Cold cash just keeps washing in from ALS challenge

In the couple of hours it took an official from the ALS Association to return a reporter's call for comment, the group's ubiquitous "ice bucket challenge" had brought in a few million more dollars.

Approaching $100 million, the viral fund-raising campaign for the ailment also known as Lou Gehrig's disease has put the ALS group into the top ranks for medical-charity donations. Since the end of July, the money has sloshed in at a rate of about $9 million a week.

It has caught everyone off-guard, none more so than those at the ALS Association itself. But they know this is likely a one-off phenomenon, and the group now faces the task of spending the money wisely. Research, care, and advocacy are the group's three main missions - but officials say they don't know exactly how they'll use the astonishing windfall.

"We realize there are responsibilities that come with being good stewards of these dollars," says Carrie Munk, the association's spokeswoman.

Part of what's surprising is that ALS - or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - is one of those "orphan" diseases affecting relatively few people. It is a neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis and death, and the association estimates that 5,600 new cases are diagnosed in this country each year.

This campaign hasn't put the charity in the same neighborhood as giants like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, or Susan G. Komen for the Cure - which raised $889 million, $529 million, and $310 million last year, respectively. But it's moving into the same zip code.

In case you've been under the proverbial rock, here are the basic rules: Someone issues a challenge - that you allow yourself to be doused with a bucket of ice and water, like winning coaches on the sidelines. Then, the challengee has 24 hours to make a $100 donation to the ALS Association or submit to the water torture.

Everyone from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates to former President George W. Bush has been doused. The Internet and airwaves are awash in videos of people taking the challenge - even if they fully intend to write the check.

And now others are co-opting the challenge for their causes.

Actor Matt Damon dumped toilet water over his head to call attention to his passion - safe drinking water. Orlando Jones of the TV series Sleepy Hollow showered himself with bullets in the wake of black teenager Michael Brown's shooting death in Ferguson, Mo.

The American Institute of Philanthropy's CharityWatch gave the ALS Association a B+ rating for spending about 73 percent of its cash budget on programs. Analyst Stephanie Kalivas has no reason to believe that rating will need to be downgraded.

"We will definitely be keeping an eye out for them," she says. "Hopefully, they won't be wasteful with it."