What’s it like to help run one of THON’s top fundraising organizations? Her Campus sat down with Emily McConnell, one of Atlas THON’s Donor Relations chairs, to find out. According to Emily, raising the big bucks is all about passion and dedication. Here’s her take on Atlas and her THON experience.
HC: Tell me a little about Atlas and your position within the organization.
Emily: Atlas is a special interest organization within the Penn State Dance Marathon that was founded solely to raise money for THON. So, we are in our sixth or seventh year now with about 300 members. There are 10 of us on the executive board, and I am one of the Donor Relations Co-Chairs. I focus more on the alumni aspect of it, which is something we haven’t really done before. My job is to keep the alumni aware of what’s going on. We have a lot of really active and involved alumni.
HC: What is your favorite part of holding your position?
Emily: I think that Atlas is really flexible. If anyone has an idea they can feel free to talk to someone and get it in motion. But, it is really cool to be on the side working on the logistics to make that idea happen. There were a lot of things I wanted to change about the position when I came into it, and there weren’t many obstacles in being able to do it. I could really take it and make it my own. That higher-level involvement is really awesome because I got to meet so many new people. I got to see a very different side of Atlas, and see the way it’s transforming and make it as great as possible.
HC: How much money did your organization raise last year?
Emily: We raised roughly $381,000.
HC: Is that the most for an independent organization?
Emily: It’s the most for anyone. Typically the Greeks have always held the top fundraising positions. It’s been ATO and ZTA for the past few years, and last year was the first year that we beat them. So it was also the first year that a special interest group was the top fundraising organization as opposed to a Greek organization.
HC: How does Atlas continually raise such big numbers?
Emily: Well we always try to do different things to push our numbers. We are really lucky in that Atlas is probably the group with the most passionate, dedicated people that I have ever met. So if you tell them that they are waking up at 5:00 a.m. to go canning it doesn’t faze them, and they actually think it’s cool. I think that enthusiasm is contagious, so you are always trying to find ways to push yourself. This year we made a really big push with inviting people to go canning, so we have had record numbers of canners. We also had an idea to celebrate the 40th anniversary of THON where members would send out 40 THONvelopes, and then they can get in the 40 THONvelope club and get a prize at the end. So we have had so many more THONvelopes this year. And we are also starting THONline fundraising with our alumni. For the contacts who donated to someone last year, I sent THONvolopes out to see if they’d be interested in continuing donating in order to build up the network.
HC: Do you guys expect to raise about the same amount of money that you did last year?
Emily: I hope! We’ve been doing well so far. I have never been on the side of it where I know all the numbers, but it seems like a lot of money to me. The first canning weekend we actually broke 100,000 dollars. For just one weekend I thought that was unreal. We sent out roughly 230 people canning, and that was the result we came back with. So that is one of things I think is so incredible about Atlas. These people don’t mind spending 12 hours standing outside for THON.
HC: What made you want to get involved with THON?
Emily: I actually joined Springfield THON my freshman year, first semester. I had kind of a rough start to my semester. Then when I came back in the spring I was living in Atherton Hall where Atlas started. Everyone on the floor that founded Atlas was in the organization, and they recruited a lot of people on my floor. So when I came back in the spring ready for a new start, they signed me up for a canning weekend. It may have been the coldest one I’ve ever been on to date, but I was really hooked. I had so much fun and really liked the people. THON weekend I spent a lot of time getting to know people in the stands at the ridiculous hours in the morning. It really hooked me. Then after family hour I knew that this was something that I really wanted to stay as involved with as possible. I saw the impact you have on the families and the amount of money that you can raise in such a little bit of time.
HC: What is it like getting to work so closely with the families?
Emily: We are really lucky. One of our families actually lives in State College. They have a pretty flexible schedule so they are willing to have everyone go out to dinner once or twice a week and just hang out with them, which is awesome. It just makes it a lot more personal for me. I really feel that I have developed a strong personal connection with both of our THON families. It always brings it back home. I took a group out to meet one of the families this past week, and we got to hang out with our THON child, Victoria. Getting to make her laugh, I know it sounds really cheesy, but it’s the reason you do it. You can see how THON really has affected their lives. It is something they truly look forward to every year.
HC: Do you plan on coming back for THON in the future?
Emily: As long as I’m close, I want to. Atlas has probably epitomized my experience at Penn State. I met my best friends in that organization, and they actually really feel like family to me now. It’s shown me that if you get a group of really passionate people together, you can do anything.