If one more person nominates me for this ice bucket ALS challenge...

climbingsingle

I've been nominated 3 fucking times. I've already donated as much as I possibly can. Our wedding is in 40 days. All of my free money is tied up in the wedding. And I'm not dumping a damn bucket of ice water on my head and then posting the video on FB for all 350 of my friends to see. God damn. 

Ok, rant over! 

Bubblegum5586

haha same here! I think it is great teh money and awareness that has been raised for ALS - but it is also being too fady (I think I made that word up) for me. I donated instead as well

theartistformerlyknownas

holyguacamole79

I find this whole thing to be AW-ish. Look at me, I dumped a bucket of ice on my head in august when it's crazy hot instead of giving $100 to charity! Also, none of the videos I've seen really raise "awareness". The person says "X nominated me for this challenge, and I accept. (Pour bucket of ice on head). Wow, that was cold! I now challenge a, b, c". That doesn't spread awareness; it's just a gimmick.


I will admit that it is admirable how much money is getting donated, though. The way it's happening just annoys me.

Sugargirl1019

Fuck ice water. Give 100 instead. The foundation would more appreciate that then the 25 dollars because you wanted to save and poor ice over your head.

Such a strange concept! Not directing anything at you personally. But I'm like, wouldn't the charity prefer more money than everyone taking an out to give less?

You're awesome for donating as much as you did but I don't think we are going to know if you don't give more money.

theartistformerlyknownas

If anybody challenges me I think I'll dump a bucket of money on my head.

climbingsingle

It's totally AW-ish. The last person that nominated me was my uncle. His video was like, "I'm nominating so and so. You have 24 hours." No mention of ALS. And you're actually supposed to still donate even if you dump the water on yourself!  

thisismynickname2

I agree this is all incredibly strange and if I were nominated, I'd donate instead. (Employees here got collectively nominated and posted a video of six of them with ice buckets on our organization's social media pages.)

That being said.... the amount of donations raised is just incredible compared to the foundation's past.  The disease is horrific and there's no cure, and treatments barely do anything. If there's any disease in need of additional funding, this is certainly at or near the top of the list.  The boyfriend of a good friend of mine died from it at age 40 and it's just.... ugh.  It's a weird way to raise funds but I'm glad it's been so effective.  

OliveOilsMom

My friends' daughter, who is 3, was nominated - seriously.  I haven't been nominated and I don't think I will.  I would possibly give some money if I was, but no way in hell $100.  I don't even donate that much to any one charity, sorrynotsorry.

pinkshorts27

Our CEO was nominated which was pretty cool because he donated more than the 100 and still did the Ice bucket to challenge more people. I only know he donated more because I had lunch with him and was asking about the rules. He didn't make that public. 

Sugargirl1019

I hope all these celebrities are donating more than 25.

banana468

I'm thrilled with the amount of attention that this disease is getting - especially considering the other bullshit "awareness" raised for breast cancer which (while terrible) doesn't really need any additional awareness.

The only concern I have is that people may not be researching the charity before donating.   My understanding is that a few of the ALS charities mentioned do embryonic stem cell research and I'm not sure of how top heavy those organizations are.    

buttercup1958

No one has nominated me. They wouldn't really get anywhere if they did though. I think it's really stupid to try and "challenge" people on social media. If you really care then start doing more than this slackerism gimmct.

PrettyGirlLost

I think the whole things is rather stupid.  People should be free to donate to the causes that they choose to donate to of their own free will, and they should be free to donate as much or as little as they deem fit.

Oh wait. . . that's^ exactly how it does work in reality!

Whoopee you tagged me in some stupid FB post or something. . . are you going to actually force me to drop a bucket of water on my head or force me to donate $100?  I don't think so. 

People used to "suggest" to other people that they make a "donation" so that their property wasn't damaged, embarrassing photos weren't leaked, etc. . . I think that practice was called extortion, or blackmail.

luckya23

buttercup1958 said:

No one has nominated me. They wouldn't really get anywhere if they did though. I think it's really stupid to try and "challenge" people on social media. If you really care then start doing more than this slackerism gimmct.

Same here!

I choose my own charities.  I mean good for this organization's PR department, but I would personally ignore it if I was "nominated."

One of my fb friends posted a second time calling out the first people she nominated for not doing it, and choosing new "nominees"!  F that mess, don't tell me what to do with my money.

holyguacamole79

banana468 said:

I'm thrilled with the amount of attention that this disease is getting - especially considering the other bullshit "awareness" raised for breast cancer which (while terrible) doesn't really need any additional awareness.

The only concern I have is that people may not be researching the charity before donating.   My understanding is that a few of the ALS charities mentioned do embryonic stem cell research and I'm not sure of how top heavy those organizations are.    

Agreed about the embryonic stem cell research. I've heard people suggesting this group as an alternative. http://www.jp2mri.org

buttercup1958

alucky23 said:

buttercup1958 said:

No one has nominated me. They wouldn't really get anywhere if they did though. I think it's really stupid to try and "challenge" people on social media. If you really care then start doing more than this slackerism gimmct.

Same here!

I choose my own charities.  I mean good for this organization's PR department, but I would personally ignore it if I was "nominated."

One of my fb friends posted a second time calling out the first people she nominated for not doing it, and choosing new "nominees"!  F that mess, don't tell me what to do with my money.

I pretty much put this in the same category has causes bumper stickers. I think it's just for people to boast about how good of a person you are. Then again most people I've met who had those did nothing for those causes so I'm biased.

KatieinBkln

It's driving me nuts. I think it's a crazy idea, actually. Why on earth would you set it up as a dichotomy: Donate OR dump a bucket of water on your head? Then people do the bucket thing and act like they're helping? Dafuq? I realize many people do the bucket AND donate, but that's not how the "game" is set up. Basically, you get to feel good about yourself because you said the words "ALS" on social media. Whoopie doo, aren't you special. Meanwhile you didn't actually do shit to help anyone. I am deeply skeptical of "awareness" as a concept, actually. I mean, it's one thing if it's awareness of something that people can prevent (you can't prevent ALS), but what does "awareness" really achieve? The point is ultimately to get the kind of awareness that in turn creates funds for research toward a cure, yes? Which means that the awareness without the funds is useless. I mean, am I taking crazy pills?

WinstonsGirl

One of my students Mom has ALS.  Last spring he made a speech to the whole school at an assembly (1000 kids, he was grade 5) to challenge everyone to bring in a "Loonie for Lou" ($1 in support of Lou Gherigs Disease).  We then did a walk of the school and community cos he was doing the ALS walk the week after.  Our kids raised over $1700 and no one got wet.  It meant a lot to the kids cos they knew this student, so it made things much more personal for them.  

ETA - Spelling

wandajune6

The perfect sign it is a fad: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6221732/watch-justin-bieber-takes-alc-ice-bucket-challenge-nominates-president-barack-obama-beliebers

I've been nominated 6 times. 2 people have nominated me twice which pisses me off. FI's been nominated twice.

We donated money. We did not donate $800. We did what we could. We would prefer to donate money to causes that are more important to us personally (diabetes and leukemia are the big ones in our families). I'm ready for this fad to end.

Fran1985

KatieinBkln said:

It's driving me nuts. I think it's a crazy idea, actually. Why on earth would you set it up as a dichotomy: Donate OR dump a bucket of water on your head? Then people do the bucket thing and act like they're helping? Dafuq? I realize many people do the bucket AND donate, but that's not how the "game" is set up. Basically, you get to feel good about yourself because you said the words "ALS" on social media. Whoopie doo, aren't you special. Meanwhile you didn't actually do shit to help anyone. I am deeply skeptical of "awareness" as a concept, actually. I mean, it's one thing if it's awareness of something that people can prevent (you can't prevent ALS), but what does "awareness" really achieve? The point is ultimately to get the kind of awareness that in turn creates funds for research toward a cure, yes? Which means that the awareness without the funds is useless. I mean, am I taking crazy pills?

So I would never film myself and put on facebook. But the awareness has achieved donations. Sure some people are just paying lip service to it, but it was started by Pete Frates, who suffers from ALS. Its not like a bunch of people randomly decided to make the rules up. Pete made them up, and as its progressed, many people have changed the rules to donate nd dump the ice, and I've seen many that include links to learn more about the disease. And you just cannot deny that the awareness has had a funding benefit- they have reached over 100,000 new donators from last year, and raised millionS of dollars this summer.

Do I think the videos are silly? Yes. But the fundraising has been rather incredible.

lovemyrunner

I 100% agree and I was just nominated for the first time.  So this is what I posted on FB:

To my FB peeps, while I do not begrudge you your ice bucket challenges, I will not be participating. Here's why:
1) According to the New York Times, the ALS has made $13.3 million since July 29. By this time last year they had made $1.7 million (New York Times, August 17, 2014). So. Mission accomplished.
2) I think we can all agree that it is impossible to respond to every donation request so we have to pick and choose which causes to support. ALS affects roughly 30,000 Americans (New York Times, August 17, 2014). In contrast, more than 1 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year (Cancer.org). This is not to say that any disease is "better," "worse," or more deserving of donations. But because cancer is more prolific and because it has played such a prominent role in my personal life, I choose to spend my time and money there.

In closing, I encourage everyone out there to donate whatever you can spare (money, time, or goods) to whatever cause is closest to your heart, for the simple pleasure of helping others.

kat1114

I am really tired of the challenge too, but I do think it's awesome how much it's raised. ESPN aired a story last night about how the whole challenge started, and it made more sense hearing the background. They also compared the amount of money that has been donated to ALS from this time last year to this current year, and there is a ton more money that has been raised this year. 

That being said, I really just find it annoying, because off all these people doing the challenge, I bet very few could tell you what ALS stands for or anything about the disease for that matter. It's just an excuse for people to post another stupid AW video of themselves.

charlottesmom0626

I found this interesting and used it as my response everytime someone nominated me: http://qz.com/249649/the-cold-hard-truth-about-the-ice-bucket-challenge/#/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange

ElcaB

The fact that people are criticizing this whole campaign is ludicrous to me. 

My first (and most important) point is, when has "DONATE MONEY TO A CHARITY" ever been an incredibly successful method of garnering donations? Look at the facts: The ALS Association has seen a 766% increase in donations from July 29 through today, compared to the same time period in 2013. I doubt a few encouraging "Donate money to ALS" posts would have garnered the same results, nor 307,598 new charitable donors. 

Secondly, I'd like to point out that many of the folks we see dumping buckets of ice water on their heads are both making a donation and participating in the viral challenge. If they only posted videos of them writing a check or donating online, it wouldn't be a viral campaign. 

I just can't get over people reacting negatively to others who take part in a challenge that has been so indisputably successful in raising money for the cause. 

climbingsingle

ElcaB said:

The fact that people are criticizing this whole campaign is ludicrous to me. 

My first (and most important) point is, when has "DONATE MONEY TO A CHARITY" ever been an incredibly successful method of garnering donations? Look at the facts: The ALS Association has seen a 766% increase in donations from July 29 through today, compared to the same time period in 2013. I doubt a few encouraging "Donate money to ALS" posts would have garnered the same results, nor 307,598 new charitable donors. 

Secondly, I'd like to point out that many of the folks we see dumping buckets of ice water on their heads are both making a donation and participating in the viral challenge. If they only posted videos of them writing a check or donating online, it wouldn't be a viral campaign. 

I just can't get over people reacting negatively to others who take part in a challenge that has been so indisputably successful in raising money for the cause. 

I think the original idea and campaign were a great thing. Obviously it raised a lot of money. What annoys me is that people keep nominating me, after I've already shared that I donated. How much more money can I donate?? And again, last videos nominating me made no mention of ALS. If you're going to do it, do it right! 

KatieinBkln

ElcaB said:

The fact that people are criticizing this whole campaign is ludicrous to me. 

My first (and most important) point is, when has "DONATE MONEY TO A CHARITY" ever been an incredibly successful method of garnering donations? Look at the facts: The ALS Association has seen a 766% increase in donations from July 29 through today, compared to the same time period in 2013. I doubt a few encouraging "Donate money to ALS" posts would have garnered the same results, nor 307,598 new charitable donors. 

Secondly, I'd like to point out that many of the folks we see dumping buckets of ice water on their heads are both making a donation and participating in the viral challenge. If they only posted videos of them writing a check or donating online, it wouldn't be a viral campaign. 

I just can't get over people reacting negatively to others who take part in a challenge that has been so indisputably successful in raising money for the cause. 

Well, I just read the link that @charlottesmom0626 and others shared--part of the reason this campaign has raised so much money is because it is "cannibalizing" funds from other charities. People give a set amount, evidently, so if they're giving to ALS that means they're NOT giving to someone else. Just something to note, I guess.

doeydo

I'm going to pick who I want to donate to, and while ALS is a terrible disease that I already knew about because there were commercials and I read Tuesdays With Morrie, I would rather donate to World Wildlife Fund or something else that helps animals.  I have decided to no longer donate money to cure diseases, as usually scientists test on animals and I will not knowingly participate or support any kind of cruelty to animals.  

Knottie37373131

I was just talking to Fiance about this last night. He said that he would not do it or donate if nominated. I do not like being told which charities I have to donate to. Being on a very limited budget I really only donate once or twice a year when I like the cause. I am also a big fan of donating locally when possible. Such as during thanksgiving when giving money for thanksgiving dinners to be made and delivered to families in our community. Its nice to know you can help people near by sometimes.

climbingsingle

And the ice bucket challenge just reached the height of AWishness. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152424141508591 I mean, really? With the fucking Skinnygirl boards?

Fran1985

KatieinBkln said:

ElcaB said:

The fact that people are criticizing this whole campaign is ludicrous to me. 

My first (and most important) point is, when has "DONATE MONEY TO A CHARITY" ever been an incredibly successful method of garnering donations? Look at the facts: The ALS Association has seen a 766% increase in donations from July 29 through today, compared to the same time period in 2013. I doubt a few encouraging "Donate money to ALS" posts would have garnered the same results, nor 307,598 new charitable donors. 

Secondly, I'd like to point out that many of the folks we see dumping buckets of ice water on their heads are both making a donation and participating in the viral challenge. If they only posted videos of them writing a check or donating online, it wouldn't be a viral campaign. 

I just can't get over people reacting negatively to others who take part in a challenge that has been so indisputably successful in raising money for the cause. 

Well, I just read the link that @charlottesmom0626 and others shared--part of the reason this campaign has raised so much money is because it is "cannibalizing" funds from other charities. People give a set amount, evidently, so if they're giving to ALS that means they're NOT giving to someone else. Just something to note, I guess.

Honestly I find that link really stupid. Essentially whenever you are donating or spending money on something, you are "cannabalizing" it from other funds. If you are donating to cancer research are you cannibalizing it from ALS? The amazing thing about this campaign is that its getting people to donate to a charity who tend to not donate at all. If people have a set charity they donate to, there is no evidence in that article that says they won't also donate to their first charity.

I really can't believe  the backlash either. If its not your thing, don't donate. You don't need to donate more money and you don't need to post anything. I didn't post anything responding to my call outs. People aren't tracking your participation. Also yes some people are going to do it wrong. That says more about your facebook friends than it does about the challenge though.

Pete told his family he thinks he got ALS for a higher reason- to help other people struggling with a disease that sees little funding. I think he can be incredibly proud of the success he has achieved with this campaign. Although he no longer has the ability to speak, he does watch the videos and it brings him a lot of joy. So I think if one of those stupid videos makes him laugh its worth it.