The Ice Bucket Challenge raised $8.6 million in 24 hours, flooding the ALS Association with donations.
Barbara Newhouse, the nonprofit organization's president, said she hopes the gift will be a "game-changer" in the fight against the degenerative disease. However, it's not yet clear how the ALS Association plans to spend its windfall.
The charity revealed on Wednesday that it had received $31.5 million in total — an $8.6 million jump from Tuesday's total of $22.9 million. In comparison, during the same time last year (between July 29 and Aug. 19, 2013), the ALS Association only received $1.9 million.
“This amount of money … it opens up new opportunities that were previously unfathomable,” spokesperson Carrie Munk told Forbes.
However, the association has not yet defined those opportunities. "We need to be strategic in our decision-making, as to how the funds will be spent" in order for them to be a "real game-changer for ALS,” Newhouse said.
The ALS Association has already awarded $3.5 million in research grants to find treatments and a cure for ALS.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush, NBA legend Michael Jordan, and singers Katy Perry and Rita Ora have all recently uploaded Ice Bucket Challenge videos to YouTube.
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