Ways to Raise Money

Three Hundred Dollars?! How can I raise that much money?! Raising your $300 is actually really easy, and there are several ways to do it! The most common way is to ask your friends and family to make donations.

Online Giving Page

How to access your online giving page:

  • Login
  • A new page will appear prompting you to enter your user name and password. In the user name section type in your Hawk ID. In the password section, type in your Hawk ID’s password. (If you ever need to change your Hawk ID’s password, your password to the online giving pages will change with your Hawk ID’s password so they should always be the same as what you use to log in to Hawk Mail and ICON.) 
  • Click the log-in button. 
  • A new page will appear that will have an online giving link. There will be numbers at the end of this URL. 
  • Click on the URL (This is the URL you can give to potential donors to ask them to donate to your page). 
  • Your online giving page will appear.

Canning

Canister Solicitation is one of the most profitable forms of fundraising for The University of Iowa Dance Marathon. There are four types of canning: neighborhood, downtown, football, and hometown. You should ask your Morale Captain about specific canning dates coming up. Remember that you must sign up in advance for each canning event, and a Morale Captain or another leadership member will organize these drives and go with you. Click here to sign up for Football Canning! (updated link coming soon)

Letter Writing Campaign

One of the most effective, easiest, and most traditional ways to raise money is to send personal letters or postcards. These letters should describe what Dance Marathon is, explain your involvement and simply ask for donations. You can do this all straight from the comfort of your home!

View an example template.

You can also use our online form where we send out the letters for you, all you need is an address for us to send it to. Check it out here.

Email Campaign

Another easy way to raise money is to send emails out to your contact list. You can check out a couple example templates here.

How does a fundraising email campaign work? Here is a breakdown of how you can master the email fundraising strategy!

  1. Download a template (links above)
  2. Insert it into a new email from your personal email account
  3. Use the extra space in each template to customize to your donors why you are involved in Dance Marathon, your fundraising goals and your experience at the University of Iowa
  4. Send it to your donors and make money in support of our DM kiddos! 

Winter Break Fundraising

Winter Break is a great time to sit down with family and talk to them about Dance Marathon. We put together an awesome guide to fundraising over break, so please take a look at it and make the most of your time at home with friends and family to raise as much money as you can for DM. You can find that here.

Matching Gifts 

Many businesses match charitable contributions of their employees. For example, if you have a family member who works at John Deere, and they plan to donate to you, John Deere may potentially match the donation to UI Dance Marathon.

All matching gifts for UI Dance Marathon are completed through the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (legal name State University of Iowa Foundation). All matching gifts should be filled out accordingly, however—the gift will go to UI Dance Marathon.

To learn if a company is eligible to match a gift to UI Dance Marathon through the UI Center for Advancement visit https://www.foriowa.org/ways-to-give/ for a list of participating companies. Donors can then complete their matching gift form (some are hard copy and some are electronic).

What information should be indicated on the form?

  • Indicate the donation was made to the UI Foundation (since this is the entity processing the matching gift). NO MENTION OF DANCE MARATHON IS NEEDED AND IN MANY TIMES WILL NOT RESULT IN A MATCH.
  • The UI Center for Advancement address is 1 West Park Road, Iowa City IA 52242.
  • Checks must be out to the UI Center for Advancement or UI Foundation.
  • You do not need to fill out any portion of the matching gift form.

What are the next steps so I can receive credit for this matching gift as a part of my dancer total?

  • Scenario One: Hard Copy Matching Gift Form and Check: Turn both the check and the matching gift form into the IMU Business Office—do not submit check for deposit. It will be handled differently OR, you can also submit these same items during a dancer meeting at a matching gift table.
  • Scenario Two: Hard Copy Matching Gift Form and Online Donation: Turn both the check and a copy of the confirmation (most likely an email, like when you are online shopping and your purchase is confirmed) the donor received into the IMU Business Office OR, you can also submit these same items during a dancer meeting at a matching gift table.
  • Scenario Three: Donor Emails You Matching Gift Form and Donated Online: Send the matching gift confirmation AND a copy of the UI Dance Marathon gift confirmation (again, an automatically generated email) to DM-Finance@uiowa.edu.

Important things in order to receive credit for the Matching Gift

  • Forms must be filled out to UI Foundation or UI Center for Advancement—or your match will not be viable.
  • In order to receive dancer credit for a match, YOU are responsible for providing proof of the match (either the actual form, or a print out of the confirmation your donor receives—NO EXCEPTIONS). Please make sure to communicate that to your donors.

Questions? Please contact Anna Bright at DM-Finance@uiowa.edu

Community Days

Community days are a great way to raise money for Dance Marathon and promote the organization to local businesses and community members. With a little planning, it is easy to set up a community day in your hometown! 

Everything you need to set up your own community day. 

Questions? Contact Grace Quast-Villafana at dm-hospitality@uiowa.edu.

Note: Please refrain from holding community days in the Iowa City/Coralville area