Iced Lightning
When the Ice Bucket Challenge to benefit ALS hit in mid-August, it hit hard. Everyone from NASCAR stars, to pop singers, to politicians, to your mother was lining up to pour a bucket of ice water over his or her head, make a donation, and then call out a couple of friends to do the same. The true challenge offered two choices — donate $100, or douse yourself and donate $10. On camera, of course. Because, you know, “pix or it didn’t happen.” Despite the ubiquity of the campaign, many folks dismissed it as frivolous because some people were just doing the ice thing and forgoing the donation part. That’s probably true. And of course, while awareness is nice, awareness plus money is nicer.
But it’s short-sighted to underestimate the power of “just” raising awareness because, honestly, people can’t donate to something they don’t even know exists. They can’t commit themselves — and their money — to solving a problem if they aren’t aware that there is a problem or if they don’t know that there are organizations that also are committed to solving it.
More people than ever are talking about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. And if you want to talk numbers: Between July 29 and Sept. 1, the ALS Association received more than $100 million in donations — compared to $2.1 million during the same time period last year. That’s pretty damn far from frivolous. In fact, it’s phenomenal. And it’s unheard of.
The Ice Bucket Challenge came out of nowhere. It wasn’t part of a carefully planned ALS Association campaign; it wasn’t part of the organization at all. It apparently originated with a group of golfers who dared each other to take the chilly challenge for the charity of their choice. One chose ALS, and it just stuck.
Yes, it could happen for you. But it probably won’t, and no, you can’t make it happen. There’s no formula, and no matter how hard you try you can’t make something go viral. In fact, the harder you try, the more likely you are to fail.
The unprecedented success of the movement does beg a few questions, of course. Will the ALS Association be able to retain those ice-bucket givers and convert them to regular donors? Or are they too adrenaline-motivated to go into the usual new-donor stream? How did they give? What kind of data was collected? How does an organization handle a huge and sudden spike in giving (aside from the obvious, “Why, happily, thank you very much”)? Where does the organization go from here? Can it replicate the giving surge with a campaign of its own making? (Probably not.) Or does it just thank its lucky stars and recognize this for the fluke that it was?
But there is one overarching takeaway from this for the fundraising community: People are passionate. They’re also quirky, and they enjoy feeling like a part of something that’s making a difference. Get them engaged, and they’ll take a bucket of ice water to the head for you. And maybe even write a check.
And if the awareness and monetary gains of the Ice Bucket Challenge are the results of “frivolous,” then I say, “Yay for frivolous!” I say let’s be frivolous. Let’s continue to be frivolous for ALS, and let’s find new ways to be frivolous for some of the thousands of other incredible organizations out there doing such vital work for so many important causes.
