-newsletter from Voices in Advocacy, a meetings industry advocacy effort headed by Roger Rickard.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014, the ALS Association had reported receiving $88.5 million in donations compared to $2.6 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 26). WOW—over a 3,400% increase. The donations have come from existing donors and 1.9 million new donors.
ALS also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative condition that breaks down muscle control leading eventually to loss of life. According to the ALS Association there are roughly 5,600 new people in the USA diagnosed annually.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has become hard to avoid—it is everywhere. It went viral on social media and became a pop culture phenomenon, particularly in the United States, with numerous celebrities, politicians, athletes, and everyday Americans posting videos of themselves online and on TV participating in the event. It has very well become one of the most successful advocacy awareness campaigns in recent times.
Organizations often ask themselves the following questions when trying to build an effective and successful advocacy campaign:
- How can we raise more awareness for our cause?
- How can we increase education about our cause?
- How can we increase donations?
- How can we get additional media exposure for our cause?
- How can we use social media to promote our cause?
- How can we obtain the buy-in of celebrities and athletes to our cause?
- How can we keep current supporters donating and volunteering?
- How can we attract new donors and volunteers?
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is an advocacy campaign pure and simple. They have reached, and I'm sure far exceeded, their advocacy goals with this campaign. Let us take deeper look.
According to The New York Times people shared more than 1.2 million videos on Facebook between June 1 and August 13 and mentioned the phenomenon more than 2.2 million times on Twitter between July 29 and August 17.
Prior to the challenge, public awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was relatively limited; the ALS Association states that prior to the challenge going viral only half of Americans had heard of the disease, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease," after the famous baseball player Lou Gehrig, who publicly revealed his diagnosis in 1939.
After the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media, public awareness and charitable donations to ALS charities soared. The New York Times reported that the ALS Association had received $41.8 million in donations from July 29 until August 21. More than 739,000 new donors have given money to the association, which is more than double the $19.4 million in total contributions the association received during the year that ended January 31, 2013.
Similarly, the ALS Therapy Development Institute reported a ten-fold increase in donations relative to the same period in 2014, with over 2,000 donations made in a single day on August 20, 2014, while Project ALS reported a 50-fold increase.
The ALS Association, which had raised $64 million in all of 2013, raised more than $10 million on Thursday, August 21, alone.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has achieved truly outstanding results. It has:
- Raised awareness.
- Increased education.
- Increased donations.
- Increased media exposure.
- Created a sensational viral social media promotion.
- Engaged current supporters.
- Attracted new supporters.
What are you doing today to effectively advocate for your cause or organization? What are you doing to; raise awareness, increase education, donations, and media exposure while engaging current and attracting new supporters?
What’s on your bucket list?
Respond to me directly at roger@Voicesinadvocacy.com and share your latest awareness campaigns or actions. Or better yet, let's talk about your organizations' advocacy needs. Click here to schedule a time to talk.
