Celebrities and everyday people are signing up to be doused with a bucket of ice cold water -- that is, for the sake of fighting against Lou Gehrig's disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The challenge is almost like a pyramid scheme: a person is given a choice to either donate US$100 to the ALS Association or be filmed while iced water is dumped on him. This person is then required to reach out to three or more people via social media to repeat the process of choosing between the two options.

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Celebrities such as "Today Show" host Matt Lauer, actress Elizabeth Banks, former 'N Sync member Lance Bass and even the New England Patriots allowed themselves to get doused with ice water.

President Barack Obama opted to give a donation instead.

The money raised helps raise funds for the organization and being drenched helps raise awareness about the debilitating disease.

The campaign kicked off on July 29 and over 71,000 donors have donated US$2.3 million dollars since then. That's a 1,000 percent spike in donations the organization usually receives.

Just over this weekend, the group managed to raise more than US$1 million.

Carrie Munk, the spokeswoman for the ALS Association, said they didn't think they would be as successful as they've been.

She noted that everyone in the organization is simply "thrilled and completely amazed" at the amount they've generated in such a small amount of time.

John Frates launched the campaign by posting the first ice bucket video on Facebook last July. Frates did it for his 29-year old son Peter, who has ALS.

"I think the only two people left who haven't done it yet are the Pope and the President," Frates said.

At the moment, there are over 50,000 ice bucket videos on YouTube. The challenge is trending on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.