last week my wife and I were at the bank doing paperwork for a new mortgage, the loan officer who my wife has known for a while mentioned she was looking for ideas for fund raising for one of her many charitys shes involved with.
anyway My wife told deloris "John rides in bike charity events and could set a charity ride for her:notamused:"
well Im always up for a challenge so I said why not.
ive ridden in plenty of benifit rides (always big charitys) but never set one up. this charity is an inner city
education and activity center with a very good reputation.
looks like fall would work , logistics can be arranged as the charity has very good CONNECTIONS WITH SUPERMARKETS etc for rest stop supplies ...
the hard part would be what type of route to set up and distances??? multi distance, single distance, start to finish loop or one way ,
as this isnt a main stream charity Im wondering if just an an entry fee or active fundraising should be in place.
any thoughts or ideas Im all eyes.
"John"
Little Darwin
06-30-08, 11:06 AM
I have never organized an event, but I think your keys will be to start simple, and if it is successful, then it can be built up in subsequent years.
The first key would be to seek out volunteers. The number of volunteers would probably be the major factor in determining the scope of what you can accomplish.
Frankly, if you are talking about pulling together an event for fall of 2008, I would suggest a very small event with a single length ride, or perhaps a loop of some sort where riders can do multiple laps if desired. Is there a local bike club that may want to co-sponsor?
To be a success, you should make a quick decidion on scope and get the publicity started soon so riders can start raising donations, then work on the details.
If you are talking fall of next year, then you probably have the time to be a little more grand in scope.
EDIT: By the way, a loop is a good format for a ride, or you have to figure out how to get the riders back to their cars.
grahny
06-30-08, 03:32 PM
The smallest charity ride I've done had I think 20-30 cyclists... if that. They had 1 route, 25 miles, rolling hills (somewhat difficult though for the 'recreational' rider though). There was 1 rest stop half way but all they had was bananas and bottled water. They did however have SAG driving the route (which personally I think is important just for safety reasons - check with shops in your area maybe and see if any offer SAG for charity events). They served up hoagies and whatnot afterwards. I believe the registration fee was like $20-30. T-shirt, water bottle, bag of goodies included too.
+1 on making it a loop as most are unless they're multiple day events (a one day, one distance, out/back route for a charity ride would be kind of dull). Plus I doubt you want to shuttle riders + bikes back to the start line.
Gotta have volunteers, emergency contact #'s for riders to call, some sort of number system for the riders, etc, etc.
Check with local clubs too to see if anyone has experience or information they can provide you with. Not sure what kind of liability stuff is involved with these types of rides (disclaimer in the registration I guess).
grobes
06-30-08, 03:36 PM
I am in the planning stages of a ride as well. I have never done this either but was planning on a very small event, just me and a couple of friends trying to get some sponsors to donate to our cause. I like the loop idea, good stuff.
StephenH
06-30-08, 05:36 PM
http://www.bicycle-stuff.com/main/director/director.htm Read the letter to Directors, reader comments, then go back on the main page, go to a few of the rides and read the reviews.
I can see this being a major challenge.
I went to a ride last fall, had maybe 30 or 50 riders (new ride, short ride), and they must have had 500 shirts stacked up there. So be aware that you could actually lose money on the thing until you run a few years and get all the details sorted out. Even if you judge the crowd right, by the time you furnish all the goodies, buy insurance, and stuff like that, don't assume you're going to make $24.50 off of a $25.00 ride. If you have rain the day of the ride, attendence will be way down, so you need to average stuff out onver the years. Some of these rides that are such successes have been going for years and years and years, and have a lot of experience to build from.
One thing you don't want is 1 knowledgeable bike person and 20 half-hearted volunteers. You need a bunch of people enthusiastically involved.
A short ride seems to me to automatically limit your participation. If you don't have the crew to pull off something bigger, go with it, but you'll have a lot more people wanting to do 30 or more miles than wanting to do 15 or 20.
SwimBike
06-30-08, 07:18 PM
eastern upstate ny? Plattsburg?
JOHN J
07-01-08, 06:45 AM
ALL GOOD ADVICE , THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
yep lots of work for shure but a fun challange. I would venture to say that the ride should be planned should be for next spring.
as for route I agree a twenty five mile ride wont bring in too many riders 50 and 62 seems to draw the biggest crowd at the larger charity events that I ride in.
Stephenh thank you for that letter Great reference.
as for my location Swimbike,, albany NY area not as much upstate as platsburg but upstate none the less.
many thanks the wheels are turning.
have a great day
"John"
JOHN J
07-01-08, 07:30 AM
hmm,
as an easier method of doing a charity, how about a group 50 mile ,metric or century with a Tshirt ,a schedualed cooked lunch stop and a few rest stops. more like a tour than a rally event?
this would seem to be easier to handle than a multi distance event for all experince levels???
and several could be done in a season
advertise as a group ride for charity at a moderate speed (rando 14-16 MPH ) with a planned cooked lunch, use a ride leader that knows the route, and have floating rest stops that the sag can set up when the group is ready (contact ride leader by cell phone or drive by him or her and ask)
OPINIONS PLEASE, this wouldnt make as much money but would be easier and again it could be done several times in a year if planned ahead.