For USC Dance Marathon, raising $318,649 isn’t enough. This year they’re aiming for $500,000.
"As an organization, we are constantly striving just to reach the next level and fundraise more and more for the kids at the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital," said Abby Scott, director of public relations for USC Dance Marathon. "Half a million is just a goal that we wanted to set for ourselves that we want to strive for and really want to meet that mark."
The catch is that they’re going to be doing it in half the time.
The decision to cut the event down from 24 hours to 14 total hours: 12 hours of dancing, one hour for opening ceremonies and one hour for closing had been considered before in the past, and has now become a reality.
The Dance Marathon team believes that this change will help the event gain more participants and, therefore, more money. Having a shorter marathon is also common with other universities. They made the executive decision after looking at their own numbers from previous years as well as examining ways that other schools engage their students.
Before announcing this change on Dance Marathon Day last Thursday, the Dance Marathon Executive Board spent three days pinning 1,800 clothespins with #HMHTT written on them to backpacks and other places around campus.
“It was just a way we wanted to build buzz about our campaign before launching it so that when we launched it, we would have people who had a base of knowledge on it and who were already interested in it without exactly knowing what it is," Scott said.
The "Operation Clothespins" campaign sparked curiosity, which was manifested largely through Twitter. Liana Miller posted the first tweet about the campaign, which read: "What is #HMHTT and why is there a clothespin on my backpack with that hashtag.......?"
“I think this year our board is just very motivated by this campaign, and I think going ahead and sharing it with USC and the Columbia community is a great way to say, ‘these are our goals, this is where we want to go and we need you to help us this year,'” Scott said.
The Dance Marathon team has also made changes to several external events. Instead of a typical 5K race, they will be hosting a virtual 5K in which students and alumni alike can post a picture online, tag Dance Marathon and win a prize. They are also bringing an Extra Life program, in which students can ask individuals to sponsor them at $1 an hour to play video games for 24 hours.
They are also planning events during Homecoming week, as well as additional campaigns, especially through social media and percent nights.
Scott, however, hopes that the importance of Dance Marathon extends well beyond these events.
“I think just with #HMHTT we’re going to be able to brand that in a way that’s distinctly Dance Marathon," Scott said. "I hope that we see a bigger turnout and a greater Gamecock involvement so that USC DM doesn’t just stop at main event, but that it’s a cultural change and is really going to USC’s campus, Columbia and, most importantly, the kids at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital.”