After TikTok made its comeback, some Penn State students used the platform to get influencers and other celebrities to donate to their THON donor drives. Kendall Kelley, a THON 2025 dancer for DASH, a small special interest organization, had some success.

Two weeks ago, Kelley posted a TikTok to her personal account.

“Hey Alix Earle if you’re feeling generous since we still have TikTok, wanna donate to my donor drive for THON?” Kelley wrote.

The approach worked.

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Earle, an online influencer, grew her fame by posting lifestyle and beauty content every day, including “get ready with me” videos. Earle later created her podcast, “Hot Mess,” and has amassed over 7 million followers on TikTok alone.

Kelley said she was inspired to tag Earle after seeing other TikTok users post similar content.

“I saw this girl, @crazyava2005, asking Mr. Beast to donate to THON, and I was like, ‘Wait, I’m gonna do that,’ and I quite literally just made a TikTok and posted it,” Kelley said. 

Her fellow DASH members flooded the comment section and tagged Earle to get her attention, but Kelley never expected a response from the influencer, let alone a donation. But after seeing Kelley’s TikTok, Earle made a private donation to Kelley’s donor drive and commented on the video.

“It was literally later that day, and I was shocked,” Kelley shared. “I looked at my phone and saw the notification. I was like, ‘You’re kidding.’ She didn’t make it public, she kept it private so only I could see it, and she only put ‘AE’ as her name, which I thought was so humble.”

Earle’s donation had an immediate impact on Kelley’s fundraising efforts, helping her surpass her initial goal.

“I got a notification telling me I had to raise my goal, and I was like ‘What?’, and it was because she donated,” Kelley said. “I forget what it was at before, but her donation surpassed my original goal.”

Through the power of social media, especially TikTok, Kelley believes THON is becoming more known to people outside of the Penn State community. She even received additional donations from people who discovered her donor drive after watching her video.

“A Penn State alum saw my post and donated. Someone else did too. It’s really cool how people have learned about THON through TikTok,” Kelley said.

Since her success, other students have followed Kelley’s footsteps by tagging social media influencers via TikTok, asking them to donate to THON. So far, influencers Bran Flakezz and Halley Kate have donated after seeing the trend.