A campaign in which celebrities and politicians dump ice water on themselves has raised millions for ALS research in a matter of weeks.

YouTube
Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, is among the growing list of famous people taking the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.
By:Jane GersterStaff Reporter, Published on Tue Aug 19 2014
Photos View photos
• zoom
The Ice Bucket Challenge might seem like a goofy social media gimmick, but it’s hard to deny its fundraising force: the money’s still rolling in.
The viral fundraiser — in which people, including a growing list of celebrities and politicians, dump buckets of frigid water over their heads in the name of ALS awareness — has raised $15.7 million for the ALS Association in the U.S. in a little under three weeks, up from just $1.9 million during the same time period in 2013.
And since the Challenge crossed the border last week, ALS Canada has added almost 3,000 new donors to its registry, raising more than $130,000 and counting.
It’s just the latest example of a savvy campaign to raise awareness and cash for a charitable cause.
“It’s a really great way to introduce a very difficult subject,” says Peter Hempel, CEO of DDB Group New York, creators of the viral Water is Life campaign, which featured people in developing nations reading out tweets using the popular Twitter hashtag #firstworldproblems.

VIEW 4 PHOTOS
zoom
YouTube
Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, is among the growing list of famous people taking the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease without a cure. Between 2,500 and 3,000 Canadians live with ALS and most die within two to five years, robbed of the ability to walk, talk and finally swallow and breathe.
The now viral Ice Bucket Challenge started earlier this summer. Challengers take a video of themselves pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads and then dare others to do the same, giving them 24 hours to complete the task or give a donation to the ALS Association. Many do both, although American President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper both opted to donate sans ice.

TBS
Conan O’Brien shivers after taking the challenge.
In recent days, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Justin Bieber, Kylie Jenner, Drake, Conan O’Brien and Rob FordToronto Mayor Rob Ford are among those who have filmed themselves getting drenched by icy water.
Hempel dismisses cynics who say if you truly care you should opt out of the fanfare and simply donate.
“There’s always going to be a critic in everything,” he says. “When we did the Bucket List (a follow-up to #firstworldproblems), there was no money going to the fund. Now there’s money for the fund. That’s good.”

NHL
Montreal Canadiens player P.K. Subban got a serious soaking.
Already ALS Canada has seen its reach expand beyond its core group of those with a personal connection, says interim CEO Tammy Moore.
“The awareness this has created and the people it’s drawn out that we now know have a connection to the disease, its simply phenomenal,” says Moore. Up until now, ALS Canada has mostly used social media as a way to communicate, not fundraise.
And while it’s hard to know exactly what makes one campaign go viral over another, Hempel says it all starts with “a great idea.”

You Tube
Justin Bieber steps up to the challenge
The #nomakeupselfie, which raised millions for cancer research earlier this year, started with novelist Laura Lippman, who posted a #nomakeupselfie in solidarity with actress Kim Novak, who was heavily criticized online following her Oscars appearance.
The #firstworldproblems campaign started with the idea of putting developing world issues into stark perspective using the popular hashtag, which people use to discuss issues like “the pain of going back to a BlackBerry after an iPhone.”
“The most important thing is to tie (the challenge) to awareness of the issue and then people will be riled up by what we told them. Then we give them a place to go,” Hempel says. “You have to make it very easy for the respondent to do something.”