Ice Bucket Challenge is on FIRE in Social Media

Over the years, Social Media has not only become a powerful tool for communication, expression, and story telling, but it has become extremely effective at spreading awareness and positivity.

That said, for all the individuals, companies, and even non-profits who have tried to leverage the power of social media to spread awareness or generate donations, only a handful of campaigns every really succeed in social media.

Well one campaign, started among golfers as a way to support pet charities, has in just a few weeks, become a major fundraising coup for patients and organizations with ALS, a neurodegenerative disorder (commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the baseball player who had it).

Introducing the #IceBucketChallenge, which is super simple, quick, challenging, and super COOL!

If your name has been called out in an ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ video either by a friend or a stranger,  you have to dump a pail of ice cold water over your head and then challenge three other people to do it within 24 hours.  You are of course free to reject the task after your name gets called out, however, the challenge would ask you to donate $100 to the ALS association for refusing the challenge.

The #IceBucketCampaign spread like wildfire,where everyone from celebrities and business tycoons have taken up the challenge, resulting in over $7,000,000 worth of donations in just two weeks… and climbing.

Here are a handful of the videos surfacing online:

Bill Gates

 

Mark Zuckerberg

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Tim Cook

Jimmy Fallon

Conan O’Brien

Triple H

The Rock

Chris Paul

So… if you’re up for some “Pay It Forward” with a twist, get that bucket ready and turn your camera on, because you’re ready to take the challenge and make a difference!