Once the tears are shed, the hugs exchanged and the sweat dried, the Northwestern Dance Marathon executive board wastes no time gearing up for next year.
Between selecting a new board and vetting prospective beneficiaries, spring stacks up as one of DM’s busiest quarters, executive board co-chair Lauren Troy said.
The first order of business is selecting next year’s co-chairs, who immediately dive into reviewing grant applications for DM 2011, she said.
“It’s a crazy quarter for the new co-chairs,” Troy said. “As soon as they take over they start reading proposals for the beneficiary. They think about their goals for next year. Now is the time to get major things accomplished.”
Grant proposals are due April 2 and the new co-chairs have “carte blanche” to run the selection process as they choose, Troy said. Historically, she said, co-chairs have played a major role in whittling down the candidate pool from the initial 60 to 70 applicants to five the entire committee interviewed. The co-chairs then choose three finalists who complete a second round of interviews.
The executive board, minus the co-chairs, must reach a unanimous decision to select the beneficiary, Troy said.
Though Troy and her co-chair Ryan Farrell will hand over the executive board reins sometime in April, they will continue to sit on the grant committee at the Evanston Community Foundation, another annual beneficiary of DM, she said.
The co-chairs have participated in the committee that allocates funds for the foundation’s various grant programs since 1999, said Grant Program Director Cheryl Kaplan. Since then, DM has donated $400,000 to the foundation.
DM representation on the committee is important because of the amount of funds the event contributes to its community grants, she said.
“They really add great perspective, being young and active in the community,” Kaplan said. “And also being responsible for that amount of funding. We really enjoy having them on our committee.”
She said she was surprised at this year’s first meeting by how familiar the DM co-chairs were with the array of local organizations with whom ECF partners.
“They really understood what we were talking about when it came to grant candidates through volunteering in the community,” she said.
Last year, 27 percent of the $15,000 apportioned annually for ECF’s responsive grant program was subsidized by DM’s fundraising, Kaplan said. Some other DM money is diverted to other pools, but a majority of it goes toward proposals DM representatives have a hand in approving.
DM 2010’s primary beneficiary, StandUp for Kids, a non-profit committed to combating youth homelessness, received $461,546.73.
In a press conference during DM, StandUp ambassadors discussed the importance of NU students staying involved with the cause beyond the 30 hours.
Tom Hayden, Medill professor and Chicago program executive director for StandUp, said there are a number of ways NU students can help.
“Exec board members who have been on our street outreach team are seniors and will likely not be in Chicago much longer,” Hayden said. “We could use students who will be in Chicago another year or two who might like to volunteer to be street counselors.”
This involves collecting the kinds of items homeless kids in Chicago need, he said.
Everything from “socks and underwear to Doritos”-essentially, putting DM’s dollars into action.
After a successful year, Troy said she is concentrating on the task of reading the 72 ECF proposals.
“I have been reading everything from funding for women’s shelters to dance troupes,” she said. “It is just nice for DM to really have a continued say in where our money is going.”[email protected]
