Jagathon: Indiana University Indianapolis'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 14-hour capstone event in which we celebrate all the miracles we have made happen. Registering as a participant includes access to the greatest 14 hours of your life, a t-shirt, 2 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.
Jagathon 2023 Main Event Photos
Being a participant at Jagathon is much more than standing on your feet for 14 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 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 2024. 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, Karlie Nichols, 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. If you have any questions on how to get involved, contact the Director of Family Relations, Ashley Higgins, at jagdm22@iupui.edu.
Being on a 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 5 divisions; External Relations, Finance, Operations, Membership, and Governance. Each division has various Committees! This means you can join a committee based on your likes interests!!!
External Relations: handles everything that is between Jagathon and the public.
Operations: plans and executes everything about the events leading up to the main event, including the main event.
Morale: Is the party people of the main event and the entire Jagathon year! Morale creates the Morale Line Dance, perform flash mobs, serving as Color Team Captains, and more.
Finance: tracking and encouraging fundraising, so we can raise up the largest total possible.
Membership: in charge of communicating with everyone that helps make up the organization.
Governance: promotes DEI within our organization and updates our consitution as needed.
If you have any questions about joining a committee, please contact the Director of Committee Relations, Montanna Crossman, at jagdm20@iupui.edu.
Yay! You’re now on Committee. So, what’s next?
Step 1: Register for the event so that you can start fundraising! 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. Registration is $15! This $15 fee covers your attendance to our main event, 2 meals during the event, and an event t-shirt!
Step 2: Start fundraising! As a committee member, you are required to raise $600, and as a chair, $1,000. 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 All-Committee Meetings or ACMs 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.
Step 4: Fundraise and spread the word of Jagathon throughout your community!
Jagathon Ambassadors is a great way to be more involved as a Participant or Committee Member!
As an Ambassador, you are assigned, 15-25 participants. You are their “go-to” for all things Jagathon related! All of our ambassadors 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 Karlie Nichols, 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 14-hours!
Congratulations to the Blue Team for being the winner of Color Wars 2022!
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 Riley Hospital for Children and we want to have fun while doing it!
If I raise no money, can I still attend?
Of course! 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 the whole time?
No! While Jagathon is a Dance Marathon, it is much more than dancing. The 14 hours are 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 our VP of Membership, Nicole Cremasco at jagvpdm4@iupui.edu.
Can I send in a donation as a check?
Yes, of course! You can make your check out to Riley Children's Foundation. 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 our social media! Our Instagram handle is @iuindianapolisdm and our Facebook Page can be found at Jagathon: Indiana University Indianapolis Dance Marathon.
