Jagathon: IUPUI’s Dance Marathon is a student-led organization that fundraises year-round for pediatric research at Riley Hospital for Children. In March, we hold a 15-hour capstone event in which we celebrate all the miracles we have made happen. Registering as a participant includes access to the greatest 15 hours of your life, a t-shirt, 3 meals, and the opportunity to hang out with our Riley kids. You’ll join the efforts of over 1,000 of your peers to be “this generation fighting for the next.” More information on all the ways to get involved can be found in the tabs below.
Being a participant at Jagathon is much more than standing on your feet for 15 hours. It means supporting the children treated at Riley, fighting for their health, and celebrating their successes. You can register here.
Once you are registered, we want to help you get the most out of your experience. Get started being FTK (For The Kids) and fundraise with us! Although it is not required to fundraise to attend our event, we encourage and invite all of our participants to fundraise with us throughout the year, so we, as an entire campus, can give the largest gift to Riley Hospital for Children that we can! You can learn more about how to fundraise here!
The next step in your Jagathon journey would be to follow us on social media! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
You’ll be placed on a color team leading up to Jagathon 2020. Throughout the year you can participate in Color War games and challenges to gain more points for your team. During the marathon, deck out in your color and show everyone your DM gear! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our Director of Participant Relations, Tara Cummings at jagdm21@iupui.edu.
How can you get more involved with our Riley families? You can apply to be a JagPal! This gives you a unique opportunity to gain a special friendship with a particular child and their family. You’ll be paired with a family for the duration of the marathon, in which you will do anything and everything that the child wants! Everything from walking in with them during the Riley family parade in Opening Ceremony, to watching the final reveal during the Closing Ceremony. You can access the application for 2021 JagPals here. If you have any questions on how to get involved, contact the Director of Family Relations, Courtney Thompson at jagdm22@iupui.edu.
Being on the committee gives you the chance to get the behind the scenes scoop on the planning, execution, and coordination of everything that goes into Jagathon. We have 4 divisions; External Relations, Finance, Operations, and Membership. External Relations handles everything that goes on outside of the committee, while Operations handles everything about the event itself. The Finance division is manned with tracking and encouraging fundraising, so we can raise up the largest total possible. Finally, the Membership division is the “people-people.” They are in charge of communicating with everyone that helps to make up the organization. If you have any questions about joining a committee, please contact the Director of Committee Relations, Libby Rohr, at jagdm20@iupui.edu.
The Development Program was implemented to increase education, retention rates, and overall engagement of our new members. For new IUPUI students, this program happens in the summer. Once we meet you at orientation and you are interested, we place you with a leader from our Executive Board. This person is your main form of contact at IUPUI and can help to answer anything; both Jagathon and IUPUI related.
For all new members who are currently on campus, there is a week-long program offered for anyone that is interested and wants to learn more before joining. Both of these are very education-based and include a string of 7 emails that are sent from the Vice President of Membership. The emails range from “What is Dance Marathon”, to “How Can YOU Help Jagathon?”
If you have any questions about this, feel free to contact the Vice President of Membership, Raven Brzeszkiewicz at jagvpdm4@iupui.edu.
Yay! You’re now on the committee. So, what’s next?
Step 1: Register for the event so that you can start fundraising FTK! You can register here.
Once you register, you’ll select "Committee Member" or "Committee Chair" and from there you'll select "Join Team" and type in the name of your committee. In effort to be inclusive to all, registration is FREE! In place of the registration fee, we are asking everyone to complete four easy actions after registering, so that we can make the biggest possible impact for pediatric research at Riley Hospital for Children!
Step 2: Start fundraising! As a committee member, you are required to raise $250, and as a chair, $500. Don’t let these numbers scare you! We will give you every tool needed to ensure you not only meet that goal but can go above and beyond it! If you have any questions, reach out to your director and they’ll be able to help you.
Step 3: Attend 3 all-committee meetings throughout the year, and the final meeting that happens the week of Jagathon. This meeting is SUPER important and includes all aspects of the marathon, from set up to tear down. You’ll also need to get 3 “points.” You can get a point by doing 1 out of these 5 options; attending a family event, attending a High School Dance Marathon, going canning, tabling, or volunteering at a non-fundraising event.
Step 4: Be FTK and spread the word of Jagathon throughout your life!
The Leadership Team is a new addition to the Jagathon structure. Last year’s Leadership Team consisted of 50 of the committee’s most dedicated and active members.
As a member of the Leadership Team, you are assigned, 15-25 participants. You are their “go-to” for all things Jagathon related! All of our leaders create GroupMe’s with their participants and have a communication calendar they follow each month. They are tasked with relaying messages about fundraising push days, tabling areas, dine-to-donates, etc. A large amount of responsibility placed on these members gives them the chance to increase their leadership skills, communication skills, and the ability to participate with large groups of their peers. If you have questions on this, reach out to Tara Cummings, Director of Participant Relations, at jagdm21@iupui.edu.
Color Wars is a competition throughout the year between all the color teams. There are various events and challenges that pit the teams against each other in order to gain points. Follow Jagathon’s social media accounts and listen to your Leadership Team member to stay in the loop! During the event, deck out in your color team’s color and encourage your fellow team members to be the most enthusiastic team out there!
You will be given a color team to represent throughout the year leading up to Jagathon, and through the main event. Your color team is who you will spend most of your time at the event with! All of the teams registered for Jagathon are broken down and assigned colors. Every color team is led by a group of Morale Captains to help you throughout the night and keep you HYPE throughout the 15-hours!
Congratulations to the Purple Team for being the winner of Color Wars 2020!
Why should I participate in Jagathon?
Aside from being a campus tradition, and one of the largest events on campus, we are a philanthropic organization that puts its cause ahead of everything it does. Everything we do is For The Kids (FTK) and we want to have fun while doing it!
If I raise no money, can I still attend?
You do not have to fundraise in order to attend the event, but we encourage all participants to help us in creating the largest gift possible! We will give you all the tools you need to do so.
Do I have to dance all night?
While Jagathon is a dance marathon, it is much more than dancing. The 15-hours is packed with games, meals, and Riley stories. Although we do dance, it is optional for you to do so!
I did not register on a team but would like to be on a team. Is it too late to join a team?
No, it is not too late to join a team! If you would like to be placed on a specific team, please email Raven Brzeszkiewicz at jagvpdm4@iupui.edu.
Can I send a donation as a check?
Yes, of course! You can make your check out to Riley Children's Foundation. If you are going to mail your check, you can send it to 301 University Blvd, Suite 1031, Indianapolis, IN 46202. If you are donating on behalf of a Jagathon member, please include their name in the memo line.
How can I stay up to date on all things Jagathon?
Follow us on social media! Our Twitter and Instagram handles are @iupuidm and our Facebook page can be found at Jagathon: IUPUI's Dance Marathon!
Where can I turn in cash donations/where can I pick up a red Riley canning bucket?
You can both, drop off money, and pick up the buckets at the same place! Head to University Hall (the building between the Natatorium and Lecture Hall) and go into the Indiana University Foundation Office, suite 1031, and ask the person at the front desk! They’ll help you check one out. Once you’re done, you can return the bucket and the money to the same place.
How do I find my personal fundraising link?
You can find it if you go to https://events.dancemarathon.com/event/jagathon2021 and search your name at the top of the page. When you find your page, you can copy the link at the top and post it/send it to anyone you want! You can also reach out to Tara Cummings, Director of Participant Relations at jagdm21@iupui.edu for help.
I want to get to know some of the Riley kids. How would I go about that?
We have many family events throughout the year. You can reach out to our Director of Family Relations, Courtney Thompson, at jagdm22@iupui.edu for more information!
What if I can’t come to Jagathon anymore?
Although we’re sad to see you won’t make it, we understand things come up! You can reach out to Tara Cummings at jagdm21@iupui.edu and let him know.
The Indiana University Foundation solicits tax-deductible private contributions for the benefit of Indiana University and is registered to solicit charitable contributions in all states requiring registration. For our full disclosure statement, see go.iu.edu/89n.
