{"id":34533,"date":"2025-08-26T11:23:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T05:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/?p=34533"},"modified":"2026-02-26T17:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T12:12:01","slug":"11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/","title":{"rendered":"$11 Million for St. Jude! How Ryan Trahan Did the Impossible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ryan Trahan raises $11 million for St. Jude Children&#8217;s Hospital. Ryan Trahan is a popular YouTuber with 21.4 million subscribers. Along with his wife and best friend, Haley Pham, they together carried out a mission to raise $1 million by visiting every US state. But little did they know that they had already hit the goal in two weeks. The remarkable journey is popularly known as the Ryan Trahan St Jude project, which quickly turned into a record-breaking Ryan Trahan fundraiser.<\/p>\n<p>This fundraiser was completed by uploading 50 videos daily by visiting 50 States. The genius YouTuber, along with his wife, found a perfect balance between entertainment and a helpful purpose. Audiences quickly realised and saw the potential of YouTubers raising money for charity in a new light.<\/p>\n<p>The fundraiser campaign evolved into a mini daily series of how they traveled, shopped for groceries, stayed at the cutest Airbnbs, and more. Each episode is like a mini TV series, where fans may not even realise that they are donating to a good cause. Ryan Trahan raised $11 million by also including playful penalties, such as the Split Up, Wheel of Doom, and Jammy Time.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_72 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#Ryan_Trahan_Raises_11_Million_More_than_a_Fundraiser\" title=\"Ryan Trahan Raises $11 Million: More than a Fundraiser\">Ryan Trahan Raises $11 Million: More than a Fundraiser<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#Conclusion\" title=\"Conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ryan_Trahan_Raises_11_Million_More_than_a_Fundraiser\"><\/span>Ryan Trahan Raises $11 Million: More than a Fundraiser<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>They unlocked each state with an impressive and immersive storyline, which is why the audience engagement felt organic and not gimmicky. It did not feel like a direct charity event. The storytelling and the spontaneity made the creator movement a hit.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"I Visited 50 States in 50 Days\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KTYbvU-aSf4?start=145&#038;wmode=transparent&amp;rel=0&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Along the way, many creators and personalities, including Doctor Mike, Survivor&#8217;s Jeff Probst, and Nick DiGiovanni, joined the fundraising movement for St. Jude Children&#8217;s Hospital. There are some key takeaways that every creator must include and utilize in their content. The channel must appear to be an authentic collaboration through its story. These collaborations added even more weight to the Ryan Trahan St Jude mission and showed that YouTubers raising money for charity can inspire millions to participate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8217;50 States in 50 Days&#8217; is a creator movement that is skillfully executed, transforming each upload into a mini TV series that captures the viewer&#8217;s attention and invests them in the journey. The charity drive soon evolved into an unpredictable adventure that viewers couldn&#8217;t miss. The Ryan Trahan fundraiser is now a benchmark for philanthropic storytelling.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Ryan Trahan\u2019s \u201c50 States in 50 Days\u201d was more than a <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/youtube\/youtube-series-how-it-benefits-viewers-and-creators\/\">YouTube series<\/a>. It redefined what creator-led philanthropy can achieve: a compelling, heart-driven narrative that transformed viewers into participants and participants into changemakers. The $11 million raised wasn\u2019t just a fundraising milestone; it was proof of the limitless impact storytelling and community can have when paired with purpose. The success of Ryan Trahan St. Jude project has solidified his name as one of the most influential creators in raising charity.<\/p>\n<p>Just as Ryan Trahan raised $11 million, Mr. Beast collaborated with Mark Rober for the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/creator-stories\/mr-beast-and-mark-rober-collaboration-launch-teamwater-to-raise-40m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#TeamWater fundraising event<\/a>, raising\u00a0$40 million. These creator stories demonstrate that creators can have a profound impact on humanity, helping the environment and people through emotionally charged campaigns, increased awareness, and investment from their audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>50 States in 50 days to raise over $11 Million for St. Jude<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":34566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1368],"tags":[1334,1365],"class_list":["post-34533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creator-stories","tag-content-creator","tag-creator-insights"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How 50 States Helped Ryan Trahan Raise $11M<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how Ryan Trahan raises $11 million for St. Jude with storytelling, gamified challenges, and community-driven creator philanthropy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$11 Million for St. Jude! How Ryan Trahan Did the Impossible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"50 States in 50 days to raise over $11 Million for St. Jude\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Veefly Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-26T05:53:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T12:12:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/50-states-in-50-days.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sonam Badia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sonam Badia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How 50 States Helped Ryan Trahan Raise $11M","description":"Discover how Ryan Trahan raises $11 million for St. Jude with storytelling, gamified challenges, and community-driven creator philanthropy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"$11 Million for St. Jude! How Ryan Trahan Did the Impossible","og_description":"50 States in 50 days to raise over $11 Million for St. Jude","og_url":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/","og_site_name":"Veefly Blog","article_published_time":"2025-08-26T05:53:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-26T12:12:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/50-states-in-50-days.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sonam Badia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sonam Badia","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/"},"author":{"name":"Sonam Badia","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/43405e6ade62dc45db11ba4b55802579"},"headline":"$11 Million for St. Jude! How Ryan Trahan Did the Impossible","datePublished":"2025-08-26T05:53:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T12:12:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/"},"wordCount":520,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/50-states-in-50-days.jpg","keywords":["content creator","creator insights"],"articleSection":["Creator Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/","url":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/","name":"How 50 States Helped Ryan Trahan Raise $11M","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/50-states-in-50-days.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-26T05:53:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T12:12:01+00:00","description":"Discover how Ryan Trahan raises $11 million for St. Jude with storytelling, gamified challenges, and community-driven creator philanthropy.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/50-states-in-50-days.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.veefly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/50-states-in-50-days.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"50-states-in-50-days challenge"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/11-million-for-st-jude-how-ryan-trahan-did-the-impossible\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Creator Stories","item":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/creator-stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"$11 Million for St. Jude! How Ryan Trahan Did the Impossible"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/","name":"Veefly Blog","description":"Boost Your YouTube Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Veefly","url":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Veefly"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/43405e6ade62dc45db11ba4b55802579","name":"Sonam Badia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d72fd0fb2f2ad6fe8c131557b5a7a555b1c627f9d0e0c55d920cb7415b5a817?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d72fd0fb2f2ad6fe8c131557b5a7a555b1c627f9d0e0c55d920cb7415b5a817?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sonam Badia"},"description":"Hello there! I'm a dynamic MBA finance graduate with a unique twist\u2014I possess a genuine passion for the art of creative writing. With a modest but meaningful experience of over 2 years, I've collaborated closely with diverse brands and projects. I specialize in writing content that tells a story and fits each brand's tone. I write entertaining, SEO-optimized short and long-form content. Looking for captivating copies!?! Let's connect for content that speaks volumes!","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sonam-badia-6b6959219\/"],"url":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/author\/sonam\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34533"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39703,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34533\/revisions\/39703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veefly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}