I’m the last person you’ll see standing in line to film myself dumping a bucket of ice water over my head, but it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and look down at all of these people when the result is having raised over $50 million for ALS in just a couple of months!
Yet a lot of people … well, some people – definitely not as many as those participating in the challenge … feel the need to do that sideline jeering about how you shouldn’t need peer pressure to donate to charity or you could just send them money without making a spectacle. The critique of some videos making it seem like they’re dumping buckets over their heads to avoid making a donation is another common one, and to that I can only say … WHO CARES???
I don’t think that the people who make this critique understand the concept of viral momentum, or even how fundraising is supposed to work.
See, I could pull out my checkbook and write a donation to ALS for $100 right now – no big deal.
But nobody else knows that I did it, and that’s not to say from a bragging standpoint, but more from an influential standpoint.
If nobody knows that I did it, then nobody has the opportunity to say, “Hey, Scott gave $100 to ALS. That’s a good idea – I think I’ll do it, too!“
You’re being short-sighted if you think that all of these videos are just about seeking fame and attention because what each and every one of these videos does, even if those in the video don’t personally donate afterwards, is that they help to spread the message just a little further. And that’s powerful.
Because think about it – until this summer, when was the last time that ALS even crossed your mind? Did you even realize that ALS is Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or were you like me and had to discretely look it up when all of these videos started to flood your Facebook feed?!
The data speaks for itself because according to the ALS Association’s latest press release, in the last two months alone they’ve attracted 1.3 million NEW donors and raised $67.7 million MORE than they did during the same period last year.
So seriously, who cares if your cousins post a video of them dumping water on their heads without any intentions of making a donation, or if President Obama “only gave $100” when you think that he should’ve given more. This goofy, little viral charity gimmick has been a monumental success this summer, and everyone from movie stars to politicians to athletes to CEOs to your obnoxious, little cousins are all helping to spread the word around the Internet that has gotten more donations for this terrible disease than ever before!
It’s a great thing, so stop being such a sourpuss about it and just be amazed! Unlike the next stupid cat video or political scandal, this one is actually doing a lot of good, so can’t we just enjoy that without trying to poke holes in the bucket?