Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

History

Children's Miracle Network began as a telethon in 1983. Shannon and Lake conceived the telethon with Schneider and Osmond serving as hosts. The first telethon raised $4.8 million for 22 hospitals. The telethon continued as a major fundraising arm for the organization for many years, and some hospital markets still use it today.

The organization rebranded to Children's Miracle Network in 2026, after going by Children's Miracle Network Hospitals since 2011, and Children's Miracle Network prior to that. Currently, CMN benefits the largest network of children's hospitals in both the U.S. and Canada. The organization's member hospitals provide 32 million treatments each year to children across the U.S. and Canada. Most of the organization's funding, totaling $9 billion, has been raised through the charity's "Miracle Balloon" campaign.

Fundraising

Children's Miracle Network raises money each year to support local children's hospitals. CMN's fundraising efforts include corporate fundraising campaigns with more than 80 corporate partners and fundraising programs including Dance Marathon, the global Extra Life gaming platform, Play Yellow, and Radiothon, which hosts radio fundraisers through radio stations in support of their CMN Hospital.

Corporate fundraising partners include Walmart, Panda Express, Ace Hardware, Sam's Club, Costco Wholesale, Wawa, RE/MAX, IHOP, Credit Unions For Kids, Love's Travel Stops, Costco, CDW, Delta Air Lines, Publix, Rite Aid, Dairy Queen, Sigma Chi, Delta Zeta, Domino Sugar, Phi Mu, Speedway LLC, Phi Delta Epsilon, Phi Kappa Theta, Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Marriott International. In 2019, Walmart celebrated $1 billion raised for CMN Hospitals through its partnership with the organization.

Many universities host annual Dance Marathon events to support Children's Miracle Network and other local children's hospitals. These events have collectively raised more than $350 million to support CMN services, such as the Indiana University Dance Marathon which raised more than $36 million for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Extra Life is another Children's Miracle Network program that unites tens of thousands of gamers globally to play games and raise funds year-round to support kids treated at their local CMN hospital. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $100 million.

In 2021, Ferrero Candy partnered with CMN Hospitals and launched a campaign. "Three iconic Ferrero candy bars, Butterfinger, CRUNCH and Baby Ruth, are joining forces to help the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals."

As part of a nationwide initiative to raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network, Wilkes University and Lackawanna College's Esports Program organized their fourth annual gaming event at Bartari on Sunday, November 3, 2024. The event was streamed for 12 hours and anyone was welcome to join the campaigners.

Awards and accolades

The organization has received multiple Gold & Silver Halo awards from the Cause Marketing Forum for its marketing campaigns with organizations including IHOP and Aflac. The organization won The Golden Halo in 2014. CMN Hospitals won a Shorty Award in 2019 in Best Facebook Live for their #ChildrensHospitalsWeek Live-athon. Utah Business Magazine also named CMN Hospitals one of Utah's Best Companies to Work For in 2015.

References

References

1. "CMN Hospitals".
2. "CMN Leadership".
3. "CMN Hospitals Financials".
4. "CMN Hospitals Partners".
5. "Extra Life {{!}} About the Miracles".
6. (2021-06-01). "Favorite candy bars are raising the bar to help Children's Miracle Network".
7. (2024-11-03). "Gaming for Children's Miracle Network".
8. "2019 Halo Award Best Health Category Campaign".
9. "The NonProfit Times".
10. "11th Annual Winners - The Shorty Awards".
11. (2015-12-23). "Best Companies to Work For 2015".