Dance Studio Fundraisers: How to Host a Dance-a-Thon

Why a dance-a-thon suits a dance studio fundraiser

Most dance studio fundraiser ideas borrow from schools: cookie dough, raffles, car washes. A dance-a-thon is the one that uses what a studio already has: a sprung floor, a sound system, mirrors, instructors who can teach any age, and families who already show up on weekends. It also lets dancers raise money by doing the thing they train for, which makes the ask to grandparents and neighbors easy.

The general format, run of show and rules are covered on the dance-a-thon guide. If you are opening the event to the public or partnering with a nonprofit, the community and nonprofit dance-a-thon guide covers teams, tickets and venue questions. This page covers what is specific to studios.

Dance-a-thon at a dance studio: four documented formats

Format	Documented example	What it needs
Class marathon	Octagon Theatre, Bolton, England, 2023: 24 back-to-back one-hour classes	A roster of instructors by style; a booking or drop-in system
Multi-studio team competition	Dance for Dana, East Boston: nine dance schools as fundraising teams	A lead studio, a shared venue, a top-fundraiser prize
Studio-hosted network event	Dance for Janie, 2023: over twenty studios each hosting their own event, totals pooled	A common date, cause and reporting method
Overnight or afternoon studio party	Erin's Dance Studios, Ontario, 2014: 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with short guest classes and games	Overnight supervision, a sign-out list, rest space

The class marathon

Project Dance founder James Bamford and Octagon Theatre venues manager Adam Burgan filled 24 hours in February 2023 with 24 one-hour classes open to anyone, in styles from Bollywood and Zumba to ballet. Participants' class fees and any sponsorship they collected went to the theatre's development fund and a young dancers' bursary, and the event raised £3,064. A studio can run the same idea in six or twelve hours: each instructor teaches one hour in their style, dancers book the classes they want, and sponsors pledge per class completed.

Multi-studio team competitions

Nicole Zervas Dance Academy, led by director Nicole Paolo, brought together nine dance schools from East Boston, Revere and Winthrop for its second annual Dance for Dana event, which the East Boston Times-Free Press reported in July 2019 had collectively raised $43,000 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Each school was a fundraising team, the program mixed live performances with follow-along routines, and the top-earning schools won prizes. The Dance for Dana case study describes how the nine schools competed as teams.

The 2023 Dance for Janie event, run through a dance-competition network, took a distributed approach, with over twenty studios in the U.S. and Canada each hosting their own dance-a-thon and pooling a total reported as over $181,000 for Janie's Fund and Youth Villages. On Long Island, Jam Dance Studio in Bellmore, New York, ran its second Dance for Janie event as a four-hour glow party combined with a dance class, joined by two partner studios.

Studio parties run by senior students

Dance Images by BJ in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, lets its senior students plan and run an annual fall dance-a-thon. In October 2019, younger dancers ages 3 to 18 brought pledges gathered over the month, and the afternoon mixed dancing with games, snacks and coloring; the Moose Jaw Express reported C$8,482 raised for a provincial children's arts program. Giving senior dancers the event to run builds leadership and takes work off staff.

Follow-along routines and instructor-taught sessions

The studio's edge over a school gym is teaching. Plan the day as a sequence of short, taught sessions rather than a free-dance party:

• Style blocks. Twenty to sixty minutes each of hip-hop, jazz, tap, musical theatre, ballet basics, line dance or a cultural style an instructor knows. Erin's Dance Studios in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, brought in guest instructors for short classes in jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, musical theatre and belly dancing during its 2014 overnight event, which raised C$5,160 for the Canadian Cancer Society.
• A follow-along routine for the public. Teach one simple combination at the start and repeat it every hour, so parents, siblings and walk-ins can join. Post a video of it beforehand so families can practice at home.
• Performance breaks. Let competition teams perform one piece each; it gives dancers rest and shows sponsors what they are supporting.
• Age-split rooms. If you have two studios, run the littlest dancers in one with shorter blocks and more breaks.

Build the block-and-break timetable in the session planner, which shows clock times and the share of time spent dancing.

Using the studio floor and sound

A studio has the right floor and a sound system tuned for a small room, which makes volume easy to overdo. Keep it at a level where instructors can teach without shouting, and offer hearing protection for the youngest. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders notes that earmuffs are easier than earplugs for young children. Know your studio's posted occupant load before you open to the public, keep exits clear of bags, and set a shoe rule for street shoes on the dance floor. For long events, put water and seating in the lobby, not on the floor.

Competition team fundraiser or charity event?

Decide this first, because it changes what you can tell donors. A competition team fundraiser raises money for the studio's own costs: travel, entry fees, costumes. A charity dance-a-thon gives the proceeds to a nonprofit. Both can work, but they are described differently.

• Team travel. Most studios are businesses, not charities, so do not tell donors their gift is tax-deductible unless a tax adviser has confirmed it. Say plainly where the money goes, and decide in advance whether it pools for the team or credits each family. If money is credited to a family's competition travel balance, it generally isn't a charitable gift for the donor, even when a charity is involved somewhere in the event. Don't call those payments donations, and ask a tax adviser before mixing a charity cause with team costs.
• A cause. If proceeds go to a charity, the charity's receipting rules apply. Under IRS Publication 1771, a donor claiming $250 or more for a single gift needs a written acknowledgment from the charity, and a payment over $75 that buys something needs a statement of the deductible portion. Ask the charity whether gifts should go directly to it, which is the simplest way to get receipts right.
• Class fees. If dancers pay to take part, IRS Revenue Ruling 67-246 holds that a payment to a fundraising event is deductible only to the extent it exceeds the fair market value of what the payer receives. A class has value, so a class fee is not a pure gift.
• Advertising a cause as a business. When a for-profit studio advertises that event proceeds go to a named charity, some states treat that as a commercial co-venture. That can mean a written agreement with the charity and, in some states, registration or reporting. Before you print the charity's name on a flyer, check with the charity and your state charity regulator (usually the attorney general's or secretary of state's office).

Working with families of competition dancers

Competition families already spend heavily on tuition, costumes and travel. Respect that: keep the ask optional, give every dancer the same chance to participate whether or not they raise money, and avoid rankings that embarrass families who cannot give. A flat-gift pledge sheet works better than per-hour pledges for most studio events; the editable pledge sheet can be retitled with your studio's name and cause. Prizes that cost the studio little, such as choosing a class warm-up song, a front-row spot in the recital finale or a private lesson, motivate dancers without adding expense.

Sponsoring a local school dance-a-thon

A studio can also support someone else's dance-a-thon. Schools and PTAs often need exactly what a studio has: an instructor to teach a whole-school routine, a few senior dancers to lead on the floor, or a sponsorship for water or prizes. Offer one of those, ask for recognition on the school's flyer, and you reach every family in the building. The dance-a-thon sponsorship guide shows the tiers schools typically offer, and the school dance-a-thon guide explains how school events are scheduled, so your offer fits their day.

Insurance, waivers and music licensing

Call your insurer before opening a fundraiser to non-students, and ask whether your policy covers a public fundraising event. Your studio's policy may be written around enrolled dancers in regular classes; a public event with guests, overnight hours or an outside venue may not be covered. Ask before you announce. The Nonprofit Risk Management Center warns organizers never to assume existing policies will protect them at a special event. Waivers help but are limited: the center explains in an article published by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits that waivers mainly deter lawsuits, that many states will not enforce a release for gross negligence, and that minors' waivers need a parent signature line. Have an attorney review the wording.

Your studio may already hold a license for the music you use in classes and recitals. Ask your licensor whether it covers a public fundraising event, especially one with an admission or class fee. The dance-a-thon music licensing page lists the questions to ask.