The holidays are a time for celebrating and giving back. However, with all of the stress and planning that comes around this time of year, people are looking to give back in a way that is quick and convenient.

Taking a selfie is currently one of the world’s most popular pastimes. This campaign presented an opportunity to co-opt one of the most popular, yet self-centered behaviors of our time, and flip it, creating a powerful agent of positivity and selflessness. Taking a selfie is a selfish act. Giving to charity is a selfless one. Combining the two, takes away any negativity associated with the act and becomes something everyone can feel good about participating in.

That’s how we came up with #Selflessie. The world’s only selfless selfie.

For one month, we asked instagrammers to take a selfie, and use the hashtag #Selflessie. For each selfie using that hashtag, Toyota gave $50 to Boys & Girls Clubs.

The Selflessie campaign was a massive success, within the first 24 hours of the campaign #Selflessie was a trending topic on Instagram. Three days after the campaign launch, Selflessie had already met its $250,000 fundraising goal. So – why stop there? With help from Toyota Financial Services, we and Toyota Motor Sales USA were able to secure an additional $500,000 in charitable funds for the Selflessie campaign.

By utilizing paid Instagram ads units and three celebrity influencers, Selflessie raised $750,000 during Toyota’s December Sales Event. Team Toyota Athletes and other brands such as Kelley Blue Book and People Now also helped spread the word about Selflessie.

Overall, the campaign generated over 16,000 Selflessies on Instagram, amassing more than 97MM total earned impressions, including 36MM impressions from public Instagram posts, 386,000 added value media impressions, and 61MM PR impressions.