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DM at FSU Receives National Dance Marathon Campaign Activation Award

Dance Marathon at Florida State University was recently awarded the Campaign Activation Award at the Miracle Network Dance Marathon Leadership Conference in July. The Campaign Activation Award recognizes an outstanding  campaign implemented by a dance marathon program that utilizes targeted efforts and provides unique content to increase awareness, participation, and engagement for a dance marathon program.

DM at FSU receives the Campaign Activation Award at DMLC 2018 from Riley Hospital for Children patient, Tyler.

In the fall of 2017, a hurricane devastated Dance Marathon at FSU’s local area leaving them wondering what they could do to help unity their community. Through their 2018 campaign, UpToUs, they were able to connect the Florida State University and Tallahassee communities to their cause. It was important to them to continue fighting for children being treated at their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, University of Florida Health Shands Children’s Hospital.

To keep Dance Marathon at FSU’s brand for the UpToUs campaign consistent, the Marketing and Publicity and Technology teams collaborated to create a logo and a video that promoted the need for each individual to find their reason for connecting with the cause. It wasn’t until they decided on a $2 million financial goal that UpToUs became Up2Us. By combining the message with the goal, Dance Marathon at FSU saw their community embrace the campaign.

Posted by Dance Marathon at FSU on Wednesday, January 31, 2018

#UpToUs

For the past 23 years, Dance Marathon at Florida State University has strived to create a better tomorrow for the kids of today. Last year, we asked you to #DoMore. This year, it’s #UpToUs. It’s Up To Us, as individuals, as an organization and as a community to give hope for tomorrow.

Posted by Dance Marathon at FSU on Wednesday, October 18, 2017

By using guerrilla marketing, team members and dancers changed their Facebook cover photos to showcase their new logo and took campus by storm hanging up more than 5,000 flyers. The university was covered with Up2Us campaign materials. Local media outlets began sending out press releases and created various stories covering the campaign.

Marketing efforts reached even further when dancers from participating organizations across Florida State University’s campus featured #Up2Us in their own organization’s social media posts as signs of support for the cause.

In the weeks leading up to Dance Marathon at FSU’s marathon, #Up2Us week, helped highlighted their message through a social media campaign on Instagram. They exchanged the “us” in Up2Us with other individuals who help Dance Marathon at FSU fight for the kids including Up 2 Our Community, Up 2 FSU, Up 2 You, and Up 2 Me.

During their marathon, they had their own Up2Us wall showcasing a mural of photos and messages dancers posted to themselves, their miracle kids, and those who inspired them to dance.

Dance Marathon at FSU’s current Executive Director, Andie Garcia, wrote in their award application that “Up2Us​ was the embodiment of this year’s efforts, unifying the campus and sending a message to the nation that Florida State’s students could band together to create monumental change.”


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:

Facebook – Instagram – Website – Blog – YouTube