冰桶挑戰超兩億善款該怎麼花

Ice bucket challenge videos raising money for the ALS Association charity have saturated Facebook news feeds in the last month. It’s easy to participate in the very viral video campaign: film yourself pouring a bucket of ice water over your head, then challenge a friend or frenemy to do the same within 24 hours. At first, the dousing would substitute for sending a check to the ALSA, but many participants now do both. This week former President George W. Bush, actor Ben Affleck, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and General Electric chief executive Jeff Immelt became the most recent famous faces to get soaked.

從上個月開始，Facebook的新聞推送放目望去幾乎全是各類爲美國肌萎縮性脊髓側索硬化症(ALS——國內又稱“漸凍人”)協會募捐的“冰桶挑戰”（Ice bucket challenge）視頻。要參與這項瘋狂傳播的病毒視頻活動非常簡單：你只需往頭上澆一桶冰水，錄下視頻，然後挑戰一位朋友或“敵友”在24小時內做同樣的事情。起初，參與者可選擇向ALS協會寄一張支票，來代替往頭上澆冰水，但現在許多參與者會選擇合二爲一。本週接受了“溼身”挑戰的名人包括美國前總統小布什、演員本•阿弗萊克、《Vogue》雜誌主編安娜•溫圖爾，以及通用電氣（General Electric）首席執行官傑夫•伊梅爾特。

At some point the ice bucket campaign will dry up, and photos of your friends’ kids and cats will again dominate your news feed. But the challenges for the ALS Association will just be beginning.

“冰桶挑戰”終會有結束的一天，曬孩子和貓咪的照片將在新聞推送中捲土重來。但對ALS協會來說，種種挑戰纔剛剛開始。

Since July 29, the ice bucket challenge has raised $41.8 million for ALSA, which helps fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a Disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. That eight-figure sum far surpasses the $2.1 million ALSA raised in the same period last year, and more than doubles the total revenue the organization generated all of last fiscal year ending January 2014—$24 million, according to its most recent 990 tax form. ALSA told Fortune it recorded donations worth $10.1 million on Wednesday alone.

自7月29日以來，“冰桶挑戰”已經爲ALS協會募集了4,180萬美元（約合2.57億元人民幣），這筆捐款將被用於治療肌肉萎縮性側索硬化症，該疾病會影響腦部和脊柱的神經細胞，又被稱爲盧•格里克病。高達八位數的捐款遠遠超過了ALS協會去年同期募集的210萬美元，甚至比該組織在上一財年（至2014年1月結束）的總收入還多。據ALS協會最近提交的稅務報表顯示，其上一財年的收入爲2,400萬美元。這家協會告訴《財富》雜誌（Fortune），僅上週三一天ALS便收到了1,010萬美元的捐款，創下了其單日最高記錄。

So the question now is this: what is ALSA going to do with all that money?

一個問題隨之而來：ALS協會要怎麼處理這些錢？

Though the term implies otherwise, as a non-profit, ALSA is under no legal obligation to spend its ice bucket windfall, says Thad Calabrese, a professor of public and non-profit management at New York University. While that may be true, industry standards and the donating public expect otherwise; they want the organization to dole out the funds.

紐約大學（New York University）公共機構與非盈利機構管理教授薩德•卡拉布里亞表示，雖然“非盈利”這個詞包含有其他意思，但ALS協會在冰桶挑戰善款支出上無需承擔任何法律義務。儘管如此，行業準則和捐款的公衆都期待ALS協會能善用這筆錢：分次少量發放。

With an eye toward transparency and donor education, watchdog groups like Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, and Charity Watch have long laid out guidelines for how non-profits should spend their donations and rate or accredit charities based on how well they keep to those rules.

出於對透明度和捐贈教育的考慮，慈善導航（Charity Navigator）、商業促進局（Better Business Bureau）下署的明智捐贈聯盟（Wise Giving Alliance）和慈善觀察（Charity Watch）等監督組織早已出臺了關於非盈利組織如何使用捐款的指導方針，並且會根據慈善機構遵守規定的情況對其進行評級或認證。

The breakdown of what percentage of donations a charity spends on administration, fundraising and “programming,” such as research and education, is a main component in how non-profits stack up. (Just how much weight should be placed on this spending measurement and the ratings in general is a flashpoint in the non-profit world, says Suzanne Perry, a senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy. “It’s a love-hate relationship. If [charities] get rated highly, they broadcast it everywhere. If they get a lower grade, the methodology is ‘flawed,’” she says.) In calculating their different scoring systems, the watchdog organizations agree that the majority of a non-profits’ revenue should be spent on programming: Charity Navigator pegs that percentage at 75; Better Business Bureau at 65%; and Charity Watch at 60%.

將慈善機構花在行政管理、資金募集和“項目”（如研究和教育等）的捐款按百分比進行分解，是對非盈利機構進行評級的主要形式。[《慈善紀事報》（Chronicle of Philanthropy）高級編輯蘇珊娜•佩裏表示，對於開支計量與評級的重視程度，在非盈利機構間一直存在爭議。“慈善機構對此褒貶不一。如果得到較高評級，他們會四處宣揚。但如果得到的評級較低，他們就會宣稱評級方法‘存在缺陷’。”] 監督組織均認爲，非盈利機構應該將大多數收入用於“項目”，在評分方法的不同計算上，：慈善導航認爲這一百分比爲75%；商業促進局認爲是65%；慈善觀察認爲在60%。

ALSA has measured up fairly well in trying to meet those expectations. According to Charity Navigator’s latest report, for instance, ALSA earned the highest four-star rating, in part, for spending 72% of its fiscal year 2013 revenue on programs and services; 11% went to administration costs while fundraising expenses ate up 16%.

以這些標準來看，ALS協會得分很高。例如，慈善導航最近的報告稱，ALS協會得到了最高的四星評級，部分原因是其將2013財年收入的72%用於項目和服務；11%作爲行政管理成本，資金募集開支佔16%。

While the ice bucket challenge has prompted an onslaught of donations, it’s chilled any prospect of ALSA duplicating those rosy watchdog figures in its current fiscal year. Charity Navigator’s annual spending metrics measure how charities distribute money they’ve generated that same year. “The reality is that fundraising for most charities is up and down, so we’re moving toward a multi-year review,” Charity Navigator CEO Ken Berger told Fortune. “Right now, though, it’s an annual snapshot.”

“冰桶挑戰”促使捐款金額猛增，卻讓ALS協會很難複製其在當前財年取得的樂觀的監管數據。慈善導航的年度開支指標會對慈善機構一年的資金進行評估。慈善導航CEO肯•伯格告訴《財富》雜誌：“事實上，大多數慈善機構募集的捐款金額都會有波動，因此我們計劃採用多年期評估。但目前依舊用的是年度評估的方法。”

That means—as Charity Navigator’s requirements stand now—in order to replicate its most recent 72% programming expenditure, ALSA would need to spend just over $30 million of its $41.8 million in ice bucket money on research and education by the end of its fiscal year in January.

這意味着，按照慈善導航目前的要求，爲了達到最近一年實現的72%的項目開支標準，ALS協會需要在截至明年一月的財年結束之前，從4,180萬美元的“冰桶挑戰”善款中拿出3,000萬美元用於研究和教育。

That’s a challenge ALSA doesn’t plan on meeting.

這是個令ALS協會措手不及的挑戰。

“When you’re doubling a budget, it can’t be spent all in same year,” says Lance Slaughter, chief chapter relations and development officer at ALSA. “If a [hypothetical] $3 million organization gets a $10 million bequest one year, there’s no way the members of its board can thoughtfully spend three times as much [in one year's time],” he says. “We’re going to work with these watchdog groups. They understand that anomalies take place.” Without the constraints of the year-end deadline, Slaughter says, the ALSA board will be able to thoughtfully plan how to use the money to further fund the organization’s current priorities: researching the disease and possible cures, providing compassionate care for ALS patients, and advocating for public policies that benefit people living with the disease.

協會首席分會關係與發展官蘭斯•斯勞特表示：“如果你的預算增加了一倍，你不可能在一年內全部花完。如果一家年收入300萬美元的組織某一年得到1,000萬美元的善款，這家組織不可能在這一年花完三倍的錢。我們將與慈善監督機構合作。他們能夠理解這種特殊情況。”斯勞特表示，如果沒有年底最終期限的限制，ALS協會的董事會可以仔細規劃如何利用這筆捐款，爲協會目前的重要工作提供資金：疾病與可能的治療方法研究，爲ALS患者提供周到的護理，以及倡導有利於ALS患者的公共政策。

In early August, before fully realizing just how much money the ice bucket campaign would generate, ALSA awarded 21 new grants worth $3.5 million to scientists in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Switzerland, Israel and Australia. The grants are all focused on “developing effective therapies for ALS,” Lucie Bruijn, ALSA’s chief scientist, said in a statement.

在八月初的時候，ALS協會尚未意識到“冰桶挑戰”能帶來多少捐款。當時，它撥給美國、英國、法國、加拿大、瑞士、以色列和澳大利亞的科學家們21筆資金，總計350萬美元。ALS協會首席科學家露西•布魯英在一份聲明中表示，撥款全部用於“探索ALS的有效療法。”

The influx of donations that ALSA has received since making that announcement “gives us confidence that we’ll have funding for these grants in their second and third years,” Slaughter says. The same holds true for the 11 new ALS clinics the organization had planned to open this year prior to the ice bucket campaign going viral. The organization already operates 34 clinics that provide multidisciplinary therapies to ALS patients; opening the new ones “was a leap of faith,” Slaughter says. The wave of donations recently is “an opportunity to provide greater funding [to the clinics],” he says.

斯勞特說，在發表聲明之後ALS協會收到的大筆捐款，“讓我們確信，我們在第二年和第三年仍然有足夠資金來資助研究。”這種情況也適用於該協會計劃新開的ALS診所。協會在“冰桶挑戰”瘋狂傳播之前曾計劃在今年新開11家ALS診所。目前，ALS協會已經開設了34家診所，專爲ALS患者提供多學科治療；斯勞特表示，開設新診所“是一次信心的飛躍”。他說道，最近的大筆捐款“讓我們有機會[爲診所]提供更多資金。”

There’s one element of the ice bucket campaign that will make the challenge of deciding how to spend the money a bit easier: the $41.8 million that ALSA has raised has come from individual donations that are unrestricted. That means that unlike some more traditional donations that are sometimes designated to a specific aspect of a charity’s mission, this money has arrived at ALSA with no strings attached.

“冰桶挑戰”活動中的特定因素讓如何使用善款的問題變得更簡單：迄今募集的4,180萬美元捐款均來自不受限制的個人捐贈。這意味着，該筆資金沒有任何附加條件，這與傳統的捐款有所不同。傳統捐款有時會被指定用於慈善機構的特定使命。

“From a non-profit’s perspective, all donations are great but some are better than others,” Calabrese says. And it’s good that ALSA has that flexibility because it has lots of options to consider.

卡拉布里亞表示：“從非盈利機構的角度來說，所有捐款都是好的，但某些更好。”擁有靈活性對ALS協會來說是好消息，它可以考慮許多選擇。

Aside from spending the money on promising, worthwhile research, both Calabrese from NYU and Patrick Rooney, associate dean for academic affairs and research at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, floated the idea of ALSA starting an endowment-like fund with the ice bucket money since it would turn what’s likely to be a one-time donation phenomenon into a reliable source of future revenue, and it could be tapped if some major medical advancement needs significant funding in the future.

除了將捐款用於一些有價值的前途無量的研究以外，紐約大學教授卡拉布里亞，和印第安納大學（Indiana University）禮來家族慈善學院（Lilly Family School of Philanthropy）學術事務與研究副院長帕特里克•魯尼均提出，ALS協會可以用“冰桶挑戰”募集的捐款成立一支類似於捐贈基金，這樣一來，協會不僅可以將一次性的捐款現象轉變爲可靠的未來收入來源，而且一旦未來有重大的醫療技術進步需要大量資金時，還可以動用該筆基金。

ALSA’s Slaughter says the organization has never had an endowment, and while “nothing’s off the table,” saving the ice bucket money for a rainy day doesn’t necessarily fit with the organization’s mission, mainly because “this is a disease that requires urgency,” Slaughter says. When the average life span of an ALS patient is between two and five years and ALSA has seen no improvement in mortality rates, there’s no time to waste.

ALS協會的斯勞特表示，協會之前沒有任何捐贈基金，然而，雖然“我們不排除任何可能”，但將“冰桶挑戰”的捐款存起來以備不時之需並不符合組織的使命，主要是因爲“這種疾病刻不容緩”。ALS患者的平均預期壽命爲兩至五年，而且ALS協會並未看到患者死亡率有任何改善，因此現在沒有時間可供浪費。

There’s an added challenge to spending the ice bucket money that stems from the fact that the ALS Association did not start the campaign, and as a result, never stated a specific mission behind it. That makes it difficult to pinpoint what individuals want to come from their donations. And disappointing donors isn’t a chance you want to take.

如何使用“冰桶挑戰”的捐款還有另外一個挑戰，因爲這項活動並非由ALS協會發起，結果，活動也沒有明確的使命。因此，協會很難確定個人捐贈者希望自己的捐款用於怎樣的目的。而讓捐贈者失望是要不得的。

Just ask the Red Cross.

不妨汲取一下紅十字會（Red Cross）的教訓。

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the relief organizations raised a record $564 million. Donors believed that their money would go to help victims of the attacks and their families, but the organization decided to set aside more than half of the funds for operations and future reserves. The Red Cross had a long-standing practice of taking such an approach, but it nonetheless sparked outrage among donors and prompted an apology from the Red Cross as well as the redirection of funds.

911恐怖襲擊之後，該救濟組織募得的資金達到創紀錄的5.64億美元。捐款者認爲，這筆資金應該用於幫助襲擊受害者及其家人，但紅十字會卻決定將超過一半的捐款用於機構運營和作爲未來資金儲備。長期以來，紅十字會一直都採取這種做法，但這一次卻引發了捐款者的衆怒，最終紅十字會被迫道歉並重新確定了捐款用途。

“When donors tell us that their money should be used for a specific purpose, it’s important for us to honor that intent,” Laura Howe, vice president of public relations for the Red Cross told Fortune. “It’s a lesson that we’ve learned over the years.”

紅十字會公共關係副總裁勞拉•霍伊對《財富》表示：“當捐款者告訴我們，他們的捐款應該用於特定目的時，我們必須尊重他們的意願，這非常重要。這也是我們得到的一條重要教訓。”

Slaughter says that in addition to generating donations, the ice bucket campaign has raised awareness of ALS, a disease that less than half of the country could identify when the association conducted a survey a few years ago. “They’ve learned that it’s degenerative and deadly. I don’t know that people are concerned about how we spend the money; they’re determined now that this is an unacceptable disease. If they took time to go to the website and donate…they feel that ours is a cause worth investing in,” Slaughter says.

斯勞特表示，除了帶來捐款以外，冰桶挑戰也提高了人們對ALS的認識，幾年前ALS協會進行的一項調查中，美國知道這種疾病的人還不到半數。斯勞特說：“他們開始瞭解到這種疾病是一種退化性疾病，並且會致命。我不知道人們是否會關心ALS如何使用這筆捐款；現在他們已明確認識到這是一種難以忍受的疾病。如果他們花時間瀏覽了網站並捐款——那是因爲他們認爲這項事業值得投資。”

ALSA certainly has a lot of spending decisions to make, but for the organization and the people it’s trying to save, there could not be a better challenge to face.

ALS協會必需做出大量的支出決策，但對於該組織和它努力拯救的那些人來說，這種挑戰真是幸事。

“The question that’s showing up out in the universe now is, ‘How much is too much?'” Slaughter says. “Until we have effective long-term treatment, we’ll never have enough.”

斯勞特表示：“現在的問題是：‘到底多少錢纔算太多？’除非我們找到有效的長期治療方法， 否則我們的捐款永遠處於不足狀態。”