Dance Marathon at Florida State University won two awards in recognition of its merchandising strategy and increase in fundraising dollars during the organization’s national leadership conference this past summer.
Dance Marathon at FSU is a yearlong effort that culminates in an annual 40-hour event where more than 1,800 students stay awake and on their feet to raise money and awareness for local beneficiaries, Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, Shands Children’s Hospital and the FSU College of Medicine.
In 2017, Dance Marathon at FSU raised a grand total of $1,830,167 “For The Kids.” Over the past 22 years, Dance Marathon has raised nearly $10 million dollars for children in need of specialized pediatric and medical care. It is one of nine programs in the in the country raising more than $1 million annually.
In July, Dance Marathon at FSU sent five students — Eric Massey, Niki Little, Kelly Miller, Alexa Hirschfield and Chloe Milthorpe — to the annual Dance Marathon Leadership Conference (DMLC) at the University of Maryland. The four-day conference brought together 800 student leaders, over 100 campus and hospital advisers and various corporate partner representatives from across the country to connect, network and share ideas and best practices.
Dance Marathon at FSU received the Best Merchandise Award and the Miracle Maker Award during the conference.
The organization earned the Best Merchandise Award after creating an online store, selling merchandise at events on campus, investing in items their students wanted and creating a walk-through store for the event. Merchandise was used strategically to help spread the annual campaign message across campus and helped Dance Marathon at FSU raise more than $45,000 toward their 2017 total in merchandise sales.
“We are thrilled to receive this award to reward to our creativity and efforts,” said Niki Little, last year’s merchandise chair and this year’s dance relations director.
The chapter also earned the Miracle Maker Award, one of the most prestigious awards given at the conference. The award goes to the Dance Marathon program that had the highest combined monetary and percentage increases in their overall fundraising over the past year. Dance Marathon at FSU raised 27.5 percent more in 2017 than the previous year.
For more information, visit dmfsu.org. Dancer registration occurs for two weeks during the fall and two weeks during the spring with the option of signing up individually or as a team.
