a fundraising campaign which involves phoning a lot of different people to ask them to give donations to a particular organisation, especially a college or university
The phonathon is the foundation’s largest fundraiser each year and provides us with critical funds needed to support our students, faculty and staff.
Submitted by: Kerry on 18/03/2016
Featured as a BuzzWord!
The term phonathon has been in general use since the late 1990s, a blend of phone and marathon. The word marathon, referring to a 26-mile (42-km) running race, is based on the place Marathōn in Greece (in ancient history, a messenger ran the 22 miles from Athens to Marathōn with news of a victory in battle).