Change Kids’ Health on Child Health Day!
On Monday, October 7, the Miracle Network Dance Marathon movement, represented at over 400 college, university, and K-12 campuses, will be coming together to celebrate Child Health Day and reaffirm their commitment to “Change Kids Health, Change the Future.”
For several years, Miracle Network Dance Marathon has utilized Child Health Day as a day of action, with Dance Marathon programs and participants coming together to raise funds and awareness for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Children’s hospitals rely on donations to care for more than 10 million kids each year. Government and insurance programs do not begin to cover the full cost of pediatric health care. As care costs rise, so does that funding gap; fundraising for children’s hospitals is more vital than ever. Funds raised through local Dance Marathon programs have helped to provide funding for charitable care, equipment, research, special services, education, and the custom needs of their local hospitals.
On Child Health Day, Dance Marathon programs, participants, alumni, and community members can help to #ChangeKidsHealth by:
- Encouraging individuals to join the movement by registering as a fundraiser for their campus’s Dance Marathon program,
- Asking others to donate and show their support for the kids treated in their local communities, and
- Spreading the word that children’s hospitals need donations to save kids’ lives.
Dance Marathon participants and supporters can access the Child Health Day 2019 Resource Folder to find ideas, resources and assets to help them engage on October 7. Learn more about some of the resources in the folder below.
Follow the hashtags #ChildHealthDay and #ChangeKidsHealth to join in the conversation with other Dance Marathon participants and supporters.
By fundraising on Child Health Day, currently enrolled collegiate students can be entered to win a trip for two to Hawaii! Learn more here.
Donate/Fundraise:
On Child Health Day, Dance Marathon participants are encouraged to ask friends, family, and community for donations in their efforts to fundraise for their local CMN Hospital. Those interested in donating can also find their favorite school’s fundraising page and make a donation to support their efforts.
Set a Fundraising Goal:
Consider setting a fundraising goal that is related to the cause/your local hospital. For example, you could set a goal to:
- Raise $62 for the 62 kids who enter a CMN Hospital every minute.
- Get 10 donations in honor of the 10 million kids who receive treatments at local CMN Hospitals every year.
- Raise $X related to the number of kids treated at your local hospital, the number of beds in your local hospital, the number of beds in a specific unit of your hospital.
- Other numbers you could use to inspire your fundraising goal:
- Every hour, CMN Hospitals treat
- 675 kids with trauma
- 39 kids for diabetes
- 92 kids for cancer
- 39 babies in the NICU
- 97 kids for surgeries
- Every hour, CMN Hospitals treat
Check out the IG Story Graphics folder in the Child Health Day 2019 Resources Dropbox folder for some templates that you can use to help in your fundraising efforts.
Facebook Fundraisers:
Dance Marathon fundraisers also have the ability to create a Facebook fundraiser that can be linked to their Donor Drive fundraising page. Facebook fundraisers have become one of the fastest ways to fundraise for charity, with fundraisers raising an average of $150. Learn more about how to set up a Facebook fundraiser here.
Child Health Day Fundraising Contest:
Don’t forget that any currently enrolled collegiate student who receives a donation on Child Health Day can be entered to win a trip for two to Hawaii! Learn more here.
Join the Movement:
Child Health Day is the perfect occasion to encourage others to join the movement that is helping to change kids’ health and change the future.
Here are some ideas for how you can help others be inspired to register as a fundraiser for their campus’s Dance Marathon program:
- Post on social media about why you participate in Dance Marathon. (see below for ideas)
- Contribute a guest blog post on cmnhospitals.org sharing why you do Dance Marathon via the CMN Hospitals guest blog feature.
- Send e-mails/text messages to friends, classmates, and/or members of your organization to register for your Dance Marathon team. If you don’t have a team, you can create one!
- Pick a few friends and sit down with them to walk them through the registration process. For someone who’s never done it before, they may not know how to do it, so you could help them out.
- Post on social media and tag your friends to give a shout out to those who have registered for Dance Marathon on Child Health Day–that could motivate someone else to register as well.
- Send a note to a participant from last year who has not registered yet this year to encourage them to register.
- Send a note to Dance Marathon alumni to encourage them to register as a fundraiser.
Check out the IG Story Graphics folder in the Child Health Day 2019 Resources Dropbox folder for some templates that can be used to help you share why you do Dance Marathon.
Spread the Word:
Throughout the day on Child Health Day, Dance Marathon participants and CMN Hospitals supporters are encouraged to post on social media to help spread awareness that children’s hospitals need donations to save kids’ lives.
Be sure to use the hashtags #ChildHealthDay and #ChangeKidsHealth to join in the conversation with other Dance Marathon participants and supporters.
Here are some ideas for how you can help spread the word:
- Post about how your local CMN Hospitals uses donations. If you know how funds raised through Dance Marathon support your specific hospital, post about that! If not, check out the hospital impact reports to see how donations through CMN Hospitals are used at your hospital.
- Share a story of a Miracle Kid that you’ve gotten to know through your work with Dance Marathon or check out this folder to find videos, photos and bios for the 2019 CMN Hospitals national champions.
- Share impact and awareness graphics on your social media pages. See below for examples.
- Share awareness facts about your local CMN Hospital.
- Contribute a guest blog post on cmnhospitals.org sharing the impact that you’ve seen Dance Marathon have on your local hospital via the CMN Hospitals guest blog feature.
Check out the impact graphics, which highlight the areas that donations to CMN Hospitals support at local hospitals.
The Child Health Day Resources Dropbox also has a variety of blank Instagram Story graphics that you can customize with any Child Health Day message.
Miracle Network Dance Marathon is an international movement, involving over 400 colleges, universities and K-12 schools across North America that fundraise for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since its inception in 1991, Miracle Network Dance Marathon has raised more than $250 million–ensuring that no child or family fights pediatric illness or injury alone.
Learn more about Miracle Network Dance Marathon: