Dance Marathon at Iowa State University Receives 2023 Campaign Activation Award

Miracle Network Dance Marathon recognized top performing Dance Marathon programs at the Dance Marathon Leadership Conference (DMLC) held in St. Louis, MO from August 3-6.

Dance Marathon at Iowa State University is this year’s winner of the Campaign Activation Award! Their yearlong campaign “It’s Cool to Care” aimed to put an emphasis on what it means to be involved with Dance Marathon in a variety of ways and why it is so important to invest your time in something greater than yourself.  

Utilizing various media, they sought to highlight why individuals chose to get involved with Dance Marathon in all areas from executive members to participants, miracle families and partners. By sharing members “whys” they highlighted that there are a variety of reasons people get involved with Dance Marathon and that the organization offers many benefits to those who choose to participate. This not only helped create connections across the organization, but it also built cause connection as they returned back to their first Big Event in their normal venue in three years.  

The program also placed more emphasis on using photos and videos, avoiding graphics more than in previous years, and expanding into new marketing techniques by creating reels and TikTok’s. These combined efforts helped to re-establish their presence both on campus and in the community while creating excitement surrounding the organization. They also purchased newly branded tabling kits to bring their marketing to life in-person and incorporated interactive activities into their tabling efforts such as putting golf, cornhole or plinko. 

Finally, Dance Marathon at Iowa State ensured that beyond just building an aesthetic brand, that brand language was also a top priority ensuring that posts and promotion tied back to why it’s cool to care. Congratulations, Iowa State University!  

Dance Marathon at Iowa State University presented a session on their campaign at DMLC 2023. You can view a recording of that presentation here: https://youtu.be/cz1qnBjWCDE  

Miracle Network Dance Marathon is an international movement, involving over 400 colleges, universities and K-12 schools across the United States and Canada that fundraise for their local member hospital of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. These students work tirelessly throughout the year to raise funds one dollar at a time by making the ask to family and friends. Their hard work culminates in a celebration on campus or virtually, where participants can rally together as a community for their local member hospital of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Students involved in Dance Marathon gain valuable skills in fundraising, peer management, delegation, and philanthropy. Miracle Network Dance Marathon programs have collectively raised more than $350 million since 1991.