Charities have always been trying to convince people to donate to their causes, but what is the best way to get someone to do something - good old fashioned peer pressure. Recently peer pressure has been featured heavily in the media due to an online drinking game called Nek Nomination, which has claimed the lives of two young Irish men in Carlow and Dublin. But this week peer pressure has taken a positive turn, RAK Nominations are now taking over. These Random Acts of Kindness have been bombarding Facebook in the last few weeks. So what’s a RAK Nomination? Basically, you do a small good deed, film it and then post it to your social media and challenge your friends to a good deed of their own. The aim is to create a ripple effect of kindness. Some people have brought a homeless person for a meal, baked a cake to bring into the office or made a donation to a charity.

A Denver based organisation, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, have named this week ‘RAK Week’ and are encouraging social media users to do one small good deed every day this week.

While we’re big fans of promoting everyday kindness, a new app has just emerged that can convert these good natured dares into profits for charity. Using the ease and accessibility of mobile giving the Budge Challenge app let’s you have fun with your friends and help out charity and it’s all on your mobile - how convenient! You know how much we love mobile! When you make a bet with a friend you can save the details onto your Budge Challenge app, and then share it on your Facebook. The loser of the bet must then pay up, via Budge Challenge, to their chosen charity. Budge encourage you to challenge your friends to anything from a basketball game, to a pizza eating contest. It’s win/win really, if you win the bet you gain bragging rights and if you lose, you get to help out a worthy cause.

But this positive peer pressure isn't just American hype, social media users throughout the world are uploading their own RAK Nomination videos. Even well known charities closer to home are jumping on the feel good band wagon.

Cancer Research UK have incorporated online dare games into their latest campaign, Act Now for Research. When you log onto actnowforresearch.com Cancer Research UK will generate a small task for you to complete that will benefit the charity. Challenges range from foregoing your morning coffee and donating the saving to Cancer Research to getting sponsored to not speak for 24 hours.

These campaigns and initiatives are exceptional examples of charities adapting to current culture. By weighing in and inserting your cause into a medium that has already established momentum you are automatically accessing a huge audience and furthering your brand recognition within younger generations.

Any fad that helps out charity and spreads a bit of good will is fine by us!

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