You must have heard about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by now. But in case
you’ve just returned from the North Pole, or Mars, or some such, here it is in
a nutshell: dump a bucket of ice-filled water over your head to promote
awareness of the ALS disease, then challenge someone else either to do it themselves
or donate money to the ALS Association. Couldn’t be simpler, right? And it’s
gone viral, being perfect YouTube and Vimeo material, a bunch of celebrities
have done it, and it’s raised millions for the cause.It’s also had its share of copycats, and as is often the case with campaigns that attract large amounts of attention, it’s had its detractors as well. Snopes.com recently claimed that only a fraction of the money raised goes to the cause, with the remaining 73% “going to fundraising, overhead, executive salaries, and external donations.”
Meanwhile, claims freep.com, internet scammers have latched on to the popular stunt, offering “e-mails with titles that promise amazing videos of the Ice Bucket Challenge, but they’re actually attempts to embed spyware and other data-stealing programs in your computer.” (I won't comment on the suggestion that the challenge is a Satanic Ritual.) All of this has led to the notion that: a) the Ice Bucket Challenge is a fraud and a scam; and b) the money is not going to support ALS. Meanwhile, there are reports that the ALS Association is seeking to trademark the phrase “Ice Bucket Challenge” to prevent the spate of similar challenges popping up all over the place.
The Association has seen fit to respond to the 73% criticism on their website, noting that “The ALS Association spent 79% of our annual budget on programs and services last year, which includes 28% on research, ONE of three main pillars of our charitable work. If a donor would like 100% of their donation to go to research, he/she can simply check a box on our online donation form.” This is an argument — that nonprofits have overheads like any other organization — that has been circulated widely within the industry, but still continues to escape reaching the consciousness of the average donor, who imagines that if he or she gives $100 to a cause, then the whole $100 must go to the cure/victims/crisis in question, and that if some of the money is spent on enabling the nonprofit to continue its work, that’s a bad greedy nonprofit that does not deserve our support.
But ultimately, does any of this really matter? As numerous commentators have noted, how many of us had heard of The ALS Association before this challenge? As Forbes.com demonstrate: “Ideas that are big and selfless spread. But ideas that are also simple spread quickly. The Ice Bucket Challenge was instantaneously ubiquitous. Like the Super Bowl, there was the feeling that everyone was watching this happen together, in real time. There were celebrities. There was humor. There was press at every turn. All of these qualities made it impossible to ignore.”
We’d love for you to share your thoughts on this issue. Have you had the "Go figure out how we can create our own ice bucket challenge" conversation in your nonprofit? Does the volume of donations and publicity outweigh the volume of uninformed criticism that is also generated? Share your thoughts on Twitter: @Goldengateafp or www.facebook.com/afpgold.
Andrew Alvarez
AFP Golden Gate Chapter
