# MDA telethon tally question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mda-telethon-tally-question/461819
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 3, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mda-telethon-tally-question/461819 "2008-09-03T04:36:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mda-telethon-tally-question/461819/1 "2008-09-03T04:36:34Z")
I read in today’s newspaper that the MDA telethon set another record amount of money pledged. However, the telethon in most TV markets has gone from 20 hours to only 10 hours. How can the telethon keep increasing totals if its airtime has fallen so much? Have they changed the definition of “money pledged” to include corporate pledges, or some similar ways of keeping the total high?
---
### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mda-telethon-tally-question/461819/2 "2008-09-03T05:06:42Z")
This might help you —\> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry\_Lewis\_MDA\_Telethon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lewis_MDA_Telethon)
---
### Author:  [@Bad\_Samaritan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Samaritan)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mda-telethon-tally-question/461819/3 "2008-09-03T05:18:44Z")
Slight hijack…
In the second paragraph of that wikipedia link, it states that “Jerry Lewis makes one-third of all money donated and has since inception.” Does this mean Jerry gets a cut of the proceeds? If so, I’m stunned…
I thought maybe he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart (and maybe a reasonable appearance fee).
---
### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mda-telethon-tally-question/461819/4 "2008-09-03T06:00:16Z")
> [@Bad\_Samaritan](#):
>
> Slight hijack…
>
> In the second paragraph of that wikipedia link, it states that “Jerry Lewis makes one-third of all money donated and has since inception.” Does this mean Jerry gets a cut of the proceeds? If so, I’m stunned..
>
> I thought maybe he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart (and maybe a reasonable appearance fee).
You misinterpret. \*\* Jerry Lewis is responsible for collecting one third of the total money ever donated to MDA.\*\*
See also —\> [Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/telethon.asp)
Perhaps you would prefer going to the official source:
> [@](#):
>
> [ul]
> [li]Jerry Lewis has been MDA’s number-one volunteer for more than 50 years. Despite battling debilitating pulmonary fibrosis, severe back pain and a heart attack in recent years, the MDA National Chairman has never missed a Telethon.[/li]
> **[li]Jerry Lewis receives no pay for his tireless year-round work for MDA.**[/li]
> [/ul]
Source: [http://www.mda.org/telethon/faqs.html](http://www.mda.org/telethon/faqs.html)
Of course, you can always read the MDA’s public reports —\> [http://www.mda.org/special/annual/](http://www.mda.org/special/annual/)