Rare disorders receive a tiny fraction of the attention, and thus the donations, that major diseases get. NORD does an amazing job for the rare disease community, advocating for treatment research and building support communities for patients with rare disorders and their loved ones.

The strategy we developed was to use NORD’s underdog status as an advantage. Because rare disorders don’t attract the same celebrity names and big dollar donors, the rare disorder community, lead by NORD, has to do the hard work themselves. It’s a classic underdog story that the public can relate to and feel good about being a part of when they join NORD in fighting for people who suffer in the shadows with rare disorders.

So, we created a viral video that flipped the concept of celebrity disease advocacy on its head. It was disseminated through Facebook, Tumblr and other social media channels. The buzz generated was felt most prominently at this past February’s Rare Disease Day, one of NORD’s annual signature events, which saw record-breaking participation throughout the US and across the globe.