By: Taylor Feinman
September 23rd, 2017 marked the last official canning weekend for THON. Since many organizations that raise money for THON depend on canning to form their totals, many of them have had to start rethinking ways to fundraise.
I am a member of a Greek organization on campus, and canning has always had a huge impact on our THON total. We’ve been trying to come up with new ways of fundraising by partnering with different organizations that are willing to donate a certain percentage of their proceeds to THON. Organizing workout classes at different local locations, as well as working with clothing stores with online websites have been helping contribute to our total.
We also have been having different fundraisers, such as making grilled cheeses and selling them around the frat houses on weekends. Social media has been extremely important in our fundraising. It’s important that when we have these fundraisers, we publicize them on social media so that people know to come. We usually post on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, as well as individual organization members’ accounts. Social media has been a huge help in fundraising.
Without social media, THON would not be successful. It’s the way everyone communicates now, and it’s the way that organizations are going to be able to make up for money lost from not having any more canning trips. There are so many ways to raise money, and so many different organizations that are willing to help, but without social media, spreading this information to the public would be nearly impossible and not beneficial.