Bottom Line: The Ice Bucket Challenge Worked

The Ice Bucket Challenge has now raised over $20 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) according to Today's website. Celebrities and everyday citizens alike have dumped ice water on their heads and then challenged more to do the same or donate X amount of dollars to ALS. Some have even done both.

This has created a snowball effect that will change the way charities operate in the future to varying degrees. This is not the first challenge to surface on social media, but it's the most effective and has been such a success that organizations around the world will take notice. Gone are the days that charities approach the wealthy and spend a majority of their resources convincing them to donate (of course, that will still happen to a lesser extent). Now, charities will focus on channeling their cause via social networks in a creative way to raise awareness and, in turn, funds.

I've read posts on Facebook from some people that are growing tired of the Ice Bucket Challenge mania! Seriously?! So you can see more pictures of what your friends ate last night or what girl/guy was hanging on your ex at the bar last night?

This is social networking at its best! The idea that we can come together, have fun and help out a great cause is something that this technology has afforded us. Why not take advantage of it?

I realize that many have criticized the Ice Bucket Challenge for doing nothing to raise awareness about ALS. Well, thanks to search engines and the world wide web, clarifying what it is is just a few clicks away. I couldn't disagree more with this sentiment.

The reason the Ice Bucket Challenge has been so successful is because it doesn't require people to recite the symptoms of ALS or know exactly what it does to your body. If you can include that into your challenge video, more power to you! I'm sure many, like me, have researched the disease upon hearing about the Ice Bucket Challenge.

The awareness is created once you see someone dumping water over their head in the name of ALS. If you weren't proactive about finding out more three weeks ago when the first video popped up in your News Feed, you probably were last week when it was littered with videos of people taking a few minutes out of their day to remind you ALS is out there (albeit in the simplest way).

I did the Ice Bucket Challenge last Saturday and can't upload the video into this blog post because of technical issues. In addition to doing 'the dump', I also made a contribution on the ALS website. If you have the means, I strongly encourage you to do the same.

The context of the Ice Bucket Challenge can be seen in the video below. You might want to grab a few tissues.