Harrison: All that ice is helping people with ALS
THEY ARE ubiquitous: the rampant posting on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter of people dousing themselves, or being doused by others, with buckets of ice water as a response to a challenge coming from a friend. If the challenge isn't met within 24 hours, the person is supposed to donate $100 to the ALS Association. If the challenge is met, the soaked soul is supposed to donate $10, but create a new chain of potential donors by challenging friends.
Yes, the entire thing has become stupid: We have seen Governor Christie's kids dump water on him and seen him challenge U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon.
There's even been videos of ice bucket fails: people who have used glass containers that cracked over their heads, people who have missed themselves when throwing the ice water, people who have fallen down in the process. We've even seen the challenges that may signal a Bon Jovi reconciliation.
And through this, we've also seen a great deal of indignation about the triteness of this concept. Just write the check, people say. It's been done to death, others complain. People dump the water instead of donating, friends lament. It's a charitable Cutco scheme, decry others (who apparently wouldn't contribute to ALS unless their nephew goaded them into it).
And all these things are true.
Except last year, ALS raised $1.9 million between July 29 and August 20. This year, The ALS Association has received $31.5 million in donations, largely from the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Except that this form of philanthropy is reaching a whole different group of donors. While some of those contributing to The ALS Association had donated before, over a half million donors – 637,527 – were new donors to the organization.
Except that through this type of online fundraising, a whole new generation of philanthropists is being created. One study – The Millennial Impact – shows that nearly half of millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) follow between one and five non-profit organizations on social media. This is how young people are connecting with the larger community.
Except that online giving is the future of fundraising, so we'd better get used to it. Forget bake sales and raffle tickets – last year, online charitable donations had it second year of double-digit increases, growing at more than 13 percent last year. Blackbaud's Generational Giving Report shows that 60 percent of millennials give an average of $481 to charitable causes annually, typically using a mobile device to do so.
Except that the Ice Bucket Challenge is remarkable in that it marks the first time in which an organization not responding to natural disaster or other type of emergency (Think Superstorm Sandy or the Boston Marathon bombing) has been able to harness the power of social media to raise both money and awareness on a massive level. Now granted, my tech-savvy 13-year-old daughter who had watched friend after friend pour bucket after bucket did not know what ALS is, but nonetheless she was socialized to the idea of charitable giving through the Internet, much like her once 13-year-old mother was socialized to charitable giving through an MS bike-a-thon.
And so, yes, maybe there is a critical flaw in the Ice Bucket Challenge: Before the dunking, participants should state a fact about ALS so that awareness of the effects of the disease increases. So here you have it: ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, a person in the early stages of ALS may experience clumsiness of the feet or hands; weakness in the legs, feet or ankles; cramps and/or twitching in the arms and shoulders; poor posture and difficulty keeping one's head up; and slurring of speech, tongue cramps and trouble swallowing.
As the disease progress, muscles become weaker, but brain function, bowel and bladder function remain intact. But the degeneration of muscles means that independence becomes increasingly difficult for victims of ALS, who may eventually depend on others for most of their needs.
With donations, The ALS Association provides care for people with ALS through local chapters of the organization. They also support research focusing on the discovery of treatments and, eventually, a cure for the disease, and they lobby for public policies that focus on the needs of people with ALS.
And so yes, the videos are tiresome. Except that, when you consider the incredible inanity of what is posted on social media, watching a friend dump water on his head for a good cause is no worse than reading about what your neighbor made for dinner, reading the latest Buzzfeed on the Top 25 Signs That She's The One, or watching your co-worker send her little fledgling off to college.
Just don't forget to make the donation.
Brigid Callahan Harrison is professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, where she teaches courses in American government and state and local politics. A frequent commentator in print and electronic media, she is the author of five books on American politics. Follow her on Twitter @BriCalHar.