How much money are we donating, really?
It’s the weekend, the weekend of Dance Marathon, and oversized checks will abound. With DM upon us, everyone has fundraising and philanthropy on the mind. But where exactly is all of your money going? As you’ll see below, there can be a considerable difference between the reported amount raised and the actual amount that makes it, large check and all, to the charity. We reached out to seven philanthropies on campus and these are the results from the ones who responded.
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So what’s your point? This is no secret. Even with a portion of the money going towards food and equipment (DM would like to give the dancers food and entertainment for 30 hours), they still donate over $500,000 more than the next closest charitable organization.
Patty Piratestains
March 6, 2009 at 3:39 am
I agree with Patty. There is no analysis or explanation for the disparity in percentages, as if to suggest that DM is withholding money for itself. Please explain, NBN.
Josh
March 6, 2009 at 11:24 am
I think the DM total just isn’t well understood. The discrepancy comes because, like other Dance Marathons around the country, DM includes necessary product donation in the total, such as food. I think they include the cost of all things donated that would be necessary to run the event and if it wasn’t donated, they would have had to pay for out of their cash total. I agree with NBN that then the total isn’t truly representative; however, I completely disagree that DM organizers are wasteful with money spending.
Chris
March 6, 2009 at 1:18 pm
This isn’t even an article. It’s a misleading byline that made me think you were going to tell me how much of the money was covering costs/going to charity/etc when you just. gave me a number for about how much DM told you they had.
Katherine
March 6, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Agree that this is very misleading. Feels like you are trying to uncover some ‘red-cross-post-Katrina’ controversy here and in the end just make a vague accusation without any explanation.
BC
March 6, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I think the point he was trying to make is the disparity in the amount “raised” and the amount that goes to charity. At the end of DM they trot out this huge number, almost a million dollars, and say that they “raised an all-time fundraising high of $933,855 for the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the Evanston Community Foundation” when actually a large percentage of that money isn’t going to them at all. A lot of it is in the form of food and equipment. They need to report just the charity total.
As for the argument that they would have needed to spend that money anyway, it doesn’t hold water. First, a lot of the shit they have donated is wildly over-the-top. They have leftover food, drink and all sorts of other stuff, not to mention the way-excessive lights, screens, and other equipment they put up. To assert that it would cost over $200,000 (more than Dillo Day, both equipment AND paying the artist to come) to set up a safe environment for people to dance for 30 hours is outrageous. It is over the top, and while a lot of it is donated, don’t claim these exaggerated numbers as the amount you “raised for” your charities.
honesty is the best policy
March 6, 2009 at 4:46 pm
DM is simply reporting it’s fundraising total. Yes, the donation that goes to the charity is less, but not showing the gross total is wrong and actually incorrect. When someone like, for example, Whole Foods donates to DM, the are DONATING FOR the charity, just giving food instead of money. They know exactly where it is going; it’s not like DM is covering anything up. And DM includes the event itself as well as the donation–so why should in-kind donations not count as part of the funds raised?
And having leftover food and drink should not be looked at as “wildly over-the-top.” Why should DM turn down things that people would like to donate? And I for one think that overestimating how much food and drink they need is a hell of a lot better than underestimating and all the subsequent problems that would go with it.
While it was worth it to explain to people that there is a difference in the total between the gross total and what is left after in-kind donations are given out, you make it sound like this is an expose and DM is trying to pull the wool over our eyes. What’s more important is that every single cent of non-in-kind donations goes to the charities, and THAT is the most important fact.
Congrats to DM 2009, and keep up the good work!
Anonymous
March 9, 2009 at 12:37 am
Just to comment further, the leftover food and drinks get donated to Campus Kitchen, so DM is actually helping more than just ECF and the primary beneficiary.
Patty Piratestains
March 9, 2009 at 12:49 am
It’s not like DM hides the fact that they donate less than what the large fund raising total is. They clearly state how much money is given to the charities when the checks are presented. And they have to state how much food, lights, and everything else they are given because there are committees that are dedicated to just getting those things because it is in fact hard to go out there and get those donations – especially in this economy. It’s not like food vendors wake up one morning and just feel like donating something to DM, they have to be convinced about it.
Congrats DM
René Jovel aka SupaKat
March 9, 2009 at 8:51 am
Haha aw, CRC Radiothon! :) We’re so tiny.
Isaak
March 9, 2009 at 11:11 am
Technically, ALL of GreekBuild’s money will be spent on supplies for a house. That means their costs are exactly equal to what they’re “projecting” that they will raise. Why not write an article on that?
Becky
March 11, 2009 at 11:09 am
Yeah, I don’t see what’s so “shocking” here…everyone knows that DM spends a portion of the funds for logistical elements…and despite that, they are donating over a half-million dollars to charity, which is the highest amongst all campus groups. Your percentages are grossly misleading, you need the raw numbers here to really understand what’s going on.
Ginger Brew
March 11, 2009 at 11:26 am
Stop jumping all over the writer for objectively representing what a lot of people think. Yes, I agree: DM raises a lot of money and does a lot of good things, perhaps in larger amounts than other campus charities. However, that doesn’t mean that its practices can’t be scrutinized. Kevin Sullivan, I salute you.
Sick
March 11, 2009 at 1:23 pm
First of all, this is the most misleading title ever and I’m pissed that you’ve enticed me to writing on this page.
Second of all, DM is its own, self-contained bubble of benefit. Yes, a ridiculous amount of money is needed to simply put on the event, but simply putting on the event is an unbelievable asset to our university. DM is foremost a philanthropic cause but it is also a chance for students to get literal business training on their own. The DM Exec board members are practically employees by their own creation getting experience in the specific fields of which they are interested. Even you, the journalists, get the opportunity to analyze and discuss a very risky and “wildly over the top” production. Dancers are motivated to challenge themselves and work for a cause, lighting technicians are given free access to practice their skills and even those in finance are given opportunity to count endless sums of money.
I wish there were ways to cut costs so more money could go to the charities but DM’s worth to the Northwestern community is worth almost as much as money as the production takes.
Jack
March 11, 2009 at 1:24 pm
You’re just an idiot. For Habitat for Humanity, Money=Supplies=Donations to Owners of the Habitat house.
Whereas for DM, Money=Donations to Project Kindle but Food/Lights/Music does not = donations to Project Kindle.
RE: Becky
March 12, 2009 at 11:16 pm