Five of the most successful fundraising campaigns ever
Every fundraising campaign aims to make a difference. But some achieve their fundraising goals - and then some.
Here are five campaigns that made it into the record books.
1. Most money raised in a week: Disasters Emergency Committee
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is made up of fifteen British aid charities, started fundraising to support Ukraine, in March 2022.
The charity promoted the appeal heavily across mainstream media and social media, recruiting high-profile actors such as Kit Harrington and David Tennant to deliver the message.
Donations flooded in, including sizeable ones from the royal family and the UK Government.
The appeal raised a whopping £61,997,547 in seven days - the most money that’s ever been raised for a single cause in a week.
2. Most participants in a charity run: Run for The Pasig River
From the London Marathon to your kid’s school fun run, mass participation events are a great way to rally support for a good cause.
But Run for the Pasig River took mass participation to another level.
In 2010, the Manilla-based event attracted a whopping 116,086 participants.
Although that number hasn’t been topped since, it attracts a huge number of participants each year - united by a desire to make their environment a cleaner, healthier place.
3. Most money raised by a charity livestream: Z Event
Wondering if virtual fundraising is worth the effort? French-born Adrien Nougaret and Alexandre Dachary (better known by their online pseudonyms ZeratoR and Dach) would say so.
The pair have been running ‘Z Event’ (an annual virtual gaming event), on Twitch since 2016. But it hit new heights in 2021.
In an effort to refresh the event, the streamers brought together a series of famous French creators for a fifty-hour+ video game marathon. The influential creators encouraged fans to donate throughout. And by the end of the mammoth gaming session, they’d raised €10,065,480 – that’s £8,498,890 – for Action Against Hunger, making it the most successful live-streamed gaming event in history,
4. Most individual donations of all time: George Floyd Memorial Fund
After a police officer in the United States murdered George Floyd in 2020, a memorial fund was set up on GoFundMe to help his family cover his funeral costs and pursue justice.
The story went viral online, leading people across the globe to speak out and share their support.
More than five hundred thousand individuals donated – the most the platform has ever seen.
5. Most viral fundraiser: The Ice Bucket Challenge
Most of us will remember this viral campaign from 2014, which saw 17 million people pour buckets of ice-cold water over themselves to raise awareness and funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The videos received over ten billion views and increased mentions of the disease by 1,000%. And the challenge raised more than $115 million for the ALS Association. And the money raised through the fun, shareable challenge is still making a difference today.
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