Totals fall for 'Thon

By CJ CALO
Collegian Staff Writer

The bottom line. Amid the crying, the joy and the triumph of the last day of the dance marathon, it was the last place anyone should have looked. But after comparing last year's to this year's total, a $41,099 decrease emerged.

In 1993, the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon raised about $1.3 million. The next year, that number dropped closer to $1.2 million. And finally, this year, the amount generated fell just a hair short of $1.2 million.

Stacy Bingler, overall chairwoman, said students should not worry about the amount of money raised or fear that the dance marathon may be entering a downward trend.

"It didn't even faze me that the totals went down," Bingler said. "The actual totals vary from year to year, but as far as collection is concerned, we're going up and up."

Each year, after the amount of money raised is announced at the end of the marathon, the planning committee still has to deal with the task of collecting that money. Collecting pledge money can go on for months, Bingler said, sometimes even going into the summer session.

But Bingler (senior-finance) maintains that the majority of students send in their pledge money. Kevin McCarroll, financial chairman, said he also believes most students remain faithful to their pledge promises.

McCarroll (junior-economics) remembers a student that had forgotten to pay for more than a year. When the student finally paid, he included a letter of apology and paid twice the original pledge amount.

Pledge money only accounts for about 50 percent of the total money raised, McCarroll said. The rest comes from the fund-raising efforts of student groups and corporate sponsors.

Rick Funk, coordinator of Greek Life, said the planning committee collects between 80 and 85 percent of the pledge total each year.

"The dance marathon exceeds the national average for the collection of pledge money," Funk said.

Bingler, however, said there was still room for improvement.

"I think there's a lot of pledges that weren't collected from the year before, and our billing wasn't as efficient," she said.

In an attempt to improve collection efforts, the planning committee has made a few changes from last year. Bingler said the committee's computer system is being used to speed up the billing process.

In addition, pledge books were introduced to help keep track of who pledged money. In past years groups dancing in 'Thon would list the names of all the people who pledged on a single sheet of paper.

Pledge books make it possible for everyone who pledged to keep an individual receipt. Bingler said this method also allows the committee to enter the pledging information into their computers faster.

"I think that as efficiency increases, the totals will begin to increase again," Bingler said.

McCarroll also said he would not even go so far as to say the marathon fund raising could be leveling off.

"I don't think we've maximized our potential," McCarroll said.

He and Bingler both said they thought all motivation for the marathon should come from the heart -- and not from the wallet.

"The purpose isn't just raising money, it's about caring about the families and the kids," Bingler said. "Money really isn't the reason I do it and I don't think that's the reason others do it -- if we raised a dollar it would be worth it."