Next "challenge" is for the ALS charity itself

The ice bucket challenge made ALS this summer's hottest cause.

The social media campaign helped raise more than 114 million dollars, but this success creates a new kind of challenge for the ALS Association: how to properly use the cash windfall, CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports.

Charity watchers call it "impulse giving."

2.5 million first-time donors gave to the ALS Association this summer after the viral social media campaign to fund a cure for ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, took off.

Now charity watchers say the spotlight is on the ALS Association to see if they can responsibly manage and spend all the money.

Facebook saw over 17 million video uploads, Youtube reported a record one billion views, and for the ALS Association, proceeds unexpectedly poured in.

"No one knew this was going to take place. It grew organically through a family -- a couple of families who have ALS," said Barbara Newhouse, the group's president and CEO.

Newhouse says most of the money will go to research in hopes of finding a cure to the deadly and debilitating illness.

Other funds will go to care-giving and advocacy, but Newhouse says nothing will be spent until her organization has a strategy.

"We are meeting with various stakeholder groups," Newhouse said. "From there, we can build out a plan which will go before our board of trustees mid-October, and then we will be releasing more information."

Ken Berger is president and CEO of Charity Navigator, a watchdog group that rates fundraising organizations.

"They really have to be careful," Berger said. "That's why I think engaging the donors, engaging the people that they're serving in this decision-making process is critical to do it right."

Berger said that while the charity has a 4/4 star rating from Charity Navigator, they're under exceptional pressure at this time.

"We've seen high performing charities before, when they get this influx of cash," he said. "The expertise, the management required, it's a challenge that is sometimes not met by even the best charities."

Following the 9/11 terror attacks, the American Red Cross raised over $1 billion, but donors were outraged to discover some funds never went to immediate disaster relief.

"They were going to park it for other disasters and not use it for September 11, and donors' expectations were very different than that," Berger said.

The money the ALS Association raised so far this year is four times last year's total revenue.

Last month, they abandoned an attempt to spend money on trade-marking the title "ice bucket challenge" after a flurry of complaints. The organization says they were just trying to stop ice bucket scammers.

"Even if there was worthwhile intent behind it," Berger said, "the spotlight, the scrutiny, the expectations are at a whole different level; it was clear that was a very bad decision."

Donors want to see results, which is difficult when it comes to scientific research.

Newhouse says the Association will communicate plans and progress reports to its 3 million donors.

The group is counting on them to keep giving, because ALS isn't likely to be next year's charity cause célèbre again.