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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The Changing Face of Charity

    In the aftermath of last summer's sudden fad for the victims of Lou Gehrig's Disease, American charities were struck with “Ice Bucket Fever.” People raised $115 million for the ALS Foundation — a charity that took in less than $3 million in August of last year — by dumping ice on their heads.

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    By Warren Olney • Dec 8, 2014 • 1 min read

    In the aftermath of last summer's sudden fad for the victims of Lou Gehrig's Disease, American charities were struck with “Ice Bucket Fever.” People raised $115 million for the ALS Foundation — a charity that took in less than $3 million in August of last year — by dumping ice on their heads. But the exercise in viral giving was not sustainable for humanitarian fundraising. Charities that go viral are not always cost effective. Why do people donate to one thing and not another? Can Social Media help lift the level of giving above the tiny percentage of GDP, where it's languished for years?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Charitable Giving in the Era of the Ice Bucket Challenge
    1. 1:50The Luxury Cachet of… Detroit?
    2. 8:41The Changing Face of CharityYou’re reading this
    3. 45:12Football, the Newest Partisan Divide
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Claire Martin

      Producer, To the Point/Which Way LA?

    • KCRW placeholder

      Dan Pallotta

      Charity Defense Council

    • KCRW placeholder

      Stacy Palmer

      Chronicle of Philanthropy

    • KCRW placeholder

      Henry Timms

      Giving Tuesday

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Charitable Giving in the Era of the Ice Bucket Challenge
    1. 1:50The Luxury Cachet of… Detroit?
    2. 8:41The Changing Face of CharityYou’re reading this
    3. 45:12Football, the Newest Partisan Divide
    Back to To the Point