Why the Ice Bucket Challenge cuts no ice with me

I knew it was only a matter of time before I got tagged. It’s a genius idea, really. It follows the 6 degrees of separation concept – everyone in the world is connected so that eventually everyone with a Facebook or Twitter account will get tagged to take part in the challenge. It’s taken on such a life that people follow along because no one wants to be marked as the asshole who stopped the game, the asshole who didn't take part.

Well, in danger being labelled the asshole I have decided to not take part and have several reasons for my decision. This decision was not made so that I could be the nonconformist who is trying to stand out from the crowd or to be the rebel who willingly chooses the unpopular path. I have outlined my reasons below in no particular order of importance.

Firstly, and this reason has been denounced on the internet, I don’t see the need for thousands of people to pour fresh water over their heads and promote doing it. Like most people in the first world, I waste enough water and don’t need an excuse to promote wasting more. I thought the original idea was to either donate $100 or dump the cold water, but not both. Patrick Stewart has probably the classiest Ice Bucket Challenge with arguably little water used, and others have taken part while also drawing attention to their own cause. Matt Damon poured toilet water over his head to support ALS but also to draw attention to his own cause for clean water at Water.org. A journalist in Gaza did his own take with the Rubble Bucket Challenge, using the most readily available material to him, and his cause was for the Palestinians living in Gaza. I congratulate these individuals on finding their own way to take part in the challenge but it hasn’t convinced me to do my own or compelled me to come up with another material to dump on my head.

Secondly, I've seen the numbers in regards to research dollars spent per disease versus the number of deaths. It seems to me that my hard earned dollars would be better spent on something that has a greater chance of affecting me or someone close to me. Maybe this is an incredibly selfish way of looking at it, but it’s my take on the argument that we should only donate by the numbers. Earlier this month the internet was awash with grief over the suicide of Robin Williams, but how many people bothered to donate to mental health research or even to call someone who suffers from depression just to make sure they got out of bed? Don’t think you know anyone who suffers from depression? You do. 20% of Canadians will personally experience a mental illness and 8% of adults in Canada will suffer from major depression. These numbers correlate with numbers in the UK, while the US and France reportedly have rates of depression at 19% and 21% respectively.

Thirdly, I like to make sure I know where my money is going. I’ve looked at ALSA expenses and at a glance I can see that they spend more on Public and Professional Education than they do on research, but when I looked at the downloadable documents I couldn't quite figure out what Public and Professional Education entails. Others who have dug deeper and looked at tax returns have found that 50% of ALSA revenues go to Administration and Salaries with the CEO earning more than $300,000 a year. There are some charities I have donated to that have publicity as their goal, and I’m okay with that. I know what those charities do and I have personally decided that I am okay with my money being used to create a bigger voice for a particular cause. But it seems like the Ice Bucket Challenge has been marketed to raise money for research only the association’s numbers don’t fully reflect this with only 27% of revenues being spent on research last year. Maybe someone can correct me on the numbers, but if I am going to donate to research I want to be sure that’s where my money will end up.

There’s also part of me that doesn't like the peer pressure. If you don’t succumb to the pressure and take part in the challenge then you run the risk of being labelled selfish, offensive, an outsider, a spoil sport. We all use the internet and social media to support and promote our own causes – animal rights, women’s rights, the environment, poverty, health issues, the importance of education, and the list goes on. It’s a great medium for sharing and learning, and of course entertainment. An internet sensation like the Ice Bucket Challenge fills the entertainment quota and ensures that pretty much everyone with access to social media will eventually get tagged, but I just don’t think that’s right. There is a fine line between promoting a cause and pressuring people, and I think the Ice Bucket Challenge crosses that line. For those who want to, what’s wrong with taking part and simply providing information for others who want to do the same? People shouldn't be forced to donate through a nomination process.

Lastly, I feel that charitable giving is personal. It’s even called Personal Giving by many organisations. I cannot give to every cause so I have consciously chosen the areas and causes that mean the most to me and I focus my charitable giving in those areas. I donate money when my budget allows and I donate my time when the opportunity is available. I give to causes that mean something to me. Giving to charities is supposed to help the charity but we also do it because it makes us feel good. Giving, be it time or money, is one of the things that contributes to a happy life, but to have an effect on happiness it has to mean something to the giver. Research has found that kids share more when given the choice and I think this also applies to adults and charitable giving.

So, while I won’t be taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, I will be giving where I can, in my own way, to the things that matter most to me. I hope everyone else does the same.