ALS ICE Bucket Challenge

robh2 · Aug 22, 2014

I have a small non profit. The smaller you are the more goes to overhead and less to the mission in most cases. Just the way it is. There is always an expense. Our organization is all volunteer for that very reason. We want our funds going where it needs to go. Our fixed overhead is 10% for lawyers, accounting and such, plus we have travel and other similar expenses just like any business. Most of our donations are music instruments since music therapy for wounded is what we do. Those donations obviously can't cover business expenses so you have to consider what donations are and what they can be used for. Guidestar can give you some info bit not everything. How many non profit divisions are run under that same Federal ID. You will only find the parent non profit and not the ones that operate under it. It can all get confusing if you don't know what your looking at and looking for.

xiggi · Aug 22, 2014

asjssl said:
Information came from guidestar ..tax returns dont lie...dont shoot the messenger..

Right and the tax return shows what I wrote. They spent about 25% on salaries and benefits. Even less on their 2013 return.

cheri1122 · Aug 22, 2014

RedBird said:
Cheri,
There is nothing in my comment that states about people being told how much money to donate!!!!! You give what you can afford to give!

My point is that some people are saying this is silly. But it's not. It's a way to raise awareness and raise money to find research to find a cure.

Think about this! When Avon does their breast cancer 4 day walk, you must pay to sign up to walk. Is that not extortion? When comedian/actor Jerry Lewis does his MS telethons and parades all the stars and the young children in wheel chairs across the stage on national television in hopes of getting donations making you feel sad and sorry, is that not extortion? Well actually that is exploitation!

But my point is made! And if you understand the challenge some people do the bucket thing and don't pay. Others do the bucket and also pay!

No disrespect to Jack Berry (RIP) or his memory he was my friend too! But anybody who has a loved one who's been inflicted with this disease knows the pain and suffering. But you being a former nurse should know its a cruel disease!

My original comment so please go back and re-read it, is simply stating to someone who commented, it being silly and dumb, is that it is not!

Everything I've seen, including the OP, says "Donate $100 or dump a bucket of ice water over your head". So before I know anything, that rubs me the wrong way, because I don't like being told what to do [except by those who have that authority]. I especially don't like being 'challenged' to donate to a good cause, because that is something I consider personal: nobody else's business. That's just how I feel about it.
You can say the challenge is wonderful, I can say it's dumb, and you know, we can both be right - because it's an opinion.
I understand it's been wildly successful, but have you thought about the endless list of other 'good' causes that may jump on the bandwagon?
Will you accept every 'challenge', if the cause is deserving?

xiggi · Aug 22, 2014

What amazes me is people working so hard to be offended or find fault. Don't like it fine but that's no reason to try to convince others they shouldn't either.

asjssl · Aug 22, 2014

xiggi said:
What amazes me is people working so hard to be offended or find fault. Don't like it fine but that's no reason to try to convince others they shouldn't either.

....
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mjmsprt40 · Aug 23, 2014

Somebody mentioned the Avon Walk. That's a little different. Nobody is telling you that you have to donate or walk in the Avon thing. Even if there is a "sign up fee" to partake in the Avon Walk, by the time you get to the point of pulling out your wallet to pay the fee you've already decided you're gonna do it for the sake of the charity that you're supporting.

This ALS challenge has smelled of extortion-- sorry, I have no other word for it-- from the get-go. "Give $100 to ALS research or get a bucket of ice-water dumped on your head, and it will be videoed and posted on Facebook!" Sorry, pal-- but if it wasn't for the fact that you're supporting a charity, this would be criminal extortion. The fact that your victim may have already given to ALS-- but it wasn't done on camera and wasn't posted on Facebook-- doesn't count-- give money NOW or get soaked.

If you want a dictionary definition of criminal extortion--- this would do.

About that other explanation-- that getting doused in icewater somehow mimics ALS symptoms--- I'm calling B S on that for the very simple reason that until I read it here on EO, NOBODY ELSE said anything beyond the "Give $100 or get soaked" mantra that's gone viral now.

I don't even want to get into the "attention whoring" aspect of the thing-- again, it's all for the cameras and Facebook---.

cheri1122 · Aug 23, 2014

xiggi said:
What amazes me is people working so hard to be offended or find fault. Don't like it fine but that's no reason to try to convince others they shouldn't either.

What amazes me is that explaining why one feels this way is applauded, while explaining why one feels that way is belittled. If you like it, that's a reason to try to convince others they should too, but if you don't like it, that's not a reason to share your conclusions? Why is dissent unacceptable?
And finally, why is the "hard work" of finding fault or being offended [not really an accurate portrayal, but we'll go with it], a negative attribute? Is exercising one's grey matter a habit to be disparaged? Or are the conclusions that agree with everyone else's the only ones that are welcomed?
Echo chambers lose their appeal very quickly.