Dance Marathon February 28-March 1, 2015 Overview Dance Marathon at Florida State University strives to engage the student and local communities to promote children’s health and happiness while fostering the leadership and involvement of participants. Our organization raises funds for our equal beneficiaries, Shands Hospital for Children and FSU College of Medicine Pediatric Outreach Program. One hundred percent of our efforts go to providing treatment, research, medical care, family education and hope. Dance Marathon at FSU is the largest student run philanthropy on campus; it’s a year-long fundraiser. Throughout the year we hold events for FSU students, Tallahassee community, and the families impacted by the funds and medical attention received. The fundraising efforts will culminate during the actual marathon. The marathon is a 40 hour event to continue raising money and awareness, but also celebrates the hard work of all the fundraisers. At the event up to 1,800 students will stand for 20 hours straight. While standing, the student will learn a line dance performed every hour on the hour, play games, bond with other FSU students, and meet and hear stories from the miracle families that benefit from the funds raised the past year. This year Dance Marathon took place on February 28-March 1, 2015 in the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center and raised $1,100,645.52 with a 47 percent increase from last year. Dance Marathon programming consists of family stories, entertainment acts, a line dance, interactive games, and more. Survey Results Two online surveys were distributed for Dance Marathon 2015. One survey was sent to all dancers via an automated Qualtrics email. The other survey was sent to all students in leadership roles within Dance Marathon. The Dance Marathon advisor sent the leadership survey through her personal email to help garner responses. Below you will find an overview of responses from both surveys. The complete survey data can be found in the appendix at the conclusion of this report. Online Survey: Dancers Of the 1800 Dancers who participated, 429 started the survey. The majority of respondents participated in Dance Marathon with their fraternity or sorority (85%) and were first-time dancers (69%). When asked about their methods of fundraising, most respondents reported using social media (88%), personal asks (68%), and emails (67%). Several respondents noted that they used other methods (7%) and detailed text messages as a popular fundraising tool. Overall, respondents had an excellent (73%) or good (21%) experience at Dance Marathon. When asked about opportunities for improvement, the majority of respondents noted that they were disappointed in the food provided. Next year, 86% of respondents plan to participate in Dance Marathon, with most respondents planning to participate as a dancer (44%) or in a leadership role (33%). Online Survey: Leadership Of the ### students in leadership roles within Dance Marathon, 94 started the survey and 57 completed the survey. The majority of management, executive board, CORE, and captains reported having a good or excellent experience with Dance Marathon (98%). One of the goals of Dance Marathon 2015 was to attract a more diverse group of students and make Dance Marathon a yearlong event. 90% of respondents agreed
that Dance Marathon 2015 became a yearlong event and 86% of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that Dance Marathon attracted a more diverse group of participants this year. Respondents were also asked about their development throughout their leadership experience with Dance Marathon. Respondents reported increases in their leadership competencies in areas such as collaboration (87%), meaningful interpersonal relationships (79%), leadership development (72%), and personal and educational goals (72%). Respondents also reported gaining patience, confidence, and time management skills, in addition to learning how to stay calm under pressure and work with a diverse team. Of the students who responded to the survey, 96% felt informed throughout the preparation process for Dance Marathon and 93% plan to continue to be involved in Dance Marathon. When asked about opportunities for improvement, respondents reported that Dance Marathon should reach out to non-Greek organizations for participation and do more outreach and promotion within all four councils of fraternity and sorority life. Many respondents also reported that there is an opportunity to improve the relationship between the executive board and members serving in CORE or as captains. Recommendations for Next Year After the focus group with the Executive Board and compiling the survey data from the various Dance Marathon constituents, there were many suggestions that the students had to offer to help make DM 2015 better. Below is a short list of suggestions that were mentioned multiple times. Many of the suggestions were focused around communication, fundraising, accountability among the committee members, the committee’s relationship with dancers, sponsors, and families. By taking the suggested changes into consideration Dance Marathon will continue to grow and continue raising more money for the Children’s Miracle Network. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ensure effective communication and flexibility of all committee members Continue timeline meetings and tracking of numbers Continue to cultivate relationships with the families who benefit from DM Gain more community involvement and buy-in to mission and event itself Spread the mission of DM to non-Greek organizations and emphasize it is for all students and a yearlong experience, not just an event Continue to have an individual dancer team Have a more efficient way to order merchandise and pick it up throughout the year Consider the effectiveness and necessity of the pairing system Put more effort into the entire executive board and assistants getting to know one another Make it easier for smaller RSOs to participate without lowering financial requirements Make better use of volunteers during marathon events Maintain relationships with food vendors, including house moms Plan more time during the event for activities and interactions with the dancers and miracle children Have a retreat for both the captains and core Continue having organizations apply to be paired with families Create passive fundraising activities that will inspire dancers Have recognition for dancers who raise money at the event Make dancer representatives feel more valued and show appreciation for their efforts-get them polos and invite them to meetings Increase the number of activities throughout the night besides the line dance Increase external events leading to DM, including more fundraising events closer to DM Maintain quality of food (i.e. keep it warm and fresh for those in the back of lines) and have pairings eat together Reduce the check-in time and processes Ensure morale captains have more of a presence, especially in the later hours, to keep energy up
Conclusion Overall, Dance Marathon continues to be one of the most successful philanthropies at the Florida State University. Forty-eight percent of both Friday and Saturday Dancers reported that their favorite part of the 2014 Dance Marathon was the line dance. The implementation of the line dance is an excellent way for students to build a community and remain energized throughout the event. This year’s Dance Marathon had the most number of students ever to participate (1,800). Dance Marathon also was able to raise over half million dollars ($781,196.22), which illustrated an 11 percent growth from the previous year ($584,023.89). Participants in Dance Marathon continue to feel like they are making a positive contribution (98%) to the Children’s Miracle Network.