A Brief History of the Internet’s Most Successful Viral Charity Movements

Image via Complex Original

Cause: Men’s Health

Founding Date: 2003

What other campaign could have the power to rename an entire month just for its cause? The founders of Movember have hijacked the month otherwise known as November to spread awareness to men’s health issues. Urging men to pick up their razors on the first of the month, Movember then challenges its participants to unleash their mustache’s total potential for a full 30 days. The men of Movember have created a community of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas; and since its inception in 2003, Movember has scored 55.7K followers on Instagram and has raised $559 million to date. 

Cause: Cancer Research 

Founding Date: 2014

The women who took Instagram by storm for the #NoMakeUpSelfie brought new meaning to the terms #nofilter and “I Woke Up Like Dis.” This UK-based selfie movement became popular among some of Hollywood’s famous faces, who dared to go bare for a notable cause. Posting pictures of their true self, women nominated their friends in order to raise awareness with as little as a $5 donation. In less than a week, donations reached over 8 million pounds. 

Cause: ALS

Founding Date: 2014

The Ice Bucket Challenge may seem so last year, but the co-founder, Anthony Senerchia, is making sure that it stays on your Instagram feeds. With the major success last summer, Senerchia wants to continue the frigid challenge this August and every August until the neurodegenerative disease has a cure. Something as simple as filling a bucket with ice water and dumping it over your head was not only an entertainingly genius marketing plan, but it also helped raise $115 million for the cause. Without the chillingly comedic videos of everyone, from your classmates to your favorite athletes, doing the Ice Bucket Challenge, who knows which incurable disease Fox would have given Empire’s head honcho, Lucious Lyon.  

Cause: One for One

Founding Date: 2006

It’s not often that a brand makes a commitment to help those in need with the funds from every purchase, but TOMS has gone above and beyond. Launching their One for One campaign ensures that with every TOMS shoe purchase, a pair of shoes goes to a child in need. TOMS’ owner, Blake Mycoskie, created One Day Without Shoes to challenge those who take something as simple as shoes for granted. For just one day, participants would go about their daily activities, doing it all without shoes. The campaign quickly spread awareness, but the people at TOMS upped the ante this year by incorporating social media. This May, the hashtag #withoutshoes turned thousands of Instagrammers into advocates. The shoe brand was doing the unthinkable: Donating a pair of shoes for every Instagram post that incorporated their hashtag. TOMS was able to donate over 256,000 pairs of shoes to impoverished children thanks to social media.

Cause: Clean Water

Founding Date: 2012

If you’ve ever participated in the Twitter discussion #FirstWorldProblems, this ad campaign is sure to make you regret it. With a slew of Haiti residents reciting Twitter’s most boastful #FirstWorldProblems over poverty’s backdrop, WATERisLIFE has succeeded in making you feel like a jerk with just 140 characters. The 60-second video was a part of the organization’s initiative for clean water, which would put a dent in the 6,500 deaths per day that arise due to a lack of safe water. Garnering over 6.7 million views, the campaign showed its ability to go viral with the commercial running on every major news outlet. Not only did it grace major airwaves, WATERisLIFE was able to provide clean water to the people in Haiti. 

Cause: Make-A-Wish 

Founding Date: 2013

The world’s youngest superhero set out to fight crime in San Francisco (where the city was disguised as Gotham City), but these criminals were nothing compared to the fight this 5-year-old had already overcome. Miles Scott, a leukemia survivor, had his wildest dream come true, thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation, and Batkid was born. Batkid saved a damsel in distress, captured a bank-robbing Riddler, and took on The Penguin, all with the help of his mentor, Batman. Thousands of San Francisco residents showed up to cheer on Batkid, and the hashtag #SFBatkid was created. The campaign caught the eyes of Batman OG's Christian Bale and Michael Keaton, along with the newest addition to the Batman clan: Ben Affleck. If that wasn’t enough, President Obama did it for the Vine, and gave Miles a shoutout for his heroism. Gotham’s newest prodigy raked in as many as 400 tweets per minute, bringing it to over 114,000 tweets. What were you doing at 5-years-old? 

Cause: Clean Water 

Founding Date: 2011

While other 8-year-olds were probably asking for an iPod, Rachel Beck took the selfless route. After realizing that she had outlived millions of children who don’t see past the age of five due to a lack of clean water, Rachel knew exactly what she wanted to do. She started a campaign with the intentions to raise $300 “for freshwater projects in developing nations” by her birthday. Accepting no other gifts from her friends and family, she fell short of her goal when June 12, 2011, finally arrived. A little more than a month later, Rachel was killed in a car accident. She never got to see her goal fulfilled, but 31,980 people made sure her wish did not go in vain. By the end of the campaign, in September, Rachel’s page raised $1,265,823. 

Cause: Victims of Boston Marathon Bombing

Founding Date: 2013

The unimaginable happened when the participants of the 2013 Boston Marathon crossed the finish line. As news spread around social media, the slogan #BostonStrong became its mantra. Just a few hours after the bombings, college students Nick Reynolds and Chris Dobens created Boston Strong shirts with hopes of selling 100. They were wrong. The shirts were a hit, selling 37,000 in their first week. All of the proceeds from their tees are donated to The One Fund, a charity put in place to help the victims. Since the inception of their Boston Strong shirts, Reynolds and Dobens have donated over $1 million to the cause. 

Cause: Manchester Dogs’ Home

Founding Date: 2014

When someone plans an attack on man’s best friend, people take notice. An attack on Manchester Dogs’ Home set the kennel ablaze killing more than 60 canines. Luckily, the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service rescued more than 150 of the dogs. In the true spirit of the social media age, a Facebook page jumpstarting the “dog-selfie” movement was started and raised more than 700,000 pounds.