Our Crowdfunding Groups
Now in its 42nd year, Northwestern University Dance Marathon is one of largest student-run philanthropies in the nation. More than 1000 dancers and committee members participate in making the event happen every year. NUDM selects a different primary beneficiary annually to partner with for the course of one school year. NUDM’s long-standing secondary beneficiary is The Evanston Community Foundation. Since its founding in 1975, NUDM has raised over $16 million for more than 30 different charitable organizations.
NU Dance Marathon is about the experience. That's how we raise a million dollars every year: because our dancers are inspired, motivated, and compelled by the event. It's the experience of getting to know the beneficiary, the experience of getting to effect change outside of themselves, and the experience of dancing and bonding in a tent every March with a thousand of their closest friends. The way in which we communicate that experience, not only to dancers but to donors and alumni, is through video. Whether it's the beneficiary reveal video, the emcee videos, or the live stream during the weekend-of, NUDM's story is told through the power of video. We want potential dancers to be able to feel the energy in the tent, to laugh and cry and sing along with images from the previous year's DM—and we want them to be able to send inspiring interviews with beneficiary families and recipients to their friends and families to encourage them to donate.
NUDM has relied on hiring outside professional photographers or using student's equipment to fulfill HD media needs. Every photo taken or video edited over the past six years was made possible either through an outside source or by an individual student using personal equipment. With $7,000, we want to purchase our own video and photography cameras, editing software, and a computer to use for media production. In addition, we want to provide vital upgrades to our rental equipment for the 30-hour Dance Marathon event. Last year, 13-year-old legacy cameras and video switchers that we rely on broke down during the event, and affected the online live stream that is viewed by tens of thousands of supporters around the world.
Our goal is to raise $7,000 to purchase equipment and software that will allow us to spread NUDM to audiences across the country. The project will help our fundraising efforts not only in the present, but for years to come. Please donate by following the link given at the top of the page—every dollar counts. In addition, help us spread our message far and wide. Share this page with friends and family through social media, email, or in person. Thank you for all your help and support!
Blessings in a Backpack is a leading hunger organization that mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. Hunger affects 46.5 million people in the United States, nearly 16 million of them children. Since their founding in 2005, Blessings in a Backpack has grown to currently feed more than 76,000 children in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Each week of the school year, Blessings in a Backpack and its thousands of volunteers and partners send a backpack of food home with children who, during the week, are fed by the free and reduced meal program.
With your generous gift, we are now able to purchase a new camera memory card!
With your support, we are one step closer to a new media production computer!
Your generous gift directlty sponsors the purchase of one new high definition camera!
