Why you shouldn’t try to copy the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Every time a fundraising campaign makes the news, nonprofit boards start asking “why can’t we do that?”
It happened after the Red Cross’ success raising money through text-to-donate after the Haiti earthquake.
And it’s sure to happen now that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has drawn more than $100 million for the ALS Association in just a month.
You should resist the pressure to mimic the Ice Bucket Challenge. And you should resist the “weasels” who will try to sell you a viral campaign. Here’s why:
- There’s no plan you can copy. The Ice Bucket Challenge appears genuinely organic, not something generated by smart fundraisers at the ALS Association. In fact, several days after the challenge took off, their website’s only mention of the challenge was a blog post talking about the “new phenomenon.”
- You can’t recreate the conditions for success. The challenge benefitted from several factors that your organization probably won’t be able to copy, including the early involvement of celebrities like Matt Lauer on national television.
- Success may be fleeting. Retaining these socially-generated donors will be a challenge, and could be costly. A lot of the value in a new donor is in their subsequent giving, and socially-inspired donors (like donors to disaster relief) are probably unlikely to give again. This means you could expend a lot of time and money mailing large numbers of new donors with little lasting affinity for your cause
Focus instead on the fundamentals of fundraising. Identify individuals who believe in your cause and who have a proclivity to donate. Then cultivate relationships with them over time so they give now and in the future.