What do you get when you two mix YouTube stars with a 24-hour webathon and a really cool mission for charity? Stickaid 2010.
YouTube celebrities Myles Dyer (blade376) and Charlie McDonnell (aka charlesissocoollike) decided to fundraise for UNICEF by putting on a 24-hour webathon which was broadcast live on stickam.com. The guys and their team stayed awake for a full 24-hours from the 4th- 5th of September and raised an incredible £20,132.23 for UNICEF, which is more than double their target!
Not only did these super-extroverted stayed awake for the full duration, but performed a variety of embarrassing stunts as suggested by their viewers on their live Twitter feed.
One standout performance is their unique re-enactment of “Twilight” (having little prior knowledge of the books or films)
And no webathon is complete without a game of Quidditch on no sleep. No flying broomsticks, no problem:
So, YouTube notoriety and sleep-deprived antics aside, how did they raise so much money? Social media. These guys got the word out about their cause EVERYWHERE.
There was the Stickaid website, a Twitter account complete with hastags and a twibbon (#stickaid, #teamstickaid) AND a Facebook fan page. All of their online marketing paid off – they had over 35,000 hits on their JustGiving page. The Stickaid team then assembled a Twitter army and encouraged people who were unable to donate to spread the word about their cause through re-tweets.
Their creativity doesn’t stop there. During the webathon, the team encouraged donations by agreeing to do whatever donors asked (everything from holding up personalized signs which they photographed and posted in a Facebook album to switching outfits live on-air). They had some dedicated viewers, with many commenting on Facebook and Youtube that they stayed awake to watch the entire 24hours. Add that to the sale of Stickaid-branded merchandise and an e-bay auction and you have fundraising steamroller. Congratulations, Stickaid!
JustGiving will donate £50 to Stickaid for being September’s fundraiser of the month. Even if you missed the action, you can still donate to UNICEF through the Stickaid JustGiving page. Looking forward to Stickaid 2011!
Tags: Charity, Charlie McDonnell, Facebook, Fundraiser of the month, Fundraising, Fundraising Tips, Myles Dyer, Online Fundraising, September 2010 Fundraiser of the Month, Social media, social media fundraising, stick aid, stickaid, stickam, twitter, unicef, video, video fundraising, webathon, YouTube