All wet: Why ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Cynics are wrong
I am, by experience, cynical. It isn’t that I don’t want to believe that people are genuinely good; it is just that in my experience people accuse others of the exact things that they themselves are guilty of, and rarely are those accusations leveled toward any good deeds. Watching the myriad videos of people dumping ice water over their heads for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA) made me question what kind of gimmick this really was.
Were these people the same people who support our troops with a yellow ribbon magnet on the car, but without any sort of real support through other actions or donations? The kind of people who make a show by saying something without the actual doing of anything to back those words up? Was this ice bucket action just an Internet fad like planking or like posting the color and only the color of a bra without any explanation? Were people participating in the fad without any idea of what was really going on?
Articles have already been written on the cynical side. Titles like “Dumping a bucket of ice on your head does not make you a philanthropist” already tell you what is inside, and why the fad could be bad. If no one is donating but still dumping ice on his or her head, the ice bucket challenge is less than successful.
Steve-O has leveled the accusation that this challenge hasn’t raised nearly enough money, especially considering the number of A-list celebrities participating, and he may be right. However, here’s the thing. Raising money and awareness is difficult for any nonprofit, and the ice bucket challenge has already raised over $30 million for the ALSA. That is about 15 times more money than they raised last year during the same period. For minimal investment in time and money, the ALSA has received a windfall that most organizations would give their right eyes for. For as long as it lasts, this is wildly successful and beyond.
Aside from questioning the effectiveness of fundraising aspect, people have leveled two other accusations at the campaign: it is a waste of water, and it has done nothing to raise awareness of the actual disease itself.
Fine. It is a waste of water. Californians are in the middle of a severe drought, and people are dumping ice water on their heads. Really? If that is what someone is complaining about when it comes to this campaign, his or her argument is a little suspect and sounds more like sour grapes and curmudgeonliness than anything else. People need a reason to donate to any cause, and Americans are a wasteful society. If a little of that waste goes toward giving people a reason to donate to and learn about a disease, then let people have their fun and participate in the virtual event.
This campaign has certainly raised awareness of ALS. If not, it is the person’s fault, who is wondering about the ability to raise awareness. He or she is obviously watching the videos. Typing ALS into any search engine will bring up an appropriate page that contains the relevant information. Heck, there is a video about it on YouTube and the video maker says that the advertsing revenue from the video is going to ALSA (so watch the commercial beforehand if you get one). Or I can just tell you the quick synopsis: ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It affects about 30,000 Americans at any one time, with onset usually between the ages of 40 and 70. It cause nerves and muscles to degenerate often leading to death. Click on the ALSA link for more.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is genius from a nonprofit standpoint. There are no real costs involve aside from recruiting the first people to do it and coming up with the idea. It is more effective than mailers, and because social media is now a part of the news cycle, this and many other articles have been published on who is doing it and why. Even the naysayers are contributing to the overall awareness, and hopefully, that throws cold water on their arguments against the challenge.
Donate to ALSA here.
Were these people the same people who support our troops with a yellow ribbon magnet on the car, but without any sort of real support through other actions or donations? The kind of people who make a show by saying something without the actual doing of anything to back those words up? Was this ice bucket action just an Internet fad like planking or like posting the color and only the color of a bra without any explanation? Were people participating in the fad without any idea of what was really going on?
Articles have already been written on the cynical side. Titles like “Dumping a bucket of ice on your head does not make you a philanthropist” already tell you what is inside, and why the fad could be bad. If no one is donating but still dumping ice on his or her head, the ice bucket challenge is less than successful.
Steve-O has leveled the accusation that this challenge hasn’t raised nearly enough money, especially considering the number of A-list celebrities participating, and he may be right. However, here’s the thing. Raising money and awareness is difficult for any nonprofit, and the ice bucket challenge has already raised over $30 million for the ALSA. That is about 15 times more money than they raised last year during the same period. For minimal investment in time and money, the ALSA has received a windfall that most organizations would give their right eyes for. For as long as it lasts, this is wildly successful and beyond.
Aside from questioning the effectiveness of fundraising aspect, people have leveled two other accusations at the campaign: it is a waste of water, and it has done nothing to raise awareness of the actual disease itself.
Fine. It is a waste of water. Californians are in the middle of a severe drought, and people are dumping ice water on their heads. Really? If that is what someone is complaining about when it comes to this campaign, his or her argument is a little suspect and sounds more like sour grapes and curmudgeonliness than anything else. People need a reason to donate to any cause, and Americans are a wasteful society. If a little of that waste goes toward giving people a reason to donate to and learn about a disease, then let people have their fun and participate in the virtual event.
This campaign has certainly raised awareness of ALS. If not, it is the person’s fault, who is wondering about the ability to raise awareness. He or she is obviously watching the videos. Typing ALS into any search engine will bring up an appropriate page that contains the relevant information. Heck, there is a video about it on YouTube and the video maker says that the advertsing revenue from the video is going to ALSA (so watch the commercial beforehand if you get one). Or I can just tell you the quick synopsis: ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It affects about 30,000 Americans at any one time, with onset usually between the ages of 40 and 70. It cause nerves and muscles to degenerate often leading to death. Click on the ALSA link for more.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is genius from a nonprofit standpoint. There are no real costs involve aside from recruiting the first people to do it and coming up with the idea. It is more effective than mailers, and because social media is now a part of the news cycle, this and many other articles have been published on who is doing it and why. Even the naysayers are contributing to the overall awareness, and hopefully, that throws cold water on their arguments against the challenge.
Donate to ALSA here.
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Fraud: When two sides use the same stats to support their respective sides