Thankmas 2022
Annual Fundraiser hosted by Jacksepticeye that broke the record for single day livestream fundraiser at over $10M
December 2022
Thankmas is an annual fundraising campaign held each December by Sean 'Jacksepticeye' McLoughlin, who has amassed over 28 million YouTube followers and millions more on additional social media platforms. Thankmas started in 2017 as a livestream event where Sean would livestream from his YouTube channel for a charity of his choosing.
““We’ve seen stuff like telethons before but there’s always kind of that corporate feeling to it,” says McLoughlin. “Even when raising money for great causes, it’s kind of hard to connect with the audience. There’s always that barrier. I feel like creators and influencers and people who do this kind of work have a great connection with their audience and I feel like they’re able to kind of talk to them more honestly, and really care about the stuff that they’re into. I feel like it opens up a lot more of a genuine connection that way and being able to raise money through.””
GOALS:
Continue the success of 2021’s Thankmas campaign ($7.7M) and raise $10M. Bring corporate partners into the campaign with continued direct connection to the audience and donors watching from home.
EXECUTION:
Directly worked with World Central Kitchen, 2022s selected charity to secure corporate partnerships and donations with Coca-Cola and Dwayne Johnson's Teremana Tequila. Developed live segments that engaged with donors at home with polls to directly impact live segments.
Working with World Central Kitchen
Early on, when selecting a non-profit for Sean’s 2022 Thankmas Campaign, it was key to identify non-profits that were willing and active collaborators in the campaign. WCK were active partners during the early planning and onsite involvement. WCK brought in corporate partners, matching donations and leveraged their roster of talent. I assisted in maximizing corporate partner’s engagement and talent with scheduled segments that were unique to the brand and Thankmas campaign. For Example, Coca-Cola came in as a $500,000 donation partner and wanted to engage their Coca-Cola Freestyle brand. We developed a segment around Jackseptice and CdawgVA doing blind taste test of multiple Freestyle flavors.
Cross Collaboration With Multiple Talent Agencies
As Senior Manager of Celebrity Impact, I lead acquisition and activation of celebrity and influencer talent across multiple talent agencies such as UTA, CAA, and WME. Responsibilities included outreach, recruitment and cultivation of talent with live segments in line with personal and professional interest. Most notable, Jack Black was interested in playing Jenga with Jacksepticeye, so we upped the ante and created Giant Jenga with specific blocks having sabotages: wear a blind fold, oven mitts etc. I also ensured talent had scheduled private transportation to and from the studio on day of the event as well as ample amount of time for hair, makeup and production notes before their segment call time.
On Site Liaison for Celebrity Talent and Production
The 10 hour livestream required an on site Liaison for all Celebrity and Influencer talent, in which I took lead on. Prior to the day of the event, I communicated with the talent’s managers and agencies with rundown of each talents expected call time, time in hair and makeup, time of segment and expected wrap time. I also gathered list of request and requirements for talent on site to ensure satisfaction of talent’s needs. I welcomed all talent upon arrival of their call time and directed them into hair and makeup, and ensured that they were ready by the time their segment came up. My role was imperative for the smooth transition between segments involving talent as well as their experience collaborating with the team to ensure possibilities of future events.
In tandem with my above duties, I assisted production with the fundraising technology to ensure that donor engagement opportunities were live at the proper times and assisted the set design with turnover between segments. Overall my role was to create a hassle-free experience for all parties on site and ensuring a maximum revenue raised through the quality of the production and scheduled segments.
