Pitt Dance Marathon at the University of Pittsburgh Receives 2023 Stewardship 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.

The Stewardship Award recognizes a program that demonstrated outstanding recognition, engagement, and retention efforts toward a specific audience. This year’s winner, Pitt Dance Marathon at the University of Pittsburgh excelled in their stewardship of both Internal and External Audiences.  

On Giving Tuesday, Pitt Dance Marathon hosted a Stewardship Push Day to show appreciation to all those who helped make PDM (Pitt Dance Marathon) possible. Throughout the 24-hour period, they sent more than 5,000 emails to past and present donors and sent handwritten thank you postcards to donors, sponsors and other supporters of the organization.  

dditionally, PDM implemented new initiatives for stewardship of their staff members and team captains. Titled “PDM MVP” and later shortened to “PDMVP,” each week the executive board would recognize a staff member who went above and beyond in the previous week. The PDMVP was announced weekly during their general body meetings and provides an opportunity for individuals to celebrate all the great work of the internal team happening throughout the year, both seen and unseen. The same concept was applied to Team Captains. At the end of the year, they named a PDMVP of the year and Team Captain of the Year. Both of these were announced of stage with the individuals receiving a trophy and the opportunity to hold a number during total reveal. Congratulations, University of Pittsburgh!  

Pitt Dance Marathon presented a session on stewardship at DMLC 2023. You can view a recording of that presentation here: https://youtu.be/CxWxF4eOudA  

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.