Ice bucket challenge shows a fun, and hugely successful, wayto raise moneyBy Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff

Aug. 25, 2014 1:00 AM

Major League Baseball Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred participates in the ALS ice bucket challenge in New

York City. The phenomenal success of the fundraising craze is making charitable organizations rethink how they

connect with a younger generation of potential donors, specifically through social media.

NEW YORK—At first, the ALS Association didn’t have big hopes for its ice bucket challenge. It

was just a fun way to raise a bit of money.

The group was trying to raise money for the fight against Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

ALS is better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It affects the brain and spine. In many cases, it

causes death within five years.

As it turned out, the ice bucket challenge has been hugely successful. Groups raising money for

other causes are very impressed. Many are now trying to come up with other ways to reach younger

people online.

Since July 29, the ALS Association has raised more than $53.3 million. The ice bucket challenge is

now one of the most successful fundraising ideas in history. It has gone viral: that is, it has spread

rapidly through the Internet.

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Videos Posted All Over Internet

Thousands of people have posted ice bucket videos online. In them, they get buckets of ice water

dumped over their heads. They then challenge others to do the same—or to give money to the ALS

Association. Many famous people have taken part. For example, Taylor Swift and Oprah Winfrey

have taken the challenge.

Brian Mittendorf is an expert on raising money. The ice bucket challenge, he says, has shown people

something: It’s OK to be silly for a good cause.

The challenge, he said, is “something that’s fun that people can do. People are taking part in it

and then” giving money.

Even the ALS Association is surprised at the success of the challenge.

“We had no idea it would get to this point,” said member Carrie Munk.

The challenge’s success has demonstrated something important, Munk said: The average person

can “really make a difference.”

Groups Looking At Social Media

Lucretia Gilbert runs a group called the Pink Agenda. Its purpose is to raise money to help fight

a deadly disease: breast cancer. She thinks the great success of the ice bucket challenge will get

other groups thinking. They will start trying out new ways to raise money.

Gilbert said they will be particularly interested in social media. Social media is a term for websites

and apps that encourage people to connect. Through them, people share thoughts or information.

Examples include Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The ice bucket challenge, Gilbert said, is “a very simple thing and that’s kind of the beauty of it.

Everyone can do this challenge.”

Mindy Bailey works for a group called JDRF. Her group raises money to fight the disease Type

1 diabetes. Volunteers, she said, are looking for an idea that will make people give money to her

group.

“We have had a lot of people reach out to us,” Bailey said. They say, “Hey, we’re going to do the ice

bucket challenge” for you. “Recently we had a woman say, ‘I’m thinking of doing a pie-in-your-face

idea.’”

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People Are Talking About It

Still, not everyone is a fan of the ice bucket challenge.

According to Cameron Mitchell of New York, it’s too much of a gimmick. What’s more, he said,

it’s more about the person taking the challenge than it is about fighting the disease. To him it feels

like people who take the challenge are saying, “Look at me. Pay attention to me.”

If some people are annoyed by the challenge, many others are impressed. Either way, people are

talking about it. Even if they don’t give, Munk says, they learn more about the disease.

Just a few years ago, she said, the disease wasn’t that well known. Only one in two Americans

knew what it was.

“We’re really looking forward” to seeing how much that changes, she said.

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