Instead of relying solely on aggressive phone crusades or door-to-door canvassing and old-fashioned pleas, this charity smartly blends old-fashioned "Please?" with snail mail and social media.
The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, widely and affectionately known as THON, got its start in 1973. That year, students still went to Rec Hall to register for classes, a gallon of gas was less than 50 cents, and a tweet was the sound a bird made.
The largest student-run philanthropy in the world aims to raise funds and awareness for pediatric cancer by partnering with The Four Diamonds Fund—and dancing for 46 hours straight. A long way from 78 dancers and $2,000 in 1973: 2010 saw 700 dancers and nearly $8 million. THON has raised more than $69 million total to help offset treatment costs not covered by insurance.
THON uses traditional outreach methods like e-mail forms and letters (this author received snail mail from her younger sister, a senior at Penn State and on the Rules & Regs. committee). What helps THON get recognized locally is canning, which is exactly what it sounds like: Groups of students head to someone's hometown, generally in the mid-Atlantic, and collect donations in coffee cans. What has helped THON get recognized on a more national scale is its online presence.
YouTube features highlights, like the football team's song and dance, unveiling of the logo or amount of funds raised, a year's line dance, and more. Victorious stories, donation reminders, and well-wishes from former dancers and the community comprise THON's Facebook page. THON's Tumblr includes posts on looks at the folks behind the scenes and transcripts of speeches given by those affected by childhood cancer.
And there are your friendly celeb shout-outs. A perhaps unsuspected proponent last year was Khloe Kardashian, who made it her own mission last winter to tell readers of her blog and followers of her Twitter about THON and to encourage the dancers during the marathon.
THON's Twitter account tells quite a tale, too. Unlike some campaigns that are only big seasonally, THON is a year-round project and commitment. In addition to how easy it is to click "Retweet" to share a message, fundraising is "for the birds"—the Twitter kind. Abolish Cancer pledged to donate a dollar to THON for each new follower on Feb. 4 of its Twitter account. The response was huge: $4,000 for THON, simply because of a click of a button on one day.
Kids these days—and their highly effective social-media campaigns for philanthropy.
