Put on your dancing shoes and boogie your way into the New Year and your Summit!
If you’re looking for a lively way to raise funds for your upcoming Leadership Summit, this may just be the event you’ve been waiting for! What could be more fun and engaging than raising money by hosting a dance marathon? Get your whole community involved and even garner media attention for an extra fundraising boost.
So, what’s a dance marathon? The basic concept is to get a group of people together in a large open space like a school gym and dance without breaks until you can’t dance anymore! Whoever dances the longest wins a prize and bragging rights. You could even have a theme, like a sock hop a la Gilmore Girls.
SPREAD THE WORD
Getting the word out about your event will be the key to making it a success. Easy (and free) options abound! Use them to your advantage. Make sure you’ve figured out the where and when before you advertise, and include information about individual entrance fees that will be used as donations toward your Summit. How much you charge is up to you, but set a reasonable amount to encourage as many participants to join as possible.
CREATE A FACEBOOK EVENT: Make sure to include all of the relevant details and get as many people to share it far and wide!
REACH OUT TO LOCAL NEWS STATIONS: This is an awesome opportunity to share your event with the larger community around you who may be interested in supporting your cause. Make sure to include details about the Summit and instructions for how people can donate!
SEND OUT E-INVITES: With the help of your parents, make a list of folks you’d like to invite to your dance marathon and send them custom email invitations. Check out our previous blog post for a how-to on sending e-cards.
SET THE STAGE
Consider adding some extra features or activities that will attract attendees even if they’re not interested in dancing. You could set up tables with refreshments for sale or hold a silent auction around the perimeter of the dance floor.
For a night of dancing, you’ll need a lot of music. To keep costs down, you can create your own playlist on Spotify or use already-curated Spotify playlists instead of hiring a DJ.
DANCE YOUR HEART OUT
Now that the prep work is done, the dance floor is clear, and the word is out, it’s time to dance! When guests arrive, be sure to have someone ready at the door to collect the entrance fees since this will be the main source of donations towards your Summit. When the night is over and the champion has been crowned, make sure to hand out sponsorship flyers to your guests as they leave.
Are you a superstar fundraiser? Let us know your ideas and you could be featured on our blog! Just email info@ambassadorleaders.com.
By Emily Hanson
Emily loves helping families find the perfect fundraising idea and hearing how motivated they are to crush their fundraising goals.