NOVAdance is coming up on Saturday, March 29th. To me, this is one of the most important events Villanova stages. For those who may not know, NOVAdance is a year-long fundraiser to support the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, which leads the nation in providing financial assistance to families with kids fighting childhood cancer. The fundraiser culminates in a 12-hour dance marathon with games, music and performances, where participants are encouraged to keep dancing the entire time. Each hour has a different theme, and at the end of the day, everyone is eager to see the fundraising grand total revealed.
This is all good and dandy, and from the looks of it, it seems I am reasonably educated about NOVAdance and all that comes with it. I’d like to consider myself a person who cares deeply about the cause of NOVAdance, but I’ve only known it on a surface level – that it raises money for childhood cancer. However, a lot of the details of the event have remained a mystery to me. While I think NOVAdance is well-promoted, it is hard for many students to understand all the details. For instance, I was unaware of the $700,000 fundraising goal for this year. If this were made more clear, students may feel more inclined to donate and educate themselves on NOVAdance.
Haley Smith is the PR Director for NOVAdance.
“It’s been amazing to see the growth in the last three years that I have been here, from raising $492,000 my first year, to $505,000 to $601,000,” Smith said. “We’re hoping to hit $700,000 this year, but even if we don’t, we will have supported so many B+ Heroes and their families.”
It certainly warms my heart to know that NOVAdance has had consistently increasing donations over the past year. In my opinion, this ideology should be emphasized in their promotional strategies. At every donation table, students should be informed about the event’s increasing goals. This will strike a chord with many students, likely causing them to donate more than they originally intended. Further, if NOVAdance spread this message everywhere they could, it would reach an ever-increasing number of students and families.
“In the 11 months that I have been Director of PR, our Instagram page has gained more than 1,100 followers,” Smith said. “Our presence on TikTok and even our own website has grown tremendously with a lot more engagement and interactions.”
Perhaps the best method of promotion for our generation, social media, is the key to furthering the details of NOVAdance even more. I looked up its Instagram, and it has 4,275 followers, 59 of them being mutuals of mine. The account follows a lot of Villanova students, as well, indicating the smart promotional method of follow-for-follow. By following as many Villanova students as it can, NOVAdance can ensure that its goals are known by the general student body. Among the endless doom-scrolling college students do on social media, they could easily learn that NOVAdance wishes to raise more money than they ever have this year. With regular donation links, informative posts and as many specifics as possible, followers’ wills to donate will easily increase. If the Instagram account emphasized the $700,000 goal (which, from my scrolling, it does not), all followers will feel more inclined to donate, especially those who are parents or alumni.
Ultimately, while NOVAdance does a great job at promoting itself, I believe it doesn’t hurt to be as specific as possible in its goals. By emphasizing the emotional weight of a fundraising goal, people will undoubtedly feel more inclined to donate. By using different mediums, such as social media, to promote the most specific information about the event, NOVAdance will be able to educate more people than ever about its intentions. The more people who know about something like a $700,000 goal, the better.
“NOVAdance as an organization thrives on student participation,” Smith said.
With that in mind, if one student becomes inspired to help NOVAdance reach its ultimate goal, others will follow. When people are made aware of as many specifics as possible, they will feel more equipped to contribute to an organization’s journey.
