This year, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has become a viral phenomenon, serving as a source of entertainment amongst Facebook friends, and in its best effort raising awareness for a disease that once would have been unthinkable. ALS Association says it affects “30,000 Americans at any given time.” Online costume shop Brands on Sale has even started selling one Ice Bucket Challenge Costume in honor of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in preparation for Halloween.
As of August 29, 2014, the ALS Association has raised $100.9 million, according to one pers conference on the web page.
The world has many problems, and in a way it can be argued that it’s an accidental “good” when people take the time to pause and act on behalf of problems we do not all the time pay attention to.
Still, it is more than a little disconcerting when the attention paid to causes often appears to be only on a superficial level, with no forethought to the implications of the disease or the organization that represents it.
Concept of moral license to be important; William MacAskill, founder and president of 80,000 Hours, writes about this quartz.com“if someone donates $100 to the ALS Association [or any organization, for that matter]he will likely donate less to other charities.”
And 100 million dollars—where did all that money go, really?
According to a details of the ALS Association’s spending, only 27% of spending is spent on research alone. The Association confirmed it mission is a three-pronged approach to tackling this disease—public policy, research, and treatment services. Analyzing the pie chart in the breakdown of associations, you’ll see that spending for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2014 was assigned 32% (general and experienced education), 27% (research), and 19% (patients). and community service).
Indeed, these three sectors or “branches” make up the biggest share of the spending pie, even though you’ll observe that research and community service still make up a somewhat small percentage combined at 46% (27% + 19%), compared to organizations such as Cross Red and the Salvation Army, which they spend 91% and 82% of their expenses on, respectively direct help. Based on Charity Navigatora non-profit organization that evaluates charities in the US, Save the Children, Alex’s Lemonade StandAnd American Heart Association spend 90%, 86% and 78% of their expenses respectively on program costs and direct services. The ALS Association is judged to provide 73% of its services on program costs, right under the general recommendation that people donate to organizations that give 75% of their money raised to direct efforts.
At this time, the ALS Association said they were unable to provide details on how any dollars donated by Ice Bucket would be assigned. Under the FAQ section of the ALS website, it states, “While research and care services to patients and their families are our top priority, we are unable to provide details at this time. . .Now and in the coming weeks, we will be able to enhance our strategic plan, reformulating and re-drafting strategy with input from stakeholders, including our donors, our chapters, and most importantly, people living with ALS and their families.”
The association states that if you want your donation 100% is given to researchAll you must do is tick the research box on the online donation form (or include the instructions on the submitted donation form).
Ultimately, raising awareness of ALS is helpful, as is raising awareness of several other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, ParkinsonsAnd Huntington’s disease, just to name a few examples. However, like any consumer of any good product, it helps to do personal research on a cause—whatever it’s—and where the funds are being assigned, before throwing the bucket or taking on the challenge. After all, the world needs more than attention to the issues that count; it requires genuine awareness and respect for victims of adversity, which is struck in the balance between responsible fundraising and awareness building.
