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Thursday, March 28, 2024
NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Dance Marathon at UF using new fundraising tactics to raise money

From frosted tips to a zebra suit or a new tattoo, desperate Dance Marathon participants will do just about anything to earn money for a good cause.

Students involved in Dance Marathon at UF have promised to do wacky things for donations from friends, family or anyone willing to support them.

Participants have been busy employing these new fundraising tactics in anticipation of the event’s 20th anniversary this weekend, when more than 800 students will stay awake and on their feet for 26.2 hours to symbolically raise awareness of children who live with serious illnesses 24/7. One of the ways dancers raise money is by getting pledges before the event.

Maria Mandese, a morale captain for Dance Marathon, said fundraising isn’t always easy.

“It can be scary asking your friends and family for money, especially when they know nothing about Dance Marathon,” said the 20-year-old UF health science sophomore.

Volunteers created a Facebook page to give the students involved ideas on raising money. Examples include hosting a bowling night, a flash mob on Turlington Plaza and a family-oriented carnival.

However, these mainstream methods weren’t enough for some participants.

Mandese used a tactic she called the incentive method. She cleaned a friend’s room as an incentive for her to give a donation. Then she took the idea further.

“I said if I could reach $1,000 in a certain time period, then I would wear a zebra costume around campus,” she said. “I guess a lot of people want to see me walk around as a zebra because I got quite a few donations (after that) and reached the goal.”

DM morale overall director Joelle Waksman said she has heard of even more drastic incentives.

“A community events captain pledged to tattoo ‘FTK’ once he hit his fundraising goal,” she said.

But Waksman said despite their oddities, these tactics have proven to be extremely successful. She recalled a student who posted a picture of himself with a “frosted tips” hairstyle.

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“He promised to dye the tips of his hair blonde if he could reach his goal in a certain amount of time,” she said. “Within a few hours, he hit his goal.”

In 2013, DM at UF raised a record $1.1 million. This year’s fundraising total will be revealed at the event’s closing ceremonies, and students are hoping to break the record once more.

But for passionate participants like Mandese, this year’s Dance Marathon will be memorable either way.

“Look out for the zebra at the end of this week,” she said.

[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 4/9/2014 under the headline "Dancers get creative for the money — and kids"]

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