Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast is the world's most famous and subscribed YouTuber. He is known for going big on his efforts, rather than just donating a sum, he often involved himself in philanthropic projects. The YouTuber is known for his over-the-top competitions and giveaways that go viral, which have garnered him over 514 million followers on the video streaming platform.
He has used his fame and influence for more than just creating content on YouTube establishing Beast Philanthropy in 2020, whose purpose is to “leverage the power of social media to raise funds and help charitable causes around the world.” Donaldson’s charitable efforts though, began the year before when he took on a challenge from the online community to commemorate his reaching 20 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, according to a report by AS.
Donaldson was “spammed” across various social media platforms to plant 20 million trees. The online community additionally suggested that he collaborate with other online influencers like former NASA scientist and fellow YouTuber Mark Rober to drive awareness. He did just that, and the two got in touch with the Arbor Day Foundation to launch the #TeamTrees campaign in October 2019. MrBeast explained in a video at the time that for every dollar donated to the cause, one tree would be planted.
The initiative reached its goal of $20 million in just 56 days, receiving half a million individual donations along with some major donations from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke. Other influencers also piled up: Jeffree Star donated $50,000 and PewDiePie donated $69,420, saying, "This is from the 9-year-olds."
Seven years on, people are still making contributions to the #TeamTrees campaign on a daily basis, with total donations surpassing $25 million. The worldwide reforestation project says that it has carried out over 100 projects that have restored nearly 30,500 acres. The campaign says it has already sequestered over 22 million tons of CO2, prevented almost 7 billion gallons of water runoff, and removed over 76,000 tons of air pollution.
The scale of #TeamTrees illustrates how online communities can turn a viral moment into a long-term initiative. Donaldson's approach has often centred on using the enormous reach of social media to encourage people to participate rather than simply asking them to watch. In the case of #TeamTrees, millions of viewers were given a simple way to contribute to a much greater environmental effort. “This is a massive win for everyone who has supported #TeamTrees, whether they donated or helped spread the word,” Donaldson said in a statement.
