So yeah, I got to lay in bed, make my husband do the dishes and shopping, and I wheezed and coughed through Wallflower by Drew Barrymore (see post), Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin (see upcoming post), and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
Review - The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
I think Malcolm Gladwell is one of the few people I'd invite to my "dead or alive dream dinner party" along with J.K. Rowling, Margaret Mitchell, Tom Hanks, and my grandmother; and I know that if I ever actually met him, I'd fangirl so hard he might write his next book on the power of celebrity.
The Tipping Point is an exploration of how and why things go from being something only a few people care or know about to something that everyone knows and cares about.
Gladwell argues that there are three rules to epidemics: They have to be spread by the right kinds of people (Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen); they have to be memorable (or sticky); and their environment matters (context is important).
Now, I'm a little late to The Tipping Point party. I was 13 when The Tipping Point was first published, so I was more interested in buying Airwalks than reading about their meteoric rise through powerful marketing. But these three rules of epidemics still seem to hold true a decade and a half later.
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? Did you do it? I'll admit that I didn't do it...But I was fascinated by the reach of this simple scheme and as an example of what all fundraisers and non-profit sector workers aspire to...epidemic fundraising.
The Ice Bucket challenge raised $15.6M in a matter of weeks for the ALS Association, a charity that funds research and support for people who suffer from Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). The previous year, the organization only raised $50,000. That's an increase of 31200%! It was an epidemic. You couldn't look at Facebook without being confronted with dozens of videos of your friends being doused in ice water, or rants about the severe California drought and how wasteful the Ice Bucket Challenge was, or ethical questions about how much the ALS Association spends on overhead, or recommendations of where you should donate your money instead. Everyone was talking about it.
So does it have the three rules of epidemics that Gladwell outlines in The Tipping Point?
The Law of the Few
Gladwell argues that in order for something to reach a tipping point and become an epidemic, it has to be spread by the right kinds of people: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.
- Connectors are those who know a lot of people. They move in and out of multiple social groups. They enjoy meeting new people and sharing information with the people that they know.
- Mavens are the people who know a lot of information. They might have a personal interest in knowing everything they can about a subject, so people know that their recommendation carries a lot of validity. They are not interested in persuading others - they present the information at face value and others can take it or leave it.
- Salesmen are those who have the ability to persuade others to take a particular action. They have energy, they are enthusiastic, they are charismatic, they are charming. People want to please them.
So who started the Ice Bucket Challenge, anyways?
Bring in Pete Frates. Pete was a baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in 2012. The disease has taken away his ability to speak as well as most of his motor functions.
In July 2014, Pete posted this to his Facebook account:
I think Pete is one of those rare people, who in the case of ALS - is a connector, a maven and a salesman.
As a former baseball player, his network included Boston Red Sox players and other celebrities, who he then nominated for the Ice Bucket challenge (connector). As someone who suffers from ALS daily, he knows better than anybody what living with ALS feels like, and if he says ALS and ice water are a bad mix - then he must know what he is talking about (maven). And just watch his video. Pete may have lost a lot of his motor functions to ALS, but with his coy eyes and heart-breaker smile, he is adorable and exudes a relaxed charisma (salesman).
The Stickyness Factor
Gladwell argues that in order for a message to spread, it has to be memorable, or sticky. Videos of one's friends or favourite celebrities dumping ice water on their heads and seeing the shocked expressions on their faces is definitely sticky. Watching the video is memorable, and drives us to watch more videos of others doing the same thing.
The Power of Context
In a world of increased connectivity and a dozen different ways to share information - how that information is shared matters. In July 2014, Facebook had approximately 1.2B monthly users. Pete Frates didn't upload his Ice Bucket Challenge video to Youtube - a more traditional venue for hosting personal videos. He didn't post it on Twitter, a more traditional venue for tweets from and to celebrities. He chose to share it on Facebook - the venue with (arguably) the highest social capital in the online social networking world. Additionally, six months prior, Facebook had added an autoplay feature for videos in users' newsfeeds. Users scrolling through their newsfeeds didn't even have to click play to see their friends being doused with ice water. These videos were hard to avoid, and the context of Facebook multiplied the reach of these videos.
Another way the power of context played into the Ice Bucket challenge is that the timing of the campaign was perfect - beginning mid-summer when people were outside, enjoying the hot weather, relaxing, having fun and up for something a little silly. I don't think this campaign would have worked as well had it been back-to-school time or in the lead-up to Christmas.
Lessons Learned for Epidemic Fundraising
So how can we draw on the Ice Bucket Challenge to inspire our own non-profit fundraising efforts?
First, we have to make sure we tell the right people about our message. At every non-profit, there are volunteers or supporters who are passionate about and inspired by the mission. These are the mavens - and it is important that they know and are inclined to share your important message with their connector friends. If connectors think what their maven friend is sharing is cool - they will take it and spread the word to their many social circles and so your message widens. Your non-profit volunteer pool might also include some connectors. Are there any individuals who have brought their friends along to volunteer with them? If so, make sure these people know what you're doing.
Second, in fledgling non-profits, we too often appoint our friends to the board without much consideration of what the individuals bring to the table. Far too often, I hear of non-profits who struggle with getting their Board of Directors to fundraise and spread the word about the non-profit. Boards may be filled with people who want the name recognition of sitting on the board but with none of the responsibility. People who feel obligated to help out their friend, but who maybe aren't as passionate about the cause. Or perhaps even a board of directors completely lacking in Connectors, Mavens or Salespeople. I believe these personalities and communication styles are critical to have on the centre of the board if you want the word about your non-profit to spread and the fundraising dollars to come in.
Third, our messages have to be well-defined and memorable. Do we even know what we're asking people to do? Do we ask for "support", taking whatever we can get in terms of funding, volunteers, Facebook likes and event participation? Or have we defined what we need and asked specifically for it?
Another fundraising campaign that has stuck with me for years is Smile Train's "Donate to Opt-Out" campaign. In this campaign, Smile Train mailed out requests to 800,000 households, but on the outside of the envelope was stamped, "Make one gift now and we'll never ask for another donation again."
This approach to fundraising was radically different, as any other time I've responded to a direct mail with a donation - I ended up with my mailbox filled with further requests and a gift of return address labels complete with the non-profit's logo.
Brian Dearth, Chief Marketing Officer for Smile Train said, "We provide free surgery to cure children of cleft palate that is permanent. So this is a way for us to convey that permanence. We provide donors with a similar opportunity to make a permanent change and be done with it."
This campaign aligns nicely with their mission and in a world where we are bombarded by requests - the thought that donors could opt-out of all future requests for donations was sticky. It set Smile Train apart from other organizations. Smile Train was memorable.
Last, it seems there are an endless number of ways to get the message out there. Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Linked In, Pinterest, Instagram, direct mail, phone calls, billboards, website updates, newsletters, emails - the options are overwhelming. Yes, it is possible to do them all - but does it risk diluting the message? In the cases of the Ice Bucket Challenge and Smile Train's Opt-Out campaign - both organizations stuck with one context - the one that would be the most effective at delivering the message. I think it is important to consider what it is we are trying to communicate, who we are trying to reach, and the most appropriate tool.
It is not possible for every fundraising campaign to reach a tipping point into an epidemic - humans only have so much capacity for information and only have so much money to give. By virtue of one campaign trending in the national consciousness, others will fade into the general buzz of the information galaxy. But, I do believe it is possible to set your campaign up for success by mimicking these rules of epidemics and carefully crafting a tipping point.
