Business

Thursday Buzz: The Future of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The ALS Association tries to find a path forward two years after the viral success of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Plus: Loyal employees and leaders make for loyal customers and members.

This August will mark two years since the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took over social media feeds. It was a simple pass-it-on dare: Pour a bucket of ice water over your head or donate to an ALS organization.

In six weeks, the challenge brought $115 million and 308,000 new donors to the ALS Association. ALSA also got more than 700,000 new Facebook fans within the first first few weeks.

While the whole phenomenon wasn’t its doing, the association carefully outlined how the money was allocated and planned last summer’s #EveryAugustUntilACure ice bucket bash comeback with full association sponsorship. That event raised $1 million—a jump compared with prior summers but significantly less than 2014’s epic total.

“We feel very fortunate that the Ice Bucket Challenge increased awareness and understanding of the disease because that’s obviously a huge hurdle, getting people engaged with your cause no matter what it is,” Carrie Munk, ALSA chief communications and marketing officer, said to Adweek.

This year, ALSA may need to move beyond the challenge as a marketing strategy. It is working with a PR firm on a plan for a post-ice-bucket world.

“The real lasting effect of the Ice Bucket Challenge is now August is a time that people are thinking about ALS,” Munk said. “They will always remember back to that crazy summer when the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge happened.”

Can it take off again? What do you think?

Loyalty is Key

“Attracting a high number of customers serves businesses well in the short term, but loyalty is what helps companies grow exponentially in the long run,” Steffen Maier, cofounder of the work feedback platform Impraise, wrote at CMSWire. Read his suggestions for building dedication, drive, and commitment in an organization’s employees, leading to the same qualities in members or customers.

Other Links of Note

Drama has been brewing over baggage fees. But one airline noted for its low-cost approach, Europe’s Ryanair, made a bold move to slash baggage costs for 92 percent of its fliers.

Be a healthy and productive worker by unplugging. Entrepreneurs share their strategies with Inc. on how to disengage from work in order to stay fresh and creative.

Failure stinks. It can really hit people hard, but the goal is to move on. Writing at Lifehacker, James Clear outlines three stages of failure and provides strategies for determining when to quit and when to persevere.

(iStock/Thinkstock)

Patrick deHahn

By Patrick deHahn

Patrick deHahn is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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