[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-253622-105":53,"doc-detail-253622-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","case-studies-on-the-unintended-consequences-of-viral-fundraising","CASE STUDIES ON THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF VIRAL FUNDRAISING","","Massive growth in online fundraising has increased both donor participation and donation amounts, yet limited synthesis exists on how viral fundraising affects recipients, donors, and the non-profit sector. This report reviews five major viral campaigns supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, analyzing landscape factors and expert interviews to explain what drives virality and what common lessons emerge. Findings identify external catalysts, sustained operational and mission changes for non-profits, and critical roles of technology and social media, alongside risks such as unpredictability, vulnerability, and donor trust violations.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":51,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/case-studies-on-the-unintended-consequences-of-viral-fundraising/253622/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/case-studies-on-the-unintended-consequences-of-viral-fundraising/253622.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Lute","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-20","2026-09-13",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":79},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"What is viral fundraising in this report?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Viral fundraising is described as donations that rise exponentially to unprecedented levels for short periods around a specific cause or non-profit.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What common factor is identified behind the campaigns’ success?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"Most cases involved an external incident that acted as a catalyst, including nature-caused and human-caused disasters, with one sub-category labeled “Rage Giving.”",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What risks and unintended consequences do viral fundraising campaigns create?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"The report highlights unpredictability, increased vulnerability for both donors and non-profits, potential donor trust violations if funds are not used as expected, and capacity strain from sudden funding inflows.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},253622,1789267913,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":50,"category_name":51,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":79,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":125,"read_time":140},137454149569,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","CASE STUDIES ON THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF VIRAL FUNDRAISING  \nUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON STRATEGIC ANALYSIS,  \nRESEARCH & TRAINING (START) CENTER  \nREPORT TO THE BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION  \nPRODUCED BY: PANDEY S., AMLAND B., BADSHAH A.  \nJANUARY 2021  \nExecutive Summary  \nThere has been a massive rise in online fundraising in recent years for individual causes and nonprofits. As a result, donor online participation and donation amounts have been steadily increasing. Through platforms such as Facebook, PayPal , and GoFundMe, technology has changed the way individuals give and how they give. One aspect of online giving is viral fundraising, which occurs when donations to a specific cause or non-profit rise exponentially to unprecedented levels for short periods of time. While viral fundraising has garnered interest from non-profits and several highly successful viral fundraising campaigns have occurred , few reviews have been conducted to identify and synthesize knowledge of the impact of viral fundraising on recipients, donors, and the non-profit sector at-large. We aim to close this gap by reviewing several case studies of viral fundraising campaigns.  \nThe START team conducted case study analyses of five major viral fundraising campaigns for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF or the foundation): 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC) , 2018 RAICES Facebook campaign , 2020 campaign for Australian Wildfires New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) , 2020 fundraising for Minnesota Freedom Fund, and 2020 fundraising for Black Lives Matter Global Network. With a landscape analysis and interviews from key experts, this report strives to understand the factors that led to the virality of these campaigns, the commonalities shared by these viral campaigns, and the key insights on the impact of these cases on the non-profit sector. Based on these key insights , this report also provides recommendations for the foundation to further encourage giving by the general population.  \nKey Findings  \n• There is a presence of external catalyst in these viral campaigns: All case studies, except for ALS IBC, had an external incident that acted as a catalyst for these fundraising events. These four campaigns can be classified as responses to nature-caused disasters or human-caused disasters. One sub-category, termed “Rage Giving”, of human-caused disasters is giving as a response to political decisions made by a political administration. In each case, the external events fueled the donation campaigns, and the non-profits collected far more money than they had anticipated.  \n• After viral events, non-profits experience sustained changes to their mission, vision, and operations: In case studies examined, the non-profits utilized the funding to hire more staff and expand their mission and vision. After the viral event, leveraging the increased attention of the fundraising campaign , these non-profits also focused more on their digital strategy and expanded their digital social presence. In two of the five cases,(ALS and  \nRAICES), the non-profits also observed an increase in donation amounts in the years following the viral campaign due to sustained level of interest from donors. The remaining three studied cases occurred in the year 2020, thus long-term patterns of change in their donation amount could not be assessed.  \n• Technological platforms are playing an increasingly important role in facilitating online giving: Platforms such as Facebook and PayPal, facilitate giving primarily in three ways: making the process of giving easier (e.g. , one-click donation); encouraging the spread of awareness of giving through social networks (e.g. , one-click sharing); and leveraging social pressure from peer-to-peer networks.  \n• The interaction between social media and non-profits has changed: Non-profits can experiment with different fundraising techniques including online challenges or hashtags to better engage with potential donors throug","cbCaitcqA8Gc6ehD","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitcqA8Gc6ehD","pdf",1212019,53,"English","# Executive Summary\n## Key Findings\n## Opportunities and Recommendation","[{\"question\":\"What is viral fundraising in this report?\",\"answer\":\"Viral fundraising is described as donations that rise exponentially to unprecedented levels for short periods around a specific cause or non-profit.\"},{\"question\":\"What common factor is identified behind the campaigns’ success?\",\"answer\":\"Most cases involved an external incident that acted as a catalyst, including nature-caused and human-caused disasters, with one sub-category labeled “Rage Giving.”\"},{\"question\":\"What risks and unintended consequences do viral fundraising campaigns create?\",\"answer\":\"The report highlights unpredictability, increased vulnerability for both donors and non-profits, potential donor trust violations if funds are not used as expected, and capacity strain from sudden funding inflows.\"}]","CASE STUDIES ON THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF VIRAL FUNDRAISING | PDF",19]