--- title: How Much Money Has The ALS Made From The Ice Bucket Challenge? description: You've seen the videos of people take on the Ice Bucket Challenge. Apparently, the challenge also has people donating money. canonical: https://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-11T19:37:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:58:03.250Z article:section: Health og:title: Here's How Much Money the ALS Ice-Water Stunt Has Collected og:description: The organization says it's "thrilled and completely amazed" og:url: https://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d14fcf907459d24/69869f14e53aba51564d3f39/als-ice-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3222 og:image:height: 1812 og:image:alt: Ice Bucket Challenge og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Much Money the ALS Ice-Water Stunt Has Collected twitter:description: The organization says it's "thrilled and completely amazed" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d14fcf907459d24/69869f14e53aba51564d3f39/als-ice-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:33 video:published: 2014-08-11 section: health topics: Ice Bucket Challenge, ALS, social media trends, charitable giving, viral campaigns, neurodegenerative disease, celebrity participation, donations genre: news explainer, feature tones: informative, curious, hopeful, skeptical emotions: hope (medium), skepticism (low), enthusiasm (medium) sentiment: positive audience: general news readers, social media users, charitable donors, health advocates people: Pete Frates, Ansel Elgort, Martha Stewart, Barbara Newhouse organizations: TIME, Boston College, Boston.com, ALS Association, Boston Herald, CBS WBZ News Radio products: Twitter, Facebook content_suitability: health controversy [00:54-01:04]; death [00:09-00:21] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Here's How Much Money the ALS Ice-Water Stunt Has Collected > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=59731e87-ad9e-46f0-baa0-d6da105d0a08&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge [Watch (HLS stream): It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GIHofBBD.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2014-08-11. If you’ve seen people all over your newsfeed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you’re not alone. The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video explains the Ice Bucket Challenge, a social media trend in which people dump buckets of ice water on themselves and challenge others to do the same or donate to ALS charities. It describes how former Boston College pitcher Pete Frates, who has a neurodegenerative disease, helped the challenge go viral, and notes celebrity participation. It also covers skeptical reactions and reports a sharp rise in donations to the ALS Association. ## Key points - The challenge requires a person to dump ice water on themselves and then challenge six others to do the same within 24 hours or donate $100 to an ALS charity. (00:24) - Former Boston College pitcher Pete Frates, diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, helped the challenge go viral. (00:09) - Frates was diagnosed with the disease in 2012. (00:18) - Celebrities such as Ansel Elgort and Martha Stewart joined the challenge. (00:37) - Boston.com and Frates's parents organized a mass ice bucket challenge last Thursday, after which the website challenged New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. (00:42) - Some questioned the challenge's effect, with a Twitter user quoted by the Boston Herald saying dumping ice water cannot cure a disease. (00:54) - Frates responded via Facebook that this kind of exposure is what the ALS community needs to attempt to find a cure. (01:01) - The ALS Association raised more than $168,000 in online donations in the past week, compared to $14,000 over the same time frame last year. (01:24) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:24] Origins and mechanics of the challenge. The video introduces the trend and explains how the challenge works and who started it. - [00:24 to 00:42] Celebrity and organized participation. Celebrities joining the challenge and the organized mass challenge by Boston.com and Frates's parents are described. - [00:42 to 01:33] Criticism and donation impact. Skeptical views on the challenge are weighed against Frates's response and the spike in ALS Association donations. ## Key quotes - [00:54] Twitter user: "I don't see how dumping a bucket of ice water over your head can cure a disease." - [01:01] Pete Frates: "exposure like this is what the ALS community needs so we can even attempt to find a cure and reversal for people living with this insidious disease." ## Questions this video answers - What is the Ice Bucket Challenge? [00:24] - Who helped the Ice Bucket Challenge go viral? [00:09] - Which celebrities have joined the challenge? [00:37] - Has the challenge affected donations to ALS charities? [01:24] - Why do some people question the challenge's effectiveness? [00:54] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:54-01:04]: A critic questions whether the challenge can cure a disease, and the video discusses a serious neurodegenerative illness. - death [00:09-00:21]: Mentions a diagnosis of a fatal neurodegenerative disease without graphic detail.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Aug 11, 2014 7:37 PM UTC If you’ve seen people all over your newsfeed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you’re not alone. The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Aug 11, 2014 7:37 PM UTC As people continue to dump ice on their heads, money continues to roll in. The ALS Association national office reported collecting $5.5 million in donations since July 29, compared with $32,00o in the same time period last year. Nearly 150,000 new donors have contributed. --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:00] If you've seen people all over your news feed dumping [00:02] buckets of ice water on themselves, you're not alone. [00:05] The ice bucket challenge is ironically one of the hottest [00:09] things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS [00:12] foundations. The challenge went viral thanks to former [00:15] Boston College pitcher Pete Frates, who was diagnosed [00:18] with a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou [00:21] Gehrig's disease disease in 2012. So what does the [00:24] challenge entail? A person dumps ice water on [00:27] themselves and then challenges six other people to do [00:30] the same in 24 hours or donate $ 100 to an ALS [00:37] charity. Celebrities such as The Fault in Our Stars actor [00:40] Ansel Elgort and Martha Stewart have joined in on the [00:42] challenge. Boston. com and. Frank's parents organized [00:46] a mass ice bucket challenge last Thursday, after which, [00:49] the website challenged New York City, Los Angeles, [00:52] and Chicago. Some questioned the effect of the ice [00:54] bucket challenge with the Boston Herald quoting a [00:56] Twitter user as saying. I don't see how dumping a [00:59] bucket of ice water over your head can cure a disease. [01:01] Meanwhile Frates told the paper, via Facebook, that [01:04] exposure like this is what the ALS community needs so [01:08] we can even attempt to find a cure and reversal for [01:11] people living with this insidious disease. The challenge [01:14] has led to a spike in donations for the ALS Association. [01:17] The foundation's president, Barbara Newhouse, told [01:20] CBS's WBZ News Radio that the organization raised [01:24] more than $ 168, 000 in online donations in the past [01:27] week, compared to just $ 14, 000 over the same time [01:31] frame last year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/"},"headline":"Here's How Much Money the ALS Ice-Water Stunt Has Collected","datePublished":"2014-08-11T19:37:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:58:03.250Z","description":"More than $1 million was raised over the weekend","url":"https://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/","keywords":["Research","ansel elgort","martha stewart","Lou Gehrig's disease","ALS","Ice Bucket Challenge","als ice bucket challenge"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d14fcf907459d24/69869f14e53aba51564d3f39/als-ice-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d14fcf907459d24/69869f14e53aba51564d3f39/als-ice-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ice Bucket Challenge","caption":"Ice Bucket Challenge","creditText":"Elise Amendola—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket-challenge-fundraising/","name":"Here's How Much Money the ALS Ice-Water Stunt Has Collected"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge","description":"If you’ve seen people all over your newsfeed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you’re not alone. 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