In one version of the challenge, the participant is expected to donate at least $10 if they have completed the challenge. Another was to donate $100 if they have not completed it ("Donguines"). In another version, dumping the ice water over the participant's head is done in lieu of any donation. However, this variation has led to some criticisms of the challenge and being called a form of "slacktivism" ("Kosinki"). The best-case scenario was that many participants would donate $100 in addition to doing the challenge ("Donguines"). .
The participation in the event was incredible. According to data from BBC News, there has been more than 28 million ice bucket challenge videos uploaded to social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram ("Townsend"). Even many celebrities participated in the challenge as well. For example, pro basketball superstar LeBron James accepted the challenge, along with donating and then he nominated President Barack Obama to do the challenge ("Brooke"). However President Obama declined and pledged to make a donation instead ("Goldberg"). Others like George Bush, and Ben Affleck, and Justin Bieber did it as well, just to name a few. Then Charlie Sheen did not participate but reportedly donated $10,000 to the cause ("Townsend"). My two older brothers and I also participated in the challenge in late July, completing it and also donating $20 each to ALS research. Although obviously not everyone made donations, the awareness caused others to donate who may not have partaken in the challenge. The most recent update of the donation tab is a massive total of $113.3 Million ("Silverman"). This is a 3500% increase in donations to the ALS Association compared to a year prior ("Vultaggio").
One of the biggest talks of the Ice Bucket Challenge was where is the money actually going.
