THON Improves Fundraising Efficiency, New Data Reveal

The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon has strengthened its fundraising efficiency in the past fiscal year, data released Wednesday show.

THON raised $9,594,880.17 in the 2010-11 fiscal year, which ended June 30, according to a news release. After accounting for expenses, the organization donated 96.58 percent of its annual fundraising total to the Four Diamonds Fund, it reported.

That’s up from the 92.41 percent reported in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

‘The fact that THON can donate 96 cents of every dollar to the Four Diamonds Fund is absolutely exceptional given the scale at which we operate, and can be directly attributed to the untold and incalculable number of hours put in by our volunteers throughout the year,’ THON finance Chairperson Vicki Marone said in the news release.

Likewise, overall event Chairperson Elaine Tanella said, THON’s relatively modest expense sheet is ‘a direct result of the constant hard work of students and support of donors.’

The numbers put THON in a relatively elite group of philanthropies: Per the American Institute for Philanthropy, large charities that commit at least 75 percent of revenues to their respective causes are regarded as ‘most highly efficient.’

Since 1977, THON has raised more than $78 million for the Four Diamonds Fund, a Pennsylvania-nonprofit group that supports pediatric-cancer treatment and research.

Run by Penn State students, THON is billed as the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. The year-round effort culminates yearly in a 46-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.

The fundraising data released Wednesday are included in an annual Summary of Fundraising Activities, shared with the public. Among other highlights in the report:

• Gifts from individuals accounted for 84.69 percent of THON’s fundraising total in 2010-11. Gifts from corporations, foundations and small businesses accounted for 9.98 percent; revenue from the THON Store, 1.04 percent; and revenue from fundraising events, 4.28 percent.

• Of the roughly 3.4 percent of THON income that didn’t go to the Four Diamonds Fund, about $170,300 went to event management; about $101,000, to development functions, such as mailers; about $14,600, to operations and administration; and about $41,600, to THON’s account balance.

• At the end of the fiscal year, THON counted about $14,500 in unfulfilled pledges.

Earlier coverage

• THON Releases Fundraising Report; Individual Gifts Account for Lion’s Share (Dec. 8, 2010)

• Penn State Identified THON Expenses; Charity Is among the Most Efficient (May 28, 2010)