Many people bemoan the presence of social media, especially Facebook. Certainly there are people who post WAY too much, people who get into the “too much information mode”, and people who show a mean spirited side of themselves they might not reveal in face-to-face interactions.

Despite all of that, the sheer magnitude of people on these sites, especially Facebook, makes it possible to spread information farther and faster than we could have imagined even just a few years ago.

 

Case in Point: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last month, you have likely encountered the ice bucket challenge.

The ALS Association’s website has a section that described the Ice Bucket Challenge:

The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, and then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. People can either accept the challenge or make a donation to an ALS Charity of their choice, or do both.

Read the rest of the article at http://www.alsa.org/news/archive/ice-bucket-challenge.html

I was happy to see our local newspaper The Denver Post run a front page article on this incredible fundraiser in their 8/23/14 issue: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_26390793/ice-bucket-challenge-has-nonprofits-rethinking-approach-fundraising

It’s so heartwarming to learn that over $80 million has been raised to support the work of the ALS Association in just over a month. To put this in perspective, just over $2 million was raised in the same time period last year. And, even those who don’t donate are helping to spread the word about what the ALS Association does.

My husband was the one who challenged me to either dump ice water or my head or give money to the ALS Association. In our case, we each did both, and passed on the challenge by nominating others to do the same.

What is ALS?

Quoting from the About ALS page of the ALS Association’s website:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost.

 Lou Gehrig was already one of baseball’s most beloved players when he was voted the best first basemen of all time by the Baseball Writers’ Association. After he was diagnosed with ALS in 1939, he became so identified with this horrific disease that, although he died two years later at the age of 38, to this day, at least in the US, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

While not famous like Lou Gehrig, my mom Natalie Eder also succumbed to the disease that bears his name. She was diagnosed in June of 1992 and died on September 2, 1993, at the age of 71. She was such an inspiration to me when she was alive, and her memory lives with me every day.

 

How About You?

Have you participated in the ice bucket challenge? How has social media affected your decisions about charitable giving?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.