ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

No. 8: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115 million for research in just eight weeks, with 17 million participants uploading videos on Facebook alone. Each participant reached an average of 30 friends, creating a peer-to-peer fundraising network that was 50% more effective than direct mail campaigns. While less controlled than #5, this grassroots model demonstrates that participatory social media challenges can generate faster, larger donations than traditional celebrity-endorsed fundraisers.