Jacksepticeye is a loud Irishman. If you've spent any time on YouTube over the last decade, you know the "Top of the mornin' to ya" intro by heart. But in December 2020, Seán McLoughlin—his real name—did something that felt a bit more ambitious than just playing games and screaming at the screen. He launched 24 Days of Jackmas.
It was a sprint. A marathon. A chaotic, festive, and deeply sincere attempt to leverage a massive audience for something bigger than just ad revenue.
Most creators do a one-off stream. They go live for eight hours, raise some cash, and call it a day. 24 Days of Jackmas was different because it was a relentless daily commitment throughout the most hectic month of the year. People think charity streams are easy money. They aren't. They’re exhausting. To do it for nearly a month straight requires a level of stamina that most people—even seasoned influencers—honestly don't have.
The Reality Behind the 24 Days of Jackmas Hype
Let's be real about what this actually looked like. This wasn't just Seán sitting in a chair. It was a massive coordination effort involving Tiltify, various non-profits, and a community that was, at the time, still reeling from the global lockdowns of 2020.
The core goal was simple: raise money for Pencils of Promise.
Pencils of Promise isn't one of those "black hole" charities where you never see where the money goes. They build schools. They provide teacher training. They focus on global literacy. By the time 24 Days of Jackmas hit its stride, the community wasn't just donating; they were tracking progress.
The momentum was wild.
I remember watching the numbers tick up. It wasn’t just about the big $10,000 donations from other wealthy YouTubers, though those certainly helped. It was the $5 and $10 donations from students and fans. That's where the real power of Jackmas lived. It turned a passive audience into an active philanthropic force.
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Seán has always been vocal about mental health and the responsibility of having a platform. 24 Days of Jackmas felt like the physical manifestation of that philosophy. It wasn't corporate. It wasn't polished. It was often messy, full of laughter, and occasionally punctuated by the sheer exhaustion of a creator trying to stay "on" for 24 consecutive days.
Why This Specific Event Stick in People's Minds
You have to look at the timing.
December 2020 was a weird time for the world. Everyone was stuck inside. The usual holiday cheer felt a bit... muted? Jackmas provided a focal point. It was a daily ritual. You’d wake up, check the stream or the VOD, and see how much closer they were to the goal.
The Impact on the "Thankmas" Evolution
Interestingly, 24 Days of Jackmas served as a vital bridge to what we now know as "Thankmas."
While Seán had done charity work before, the sheer scale of the 24-day event proved that the "Jacksepticeye" brand could sustain long-term engagement for a cause. It proved that fans wouldn't get "donation fatigue" if the content remained engaging.
- It built a template for collaborative streaming.
- It normalized the use of Tiltify as the industry standard for transparent giving.
- It showed that personality-driven fundraising beats corporate telethons every single time.
There’s a common misconception that these events are just about the creator's ego. If you actually watch the 24 Days of Jackmas archives, you see the opposite. Seán often looked uncomfortable being the center of attention when big milestones were hit. He redirected the praise to the "snack pack"—his community.
The Logistics of Giving
Honestly, the "behind the scenes" of an event like this is a nightmare.
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You have to manage overlays. You have to ensure the donation links don't break under the weight of 100,000 people clicking them at once. You have to coordinate with the charity to ensure they can actually handle the influx of capital and provide the necessary reporting.
During 24 Days of Jackmas, the transparency was key. Seán wasn't just saying "give me money." He was showing videos of what Pencils of Promise does. He was explaining the cost of a school. He was making the abstract concept of "charity" feel tangible and immediate.
When a kid in a bedroom in Ohio sees that their $20 helps buy desks for a classroom in Ghana, that’s a powerful connection. Most traditional charities struggle to make that link. YouTubers do it naturally.
What Most People Get Wrong About Influencer Charity
Critics love to talk about "performative activism."
They see a guy like Jacksepticeye and think it's all for PR. But if you look at the numbers—millions of dollars raised over the years—the "PR" argument falls apart. No one spends 24 days straight working for a PR stunt that they could achieve with a single well-placed tweet.
The sheer labor of 24 Days of Jackmas is the proof of its sincerity.
The burnout is real. By day 18 or 19, you could see the toll it took on Seán’s energy. Yet, he kept going. That’s the nuance people miss. It’s not just "playing games for money." It’s an emotional labor of carrying the hopes of a community and the needs of a non-profit on your shoulders for a month.
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How to Support Creator Causes Today
If you're looking to get involved in the legacy of 24 Days of Jackmas, you don't have to wait for December.
The landscape has changed, but the principles remain. Most creators have moved toward the "Thankmas" model, which is a massive, decentralized event where anyone can start their own stream under the same banner. This is the ultimate evolution of what Seán started. He realized he didn't have to be the only one streaming; he could empower thousands of others to do it too.
If you want to make an impact:
- Don't just watch. Even if you can't donate, sharing the stream or engaging with the content boosts it in the algorithm, which brings in people who can donate.
- Check the receipts. Always ensure the creator is using a platform like Tiltify or GoFundMe Charity where the money goes directly to the org, not the creator's bank account.
- Look for the "Match." Many times during Jackmas, Seán or other creators would match donations. Timing your contribution to these windows doubles your impact instantly.
24 Days of Jackmas wasn't just a moment in YouTube history. It was a proof of concept. It showed that the internet, for all its toxicity and chaos, can actually be a machine for genuine global good.
It wasn't perfect. It was loud. It was Irish. And it built schools that still stand today.
To keep this momentum going, start by looking into the current year's Thankmas initiatives. Check the official Jacksepticeye social channels in late October and November for the annual announcements. If you’re a creator yourself, sign up for a Tiltify account and link it to a cause you actually care about—don’t wait for a "big" event to start. Finally, if you're curious about where the Jackmas money went, head over to the Pencils of Promise website and look at their impact reports for the 2020-2021 period; seeing the physical schools built by a gaming community is the best way to understand the scale of what was achieved.